I’ll admit I’m very tired and want nothing more than to be in bed asleep, but I feel I have a moral obligation to speak. I’ve been following the news of Heath Ledger’s untimely passing. I admit it has bothered me because I really liked him as an actor, and I had just re-watched Brokeback Mountain for the first time since I saw it in theater. But my following the news has not been fanatical. Somehow I missed the interview with one of the horrible Phelps from the Westboro “Church”.

Those who are unfamiliar with these people here is a recap of some of their activities. These are the people who travel around the country protesting (which is their right to do), but they bring little children and walk around holding signs that read “God hates Fags.” These are the same people who protested at Matthew Sheppard’s funeral saying he deserved what he got, and he was burning in Hell. If that weren’t already enough they have more recently been in the news for holding the same protest only this time at the funeral of killed military people. They are still protesting homosexuality. These are just some of the small things they have done…

The news though is that one of Fred Phelps’ daughters (Shirley Phelps-Roper) was recently interviewed by several radio stations. There she spewed forth unintelligible hate and hypocrisy. She and the rest of the “church” are going to be protesting Heath’s death and funeral rites…and all because he played a gay man in a MOVIE. They claim it is because since Heath didn’t preach hate against homosexuality, he therefore supported it and for that he is burning in hell.

These messages and ones similar make me see red. After reading what the people from this so called “Christian church” have to say I am angry for days. I can understand not accepting homosexuality. I accept that in the bible there is a passage that goes something like “man shall not lay with man like with woman kind.” They are entitled to their opinion and even speaking their opinion, however they are not allowed to spew blind hatred and cause misery, distress, and violence where they go. Their messages are so convoluted they are hurting their own cause. I have grown up in a Christian family, and have some great Christian friends and I know all of us are ashamed that people like this exist.

My arguments as I can articulate at this moment (when all I want to do is go work out and do physical violence) are these. First the bible was written by men, not directly by God. Second the bible is an antique; it is a moral story book not to be followed literally. Own slaves, selling daughters, stoning people, these are all barbarous to us now, yet they exist in the bible. Third, I believe that Christians and all people can live wonderful lives if they learn to love others. Hate is not the answer; the God/spirit I believe in preaches love for all. Lastly, the dead are sacred; they are not there to defend themselves, they cannot change who they were anymore. Let the families grieve in peace, losing a loved one is hard enough. What is tormenting a family going to prove? NOTHING!

The only funny thing about all of this is that in the interview on Kane radio (you can find this interview on youtube under her name) Shirley avoids the question of her own sins. She is a proud mother of 11 children (those are who I will pray for). Yet someone pointed out to her that at least one of her children is from out of wedlock. The same bible she is preaching literally from says that this is also a sin. When you point a finger there are more pointing back at you, isn’t that what little kids say?

I am going to stop now because I know these people want media coverage and that is what they thrive on. But at the same time I feel people should know and be able to start planning their arguments against this type of blind hatred. In the end it won’t matter, you can’t ever have a decent debate with them. Like usual in this interview and others the Westboro “church” resorts to yelling and talking over the other people. People need to hear her message and come together to provide a unified front against this hatred. In my heart I feel sorry for these people, how much of their lives have they lost to this all consuming hate? How much have they scraficed the good in life: loving others, feeling love from others, feeling love from God, seeing how you have helped the world, all of these things they have missed out on. I can’t imagine living every day so angry and hate filled. When I get angry and very upset (like tonight) it wears me out, it makes my heart hurt, and I end feeling so sad. What is it like to feel that every day? What is it like knowing that your children are most likely doomed to that same fate?

When I see an elderly couple walking somewhere, holding hands, and still looking at each other with boundless love in their eyes I think how can that be wrong? Whether they are heterosexual, gay, lesbian, transgendered, or bisexual if there is love, a love that has weathered so much, how can it be wrong? When I see friends around me struggling to tell the people who are most important in their lives that they aren’t straight, and they are teased, bullied, and berated for being born, how can you think they choose this? When I go to church and read in front of my church, break the bread for the congregation, and bless the little children, I don’t wonder if I am worthy to be loved by the being that created me, I know I am.