Living in Topeka, KS, I am subjected almost daily to the bigotry and hatred of the Phelps’ clan. If you don’t know who they are they are the members and leaders of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka that are in the habit of picketing pretty much anything with day-glo signs graphically depicting anti-gay messages. Here’s a link to a story about the Phelps’ if you’d like more information.

Anyway, since the “war on terror” began, these people have started picketing the funerals of dead soldiers drawing several states to pass laws restricting such behavior and national outrage. Last week the Phelps’ lost a civil suit filed by the father of one of these soldiers and this started up a firestorm in our local paper and online blogs about the issue.

It is important to note that the Phelps’ began picketing funerals several years before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, they picketed the funerals of openly gay and lesbian people as well as gay rights advocates. Now, that they dare to cross the line and picket the funerals of soldiers, everyone is outraged and horrified. I agree that it is horrible; however, I have to wonder why it hasn’t always been so distasteful that they were picketing funerals.

My theory is that it is because their message is the exact same one as Christian Fundamentalists, just yelled louder and more graphically. While their typical “God hates fags” slogan is repulsive it’s exactly the same as “God hates homosexuality” that we hear from the Christian Right. Now they are demanding to know why something hasn’t been done sooner and for someone to put a complete stop to the Phelps’ messages of hate.

The local blogosphere is full of people expressing their pleasure that the Phelps’ have lost this suit, local blog authors are condemning the family for their audacity to protest a military funeral, the people are crying out for more justice against those who are defaming America. Where in the hell has this outrage been all of this time? This disgusting group of people have been allowed to scream their intolerant message for decades without any of this vehement anger and yelling for justice. The reason is that the the christians who preach the exact same thing cannot come right out and denounce the message of the Phelps’. Sure there have been some attempts over the years by more progressive people to at least counter protest or publicly denounce the Phelps’ and their message, but not from the people who are now so angry they can’t see straight.

The message that they are sending is overwhelmingly that they are just fine with the anti-gay hatred and bigotry spread by the Phelps’ as long as it is contained to actual homosexuals. I’m sure that the Fundies don’t see it that way, at least publicly, but they know that to denounce the message of the Phelps’ is to denounce their own message. They may try to smooth it over with statements that it’s not the message but the method of relaying that message, but it all comes down to the fact that the religious right and the Phelps’ clan have a whole lot more in common than they want to admit.

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