Flirting with a Westboro Church man
2 July 2006 by SeanThanks to Aesmael for sending this one along.
Fred Phelps and his crew at the Westboro Baptist Church are strictly anti-gay. So, how does one of their men react when Australian ‘reporter’ Charles Firth cracks onto him?
2 July 2006, on 2:47 am
What a brilliant find! That’s definitely the best “news report” relating to the Westboro Baptist church I’ve seen.
2 July 2006, on 9:07 am
“But his buttocks were so firm!” Priceless. That clip of Phelps’ daughter(?) made her sound like Linda Blair in the original “Exorcist.” I also liked the digs at Fox and, by association, the homegrown Rupert Murdoch. Thanks, Aesmael and Sean
2 July 2006, on 11:14 am
This was awesome! That is what more people should do…go “flirt” with them and disrupt their little hate rallies. It seemed to be quite successful in distracting them from their hateful purpose.
2 July 2006, on 11:50 am
I love those Aussies ROTFLMAO. Did yo notice how JNR smiled when he was patted on the butt?
2 July 2006, on 1:42 pm
Off topic here, but PBS is running a Faith & Reason series right now. Bill Moyers is interviewing a guy named Colin McGinn, author and professed Atheist. It’s pretty good.
2 July 2006, on 1:52 pm
I thought it was interesting that when the Phelps weasels [sorry animals!] were really confronted, one-on-one, they really looked more like a bunch of wimps. The one more nasty weasel appeared to be the one that appeared on Fox News. [?] THAT original clip, I thought, was really a classic, embarrassing, ‘moment’ for the Faux folks.
Yeah, that Aussie report was kind of …AUSSume!…er,…awesome!
2 July 2006, on 3:01 pm
DRB, did you see last week’s inaugural episode with Salman Rushdie? Pretty great stuff. I forgot about it this week so I’ll have to look for the transcript.
2 July 2006, on 3:58 pm
Yeah, Da Rat Bastid, Raindog posted on this last week. You can get to the video and transcript from there.
2 July 2006, on 4:02 pm
ChuckA: Yeah, that was Shirley Phelps Roper, the most psychotic of the bunch.
You know what? I like giving these maniacs attention, because the religious right hates having them set the course of the discussion.
2 July 2006, on 4:13 pm
What was up with the “GOD IS AMERICA’S TERROR” plaque? I thought they were pro-religion?
2 July 2006, on 4:31 pm
Skribb, watch the video I linked to. These people think America is doomed because it is a “fag nation.” They protest at soldiers’ funerals because all U.S. soldiers are “fags.” They are insane. Even the extreme religious right won’t touch them. Luckily there are only 20 or 30 or them.
Use our search bar for the word westboro and you can trace quite a bit of their mania through our past posts.
2 July 2006, on 5:03 pm
This. Is. Hilarious….
How many of y’all have heard of the famous “Westboro Church”?
You have never heard of it
You have but in only in passing, and you want to laugh learn more
You have and consequently, you’re going to stop reading this post right now
No matter…
2 July 2006, on 8:06 pm
Raindog,Yeah, I did catch part of that. I gotta say Bill moyers has become pretty amazing in this age of terror. I saw him speak at a Media Reform conference here in the Lou last year.It was some of the most eloquent muckraking I had heard in some time.
2 July 2006, on 8:23 pm
That was really funny.
2 July 2006, on 10:29 pm
What’s that old saying? “Me thinks thou dost protesteth too much”? I mean, I ‘ve always believed the more virulent the homophobe the more latently homosexual they are. These fucks must be some new strain of closeted SUPERGAYS judging by the volume and depth of their screed. Maybe Tom Cruise could play “SUPERGAY” in the movie version.
2 July 2006, on 10:45 pm
Of course, I’ve always thought the old self-hating gay homophobe presumption is doing a bit of a disservice to healthy gay people everywhere. You’re an underdog in society if you are gay and out, and then the very people who make you an underdog are thought of as being gay and closeted. Gays deserve better than being psychologically associated with the twisted WBC. Those WBCers probably all just self-mutilate their genitals every night.
2 July 2006, on 11:22 pm
My first gay friend was a fellow Bible College student in Grand Rapids, MI. We had a lot of fun just hanging out, grabbing an illicit beer or two when the pressure of not being able to be out would burn him up from the inside out. We eventually caught up again in Vancouver (he took me to see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and we had a blast). He was so tortured internally, more so than anyone else I’ve ever met- I was very surprised he never committed suicide over his inability to find his niche in the world as a gay Christian- this was well before all the strides we’ve made as a Canadian and religious society in our approach to the gay community. The funny thing is, I’m certain I gained more from the friendship than he did. He helped me shape my compassion, understanding and tolerance from the minor beginning stages it was at, and set the stage for my ease with and love for the gay community. Believe me, there’s nothing worse than being born gay into a strict religious family. WBC and their ilk deserve all the scorn and disgust you guys can heap on them. Their judgement cometh, and that well soon. (that’s from The Shawshank Redemption for those who don’t recognize the quote
)
2 July 2006, on 11:50 pm
Thanks for the story, Kidkawartha. I have seen firsthand this same torture you’re talking about. Of course, all too often young gay people do self-destruct out of the difficulty of finding a place to fit in. I know plenty gays that just utterly rejected religion because, at least in the case of the Abrahamic religions, it tells them they are going to hell.
I also know some gay theists that have done quite well with their beliefs. I don’t pretend to understand it, but they have found a sense of community. This is of course in ultra-liberal San Francisco.
I am guessing that you are a theist. Stop me if I’m wrong. Do they have gay-friendly churches where you are? I always wonder if I am living in a bubble here in S.F. (a bubble compared to America, at least… not necessarily Europe).
3 July 2006, on 12:15 am
Man, who’d a thunk it. Sean is the “Boy In the Plastic Bubble”.
3 July 2006, on 12:31 am
Nope, Sean, I’m one of those strange followers of Jesus that has far more in common with people outside the church than in it. I know that’s probably hard for this community to accept, but there it is. I’m here on Raindog’s invite, having travelled some strange and funny pathways with him in different places on the net. It’s my hope that I can find a place here among all of you, bringing my honesty and insights into having participated or seen first hand much of the good, bad and ugly in the North American church in many different ways to this community. I’ve just always been more at home with the “bad boys and girls” than with my own. I’ll let you guys judge my worthiness in participating here.
S.F. isn’t a bubble, it’s just a concentration, and, of course, is over-exposed as a gay-friendly city. Most Canadian cities have thriving, growing gay communities, and our recent federal decision to fully allow gay marriage is just us being Canadian. Make no mistake that we aren’t some sort of a liberal paradise, just less inclined to exclusivism and less accepting of religious extremism of any kind. We have actual federal hate speech laws on the books up here, and they are regularly prosecuted. We have a MINORITY conservative gov’t at present, only because the 65% of the country that is center-left is broken into 4 parties, and the right is concentrated in one political party (who are trying to reopen our gay marriage debate, the assholes).
I’ve had both some of the best times of my life in the faith community (particularly as a shit-disturbing summer camp counselor) and the very worst, most painful times of my life within it. I don’t participate in a congregation and haven’t for a while, but there’s a little part of me that always got one eye open for it. To tell the truth, participating in communities like this one, ironically, feels more like church to me than a lot of things.
So here’s hoping I can add something constructive to the dialog here…….It’s a great site.
As a final thought, love them or hate them, join hands or not, but the religious left is both growing and necessary in order to defeat the lunacy on the right in the States. For a really healthy example, take a poke around streetprophets.com sometime and you’ll see everything from Wiccans to agnostics to baptists to UCC members hanging out together civilly and in open friendship and tolerance. It’s as close to a miracle as I’ve seen in a while
3 July 2006, on 1:09 am
Kidkawartha Says:
Nope, Sean, I’m one of those strange followers of Jesus that has far more in common with people outside the church than in it.
Oh, I wasn’t saying you weren’t. Was just trying to get the gist of where you were coming from in terms of your gay Xian friend. How did things turn out for him, anyway?
Welcome, Kidkawartha. Do indeed take off your technicolor dreamcoat and stay awhile.
It’s been a bit since we have had some nice theists around here. Thanks for the compliment on the site, and for the tip on streetprophets.com. I’ll be sure to check it out.
3 July 2006, on 1:31 am
Hey, aren’t Aussie men suppose to be tough, no nonsense, conservative Crocodile Dundee types? Very refreshing to see some with more liberal views and getting right up and “in your face” with those hate-mongers. Such grotesque displays by WBC of irrational hatred are disturbing, yet it does remind us that this very vocal group expresses the sentiments of a larger, although less aggressive, group of fundamentalists. Gay men are still being beaten up on American streets. Equal rights still denied.
My gay friend of 30 years recently rejoined the church that we use to attend together before my liberation. The church denomination, Seventh-day Adventist, does not accept homosexuality as normal and part of nature. It is a sin and those who are “stricken” with this “abnormal” desire to love someone of their own gender are expected to live either without sex or marry a woman and live a lie. There is an SDA group of gays and lesbians attempting to change people’s minds within that church, but I think they have a very long road ahead.
My atheism seems to cause my friend some distress. God can forgive homosexual behavior, but he can’t save an unbeliever. So I’m actually worse off than he is.
There are other Christian church options with more liberal views about gays and lesbians so I am still very perplexed by his decision to spend his time with people who don’t accept him as he is. I expect eventually he’ll tire of their narrow mindedness and find fellowship elsewhere.
3 July 2006, on 1:38 am
Haha, awesome find! Nice work =)
3 July 2006, on 1:41 am
Lynda: I hope he escapes from it, too. Their cause sounds about as hopeful as the Log Cabin Republicans’.
Raindogzilla Says:
Man, who’d a thunk it. Sean is the “Boy In the Plastic Bubble”.
You mean this one?
Or this one?
I’m sorry, but the card says “Moops!”
3 July 2006, on 5:02 am
The Chaser are awesome. My favourite segment was when Chris divorces his wife in the most public way possible:
http://idents.tv/blog/?p=208
There was also a great one where Charles Firth tries to beat Michael Moore’s record for getting kicked out of corporation buildings in a single day… “Could I speak with the evil CEO of your company please?”
3 July 2006, on 6:06 am
Love it.
I think what I liked best was, aside from the guy’s brief smile when he’s first getting fondled, there is absolutely no sense of humour. “You are a fag pervert!” Classic. It seems inevitable that people taking themselves that seriously just can’t see it when other people are making fun of them!
Why is that?
3 July 2006, on 6:30 am
These guys, (The Chaser team) are bar none the best thing on Aussie TV these days. This segment is from their current show called “The Chaser’s War on Everything” and it’s brilliant.
In the early part of the clip you can see a prop that says CNNNN. This is an earlier series they did that was a spoof on 24 hour cable news. If you can ever get your hands on some of these clips, you owe it to yourself to do so.
3 July 2006, on 8:43 am
For all you Aussies here, check out an old friend of mine, John Howard a US comic book artist responsible for the “Horny Biker Sluts” comic. Just a name recognition thing, ya know. I’m actually in one of the issues as a tophat-wearing musician who runs into the “Sluts” hitchhiking. Whoo-hoo!
3 July 2006, on 8:45 am
Definitely George Costanza’s Bubble Boy, Sean. “There’s the guy that tried to kill the Bubble Boy! Get him!”
3 July 2006, on 9:14 am
That episode was on the other night. It’s MOORS you idiot.
3 July 2006, on 9:20 am
Sean-
I just realized now that to a group of atheists, a theist is anyone who believes in god, period. I’m laughing a bit, b/c I was clarifying that I am a follower of a specific, personal god, as opposed to what I would define as a theist- someone who simply believes there is a god. I know, I know, semantics, semantics.
As to my friend, I have no idea. He was the type to um, not follow through on friendships very well. While in Vancouver, I met his brother as well, and it appears the entire family was psychologically stressed at least. I just hoped, as I do and did for myself, that he would find his pace and comfort and acceptance of himself.
As Martin Landau said so well in “Rounders”: “we can’t fight who we really are”.
3 July 2006, on 12:05 pm
Have a nice day, PERVERT!
Hilarious.
3 July 2006, on 1:29 pm
Kidkawartha says: I was clarifying that I am a follower of a specific, personal god, as opposed to what I would define as a theist- someone who simply believes there is a god. I know, I know, semantics, semantics.
Myself, I love paradoxes. And man, the semantics of the word God is a very weird territory. I really liked some of the exchanges in part one of the Faith and Reason series. For example:
BILL MOYERS: I think the best arguments about God come from atheists.
SALMAN RUSHDIE: Yes, there’s a famous, the great Spanish film director, Luis Bunuel, once teased his friends by saying that he wanted his epitaph on his tombstone to read: “Thank God I died an atheist.” And they were all so upset that he had to tell them he was just kidding.
His point about human beings and their search for the transcendent experience and trying to find a vocabulary for it was also interesting:
BILL MOYERS: I also have in my file something you told NEWSWEEK almost 15 years ago. You said quote, “To try and find the spiritual life without mentioning the name of God is a stupid thing to do.”
SALMAN RUSHDIE: Yeah, it’s because we don’t have a vocabulary for it. You know, I mean if you look at the way in which our languages have developed so much of our sense of the transcendent, our sense of ourselves beyond our physical being is, has always been, expressed in religious terms. But it’s actually very hard to find the vocabulary to go in that direction. You know, what do we mean by the word soul for example if we’re not religious? And yet whether we’re religious or not, we have some relationship with that word. We think it means something, you know. And I’ve been trying all my life in a way to try and find a language to express our sense of what is not material, you know, without having recourse to the ready made ideas of religions.
Another of my favorite people who uses the word God is Joseph Campbell. His idea is that belief and faith get in the way of knowing God. My assumption here is that he is talking about a search for the truth, for a transcendent experience.
Karl Jung also had an experience with “God”. As a child, he tried to suppress an image that was trying to enter his consciousness. Finally, he let the image in. It was a picture of God sitting on his “throne” and letting loose a large turd which came down and smashed the Basel cathedral, shattering the roof and breaking the walls asunder. “God”, whatever that was in this case, was above His church and dogma. To me, this was similar to what Joseph Campbell was saying about belief and faith getting in the way of a search for the truth.
Personally, I am an atheist, and don’t like using the word God in a personal, open-minded search for the truth. Primarily, because it is so tainted by the dogmatic invisible sky daddy folks. When I was growing up, I had relatives who engaged in God-speak and Jeebus-speak so much, that it had me wondering, “WTF? What are they talking about? Who let them out of the asylum”? To each his own, but I’ll take another path, thanks.
3 July 2006, on 1:30 pm
BTW, I liked the Aussies’ “firm” interviewing style.
3 July 2006, on 3:31 pm
The Westboro Baptist Church cult members are oblivious to how “satirical” they are.
5 July 2006, on 6:04 pm
Hello there, Kidkawartha; Sean, you seem to attract more nicknames (not to mention epithets) than anyone else here. I still prefer “Warlock,” though; it’s got a superhero ring to it as opposed to “Boy in the Bubble.”