Pope Fred Phelps I

I’ve heard of freedom of speech – but this is ridiculous!

The Rev. Fred Phelps, the leader of the “cult” Westboro Baptist Church (and creator of such children-friendly websites as www.godhatesamerica.com), and his “congregation” (which is made up mostly of children, grandchildren, and in-laws) recently descended on two military funerals in Tennessee, claiming that God is punishing American soldiers for a country that contains gay and lesbian citizens.

Many may ask "Well, what about Canada?” especially since our neighbor to the north has now legally approved of gay marriage. Don't worry, Phelps has a sister website called www.godhatescanada.com. So much for discrimination.

Now, for those that are not in the know, American soldiers have been sent to Iraq to fight terrorism. In the Gospel according to Fred, American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting a country that harbors gays. The last time that I checked, the United States is about a step away from deportation of gays and lesbians, let alone trying to take away any of their rights.

The funerals of Sgt. Asbury Fred Hawn II, 35 and Spc. Gary Reese Jr, 22, both members of the Tennessee National Guard, were bombarded with verbal attacks from the Westboro group. According to the Associated Press, the church members “carried signs and shouted things such as ‘God hates f**s’ and “God hates you.”

Hey Fred, whatever happened to “God loves you”?

How did Sgt. Hawn and Spc. Reese get to be the “lucky ones” to receive this kind of posthumous treatment? Despite the fact if they were or weren’t gay, the actions of Phelps and his family were still downright disrespectful. Many would liken the Rev. Phelp’s “cemetery crusade” to Cindy Sheehan’s plight. In other words, Phelps is using the deaths of American soldiers to promote his personal political (and, in his case, religious) beliefs. No matter how radical they are.

Further in the release, the Associate Press reported that "police, sheriff's deputies and state troopers were brought in to control traffic and protect the protestors". Protect the protestors? Yes, you read right. The police protected Phelps and his crew of religious zealots. There's freedom of speech, and then there's blasphemous, controversial, disrespectful tripe. Phelps' plight falls under the latter. Personally, I do not see how the police could stand by with a clear conscience as two American soldier's funerals were interrupted by shouts of "God hates you".

I also wonder: If the protestors were not anti-gay, and were instead pointing the blame of the deaths of American soldiers at President George W. Bush, would the police have still protected them? Or, would a shower of tear gas have rained down upon them? Protestors, no matter what their message, should be entitled to the same rights.

In doing a little research, I found out a whole slew of interesting tidbits about our favorite (alleged) messenger of God. When he’s not praising Saddam Hussein (oh yes, in 1997, Phelps wrote a letter to Hussein praising his regime), shooting dogs, or abusing amphetamines, he’s beating his wife and/or children. Ah, Freddy: an example of pure Christian leadership. But is the world ready for Pope Fred Phelps I? Not only has he done unspeakable acts in his time, he has also conjured up fantastically maniacal conspiracies. According to Phelps, Truman Capote was responsible for bringing the AIDS epidemic to the United States. All of this is found in “The Conspiracy”, a spicy piece of literature co-authored by Phelps and his son-in-law, Brent Roper.

I’ve always found it odd that ‘religious” zealots, such as Phelps, have made it their life goal to condemn others. Many anti-gay protestors are ready to tell gays, lesbians, etc. that they are going to hell at the drop of a hat, which goes to show how alluded many of these holier-than-thou bigots are. Apparently, they, as well as the Westboro Baptist Church, do not subscribe to The Golden Rule: “Do onto others as you would have others do unto you.” Phelps, that’s a passage from Matthew 7:12. It can be found in that book with the brown cover called The Bible.

And Fred, remember. God loves you.

James Falcon is a freelance reporter and a “northern correspondent” for The Tanasi Journal. He lives on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota.