God hates who?
There are few people on this Earth who incense me to the point of violent anger. I have my moments, that's true. But as I was listening to my usual radio morning show this morning, they did a Fred Phelps update.
Fred Phelps, if you didn't know, is the Pastor of Westboro Baptist church, a virulently homophobic church that pickets funerals of deceased gays and lesbians. Oh, but it doesn't stop there. These fuckers have praised 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina for "cleansing" our nation of the gay threat. He's begun training a legion of children, beginning with his own children and grandchildren, to be "fag haters." You may know him most prominently for picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard, whose hate-crime murder is one of the most brutal in recent memory. He also runs GodHatesFags.Com and GodHatesAmerica.Com.
So what's Freddy Boy been up to lately? Picketing the funerals of soldiers who recently died in Iraq. He says that their deaths are on America's hands-- that we killed them because we, as a nation, are homosexual-sympathetic.
There are no words for the fury that shocks my system when I think about the things that that man has done. It's primal rage.
You know, I've never been a huge fan of this war. I think it boils down to greed for oil, diversion from the actual terrorists that we can't seem to find, and a "you hurt my daddy" grudge match. But you know what? That has absolutely zero to do with the people out there fighting the war they were deployed to fight. My anger, my protest, is focused solely on the government that I feel is needlessly putting thousands upon thousands of our servicemen and servicewomen in harm's way. The fact that Phelps would dishonor those that died just doing their job makes me want to snap his neck with my bare hands.
And then I stop to think. How is my blind rage any better than his blind rage? Just because I'm not a complete idiot doesn't make my rage any more justified if it were to be exacted. It's a bitter pill, and a hard line to follow.
Two days ago was the seven-year anniversary of Matthew Shepard's murder. I saw lots of you do memorial posts, and I read them and nodded. I didn't feel like I had anything to add, not until today. Today, when I realized that all of my violent anger against the WBC makes me just as capable of being consumed by hate as those I'm raging against.
Fred Phelps, if you didn't know, is the Pastor of Westboro Baptist church, a virulently homophobic church that pickets funerals of deceased gays and lesbians. Oh, but it doesn't stop there. These fuckers have praised 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina for "cleansing" our nation of the gay threat. He's begun training a legion of children, beginning with his own children and grandchildren, to be "fag haters." You may know him most prominently for picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard, whose hate-crime murder is one of the most brutal in recent memory. He also runs GodHatesFags.Com and GodHatesAmerica.Com.
So what's Freddy Boy been up to lately? Picketing the funerals of soldiers who recently died in Iraq. He says that their deaths are on America's hands-- that we killed them because we, as a nation, are homosexual-sympathetic.
There are no words for the fury that shocks my system when I think about the things that that man has done. It's primal rage.
You know, I've never been a huge fan of this war. I think it boils down to greed for oil, diversion from the actual terrorists that we can't seem to find, and a "you hurt my daddy" grudge match. But you know what? That has absolutely zero to do with the people out there fighting the war they were deployed to fight. My anger, my protest, is focused solely on the government that I feel is needlessly putting thousands upon thousands of our servicemen and servicewomen in harm's way. The fact that Phelps would dishonor those that died just doing their job makes me want to snap his neck with my bare hands.
And then I stop to think. How is my blind rage any better than his blind rage? Just because I'm not a complete idiot doesn't make my rage any more justified if it were to be exacted. It's a bitter pill, and a hard line to follow.
Two days ago was the seven-year anniversary of Matthew Shepard's murder. I saw lots of you do memorial posts, and I read them and nodded. I didn't feel like I had anything to add, not until today. Today, when I realized that all of my violent anger against the WBC makes me just as capable of being consumed by hate as those I'm raging against.