What's it going to take....

[Larry Harp]

...to stop these terrorist? Yes, I call them terrorist because what else are they? I can't believe that any sane person could be so full of hate. An Oklahoma state representitive, a former Army Chaplin, is introducing legislation to prohibit protesting within 500 feet of a military funeral. Now the crazies from this so called church are putting their protest pickets outside his church. They will roll over anybody who disagrees with them. Thanks to the American Legion for helping at the funeral in the news story. Maybe it will have to come to the public wading into this group with ballbats to stop this group. I can't believe that the Baptist Church is maintaining their charter.



I'm furious:angry:

Harpo





Services today for Oklahoman killed in Afghanistan

Oct 11, 2005, 01:04 PM













ASSOCIATED PRESS



CHELSEA, Okla. -- While members of a Kansas church plan a protest at the funeral of an Oklahoma soldier today, motorcycle clubs in Kansas and Oklahoma say they'll prevent any interruption.



Services are this afternoon at 2 in Chelsea for Army Staff Sergeant John Doles who was killed in an ambush in Afghanistan on September 30th.



Members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, have shown up at other military funerals, including one in Oklahoma. They say American soldiers are being killed because of homosexuality in the U-S.



But about 30 members of the American Legion Riders group left Derby, Kansas, about 7:45 this morning and say they'll stop any interruption of the funeral. Group member Cregg (CRAIG) Hanson says they'll meet with 70 to 80 Oklahoma members in Claremore and together will use their bikes and bodies to create a barrier between the protestors and the funeral service.



Hanson says the group will remain silent and isn't necessarily trying to intimidate the protestors, but want to show them their tactics won't work.



(With help from Josh Wells, KFDI, Wichita, KS)



Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

[Greg Meyer]

I do not care who you are... You have no sane reason to protest at/during a funeral. Yes, you may be on "public property"... But.... oh man... I like the ball bat concept... I am a simple man with simple adeas... But, then no one should have to have a brawl at the funeral either... But, paybacks...

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Whole friggin' country is NUTS...IMHO:blink:

 

[TrepMan]

And this is a CHURCH that is organizing the protest of someone's funeral, that is just sad! If it was my family member, i'd be with Mike and Greg!

 

[Gene B]

Unbelievable. I'm feeling the same way Tee.



Gene

 

[JAMES MOORE]

Have to agree; Kick their butts from there completely out of the country. Send them to Iraq to live.

 

[Jim in VA]

Unfortunately, we're going to see more and more of this. Religious leaders have seem to have forgotten their roles as counselors and advisors to their congregations. Instead, they seem to have found a new "calling" in political activism. Religious organizations are now not only providing passive opinions on so-called "moral" issues, they are actively pursuing a political agenda on issues like abortion, right-to-die, and even global warming under the guise of "stewardship of the earth" (remember the "What would Jesus Drive?" campaign to get you out of your truck and into an econobox?). To me, this simply crosses the line of the function of the church. The so-called religious leaders that would use religion to further their own political aspirations are no better than the mullah's that use Islam to further their own radical agendas in the Middle East. This is, by no means, an indictment of all churches, but the few that are allowed to pursue this aim and those religious leaders that are only seeking to push their personal agendas.



JC

 

[Bill McElroy]

I had to LMAO the other day when I read in the paper where Louis Farrakhan is accusing the white man of "bombing the levee's in LA, in order to flood the black neighborhoods and keep the black man down!"...puuullease!!..Give me a break!!!



Do people actually believe that crap?? How insanely STUPID can someone be to even think like that!? He sure was quiet after 9-11 too.....I'm surprised he didn't accuse "the man" of taking the hijacker's hostage and forcing them to fly into the WTC....:blink::angry:



Mac

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Anybody can claim to be a church. This group has nothing to do with any religion other than hate.



TOXIC

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

I wouldn't want to be around when that "church" protests a funeral. I am not sure how I would behave.

 

[Larry Harp]

Some questions I have...



1. If this is a Baptist church, what is the opinion of the Baptist leadership? They are a pretty conservitave bunch and I'm sure they are not happy about being associated with this no matter how much they oppose homosexuality. All churchs must operate under a charter, why hasn't the Baptist leadership revoked this charter.



2. If these terrorists are operating as a church then they are also enjoying a tax free status from the Federal Government. What's up with that?? Anyone up for a letter to the IRS?



3. Why are they targeting the families of dead servicemen as their victims? Obviously these poor people have enough to deal with. I wonder if any of their protests have ended in violence? I have to think it has.





I'm reminded of a bumper sticker I saw one time on the back of an old Volkswagen that said:



Dear God: Please protect me from your followers



Harpo

 

[Michael Snow]

Okay, I'll give them the right to protest homosexuality (sorry Mac and Ken, y'all are still okay as long as you keep it in private ). I'll even give them the right to find religious grounds to protest the war. Protesting at a FUNERAL? Okay, maybe protesting against terrorism (or for more money to fund anti-terrorism) at a funeral of someone killed by a terrorist act -- but then it'd better be a family member.



But hey, let's step back from the obvious outrage over protesting at a funeral and let's get to the "nuts and bolts" of the argument... having gays in America causes soldiers in a war to die? Even I can't connect those two dots.

 

[Buzz Bouvier]

That same church protested here in Vermont at a soldiers funeral. They film the entire protest with their own members of the church doing the filming hoping a greiving member will be provoked enough to take a swing which by the way is capture on film and the church then proceds to file a suit against the individual who took the swing at the protester.. Our local news agency/newspapers did a article on there tactics...



Buzz

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

It's a sad thing for this country when a prosecutor would prosecute and a jury would convict anyone who would punch out one of those idiots. I don't want to hear, "the law's the law" because a higher law would be common sense and in days gone by this sort of behavior would NOT be tolerated.



Bill

 

[Larry Harp]

I did a little more research on this group last night and found some interesting information on them. They are in fact a "Christian cult" and a majority of the members are related to each other.



The first link is a gay/lesbian issues website so don't freak out but there is some interesting information about the founder of the church and his family. The other link (the active one) seems to lead to the wrong page sometimes but you can find it easily through Google. Just enter "Westboro Baptist Church" and you will find the Wikipedia entry about 3/4 of the way down after all the "God hates Fags" entries. This site talks about the tactics they use like the stuff Buzz was talking about. It's some scary stuff.



Harpo



http://www.rslevinson.com/gaylesissues/features/collect/guest/bldriley01.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church_(Topeka)

 

[Jim in VA]

What Harpo said . . .



"Dear God, Protect Me from Your Followers"



Where can I get that bumper sticker???