Posted on 04/07/2006 11:22:15 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
(CNSNews.com) - The man responsible for the "GodHatesFags.com" and "GodHatesAmerica.com" websites picketed the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Thursday with a dozen of his family members and followers. They carried signs stating "Thank God for Maimed Soldiers," "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "God Hates You."
Fred Phelps, pastor of the independent Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., claimed the injuries and fatalities suffered by American military personnel are the product of God's wrath.
"God almighty is punishing this evil nation by killing their kids over in Iraq and by maiming, crippling and mangling their kids over in Iraq," Phelps told Cybercast News Service. "This nation is going to continue to be punished by God until they repent, but we don't believe they're going to repent." See video.
Phelps believes military personnel share the blame for court decisions and legislation favoring homosexuality, even if those service members do not support that lifestyle.
"It's irrelevant whether they as individuals support them. They joined an army and became a part of a military establishment, voluntarily, knowing that that military establishment was packed and jammed with homosexuals," Phelps argued. "If they join an army that they know is a sodomite army and fight for a nation that they know is a sodomite nation, they are equally guilty."
O.P. Ditch of Woodbridge, Va., retired from the U.S. Air Force, learned of Phelps' planned protest and displayed his own printed sign at the main gate of the Walter Reed hospital.
"I disagree with anybody who comes to a military hospital and, you know, says trashy things like 'God Is America's Terror.' I'm reading their signs right now, 'Thank God for Maimed Soldiers,'" Ditch said "That's the same word that Code Pink uses -- 'maimed' soldiers. They said the soldiers were 'Maimed for a lie,' and this guy's using the same words."
As Cybercast News Service previously reported, the anti-war group Code Pink began picketing Walter Reed in August of 2005. The group lost its permit to protest at the main entrance to the hospital last month.
Ditch held his sign, which stated, "Code Phelps -- Human IED," an acronym for "improvised explosive device."
"He doesn't belong here," Ditch concluded. "If he wants to protest, go to the White House or to Capitol Hill and he can protest, but he shouldn't be here protesting the troops."
Wesley Cook of Philadelphia agreed, calling Phelps' and his followers' actions "a disgrace.
"We have soldiers here that are healing. They need peace and quiet. Mr. Phelps, 'Pastor' Phelps, Mr. Phelps is just looking for publicity," Cook said. "I am also a Christian. He is not practicing a brand of Christianity that I recognize. I think he's shaming the name of Jesus Christ."
Don Smith of Maryland turned up the volume on his opposition to Phelps' protest. The owner of what he described as "the loudest Harley I know of," Smith brought his motorcycle and had other friends bring theirs to wait for Phelps' group.
Shortly after Phelps and his followers marched into position -- singing "God Hates America" to the tune of "God Bless America" -- Smith and his friends started their engines.
In law enforcement and military circles, the procedure is called "acoustical countermeasures." Smith referred to it as "protestus interruptus."
"I understand First Amendment rights, but my personal feeling is, there [is] a time and a place for everything," Smith argued. "These people are protesting at funerals of guys -- men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and outside a funeral or outside an Army hospital, holding signs that say 'God Hates Wounded Soldiers.' It's not the time or the place."
After approximately 30 minutes of no one being able to hear their chants and songs over the motorcycles, a large group of off-duty military personnel in civilian clothes approached Phelps' followers and began verbally challenging the anti-military signs. Phelps' group packed their belongings and walked away, followed briefly by the servicemen.
Members of FreeRepublic.com and TroopsSupport.com immediately took up positions on all four corners of the intersection at the main gate to the hospital, waiving American flags and displaying signs supporting the troops.
What a bunch of sick SOBs.
I still think that he shouldn't be able to collect on a civil judgement because of the "fighting words" doctrine.
Hi Jim.
This makes me positively ill.
The D.C. FReepers rock!
My oldest daugther is in the Air Force and she just got orders to be deployed to Iraq next month.
She is 22, been in the Air Force since the age of 18 and has a 10-month old daugther.
Yhank God for Freepers.
could somebody.........ANYBODY.......just hammer this guy with a baseball bat? Pleasssseeeeeeee........
I certainly don't encourage anyone to throw a Molotov cocktail into this group of whackos. But if someone did, I'd want to see the video of it.
Nutbag.
Nutbag.
Not you, Jim.:0)
Interesting that you should say that. Fred is in fact a Democrat and has run for Govorner of Kansas as a Democrat. Before he began all the protesting he was a big shot in the Democrat party. A major fund raiser. There are photos of him and Al Gore at Fred's "compound" in Topeka. Fred was invited to Bubba Clinton's inauguration in 1992 and 1996.
We appreciate her service.
"Not every one that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven."
Phelps is confusing being a cheap publicity hound with doing God's will. Jesus himself said to us, "Love one another as I have loved you". How the flipping hell Phelps thinks he's doing that with this nonsense is beyond me.
Regards, Ivan
There is, Howlin, there is.
I stand by my defence of the 1st Amendment, but I would hope that free speech would be tempered by decency. How does anyone enjoy the freedoms of our country and then conduct themselves in this manner? He should go to a third-world theocratic country and see how long he could survive this amount of dissent. Thankyou to all of the counter demonstraters for a very successful, and non-violent, event.
I don't see a lot of difference between Osama and this dickhead. Both scum.
Fred Phelps himself is a disbarred lawyer. He would offer a smaller settlement amount to go away and not press litigation in many cases.
The reason they chose Homosexuals to protest is that there is a scriptural basis to be against them and that can be protected on Freedom of Religion grounds in their speech against them. They are vile and provacative in the hope that someone will offer minor but actionable offense against them or they can sue the locality for not protecting them.
Homosexuals are not known particularly for violence. You would never see these assholes with signs that say, "God Hates The Hells Angels", or "God hates the Crips". .
dfwgator: "Here he is with Algore."
They were allies back when Algore was a senator, when Algore claimed to be a conservative - despite voting against Desert Storm. Once Algore became VP and did a mind-meld with Clinton over social issues (including gays in the military), Phelps came out against him big-time.
Here's an excerpt:
"In 2003, before the fall of Saddam Hussein during the Iraq War, Phelps wrote Hussein a letter praising his regime for being, in his opinion, "the only Muslim state that allows the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to be freely and openly preached on the streets." Furthermore, he stated that he, if U.S. Government and laws permitted and at the invitation of the Iraqi government, would like to send a delegation to Baghdad to "preach the Gospel" for one week. Hussein granted permission, and a group of WBC congregants traveled to Iraq to protest against the U.S. The parishioners stood on the streets of Baghdad and heavily patronized Baghdad establishments holding signs reading:
* AL GORE FAMILY VALUES (with a cartoon of two men having anal sex) [65]
* GO HOME (with a cartoon of Bill Clinton)
* BABY KILLER (with a cartoon of Hillary Clinton)
* BABY KILLER (with a cartoon of Bill Clinton)
* FAG GORE
* FAG USA= SODOM
* STOP THE HOLOCAUST (in reference to Phelps' "Topeka Baptist Holocaust" campaign)
* FAG USA (with a picture of an inverted, burning American flag)
* USA SIN (with a picture of anatomically incorrect stick figures engaged in anal sex)
Phelps mourned the fall of Hussein's regime and has consistently criticized the invasion of Iraq, citing, "IRAQ+USA=SODOM" and keeping a toll on his webpage celebrating the death of every American soldier killed and pronouncing loyalty to Iraq."
Ping
I am really surprised no instances of violence have broken out during one of phelsps' protests. Eventually, they are going to piss off the WRONG person.
**I really doubt that Phelps and his clan are actually against homosexuals**
That's what I was thinking too. It's just a different way to do an anti-war protest. Different and disgusting, traitorous, evil...
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