Should I counter-protest Fred "Whackadoodle" Phelps?

Ladewig

I lost an avatar bet.
Ladewig
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He is in Houston this weekend protesting the lesbian who was elected mayor. Of, course, Rev. Phelps is protesting more than just that. He plans to stop at the Holocaust Museum. His schedule page says
Fred Phelps said:
The sorrow which some Jews experienced during the WWII Holocaust, at the hands of the vicious German, and other Gentiles is NOTHING compared to what the Lord Jesus Christ is going to inflict upon His return after He lets Obama beat the dog pooh outta you heartless, merciless Jews. Check it out, suckers: 2Thesalonians 1:5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, ...
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Quite seriously, I dont understand how the men in white coats havent come and taken these people away?

The line between fundamentalism and insanity is pretty thin as it is, and these nutbags step right over that line. How have they not been committed?
 
devnull said:
Quite seriously, I dont understand how the men in white coats havent come and taken these people away?

The line between fundamentalism and insanity is pretty thin as it is, and these nutbags step right over that line. How have they not been committed?
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In the United States, we call it the First Amendment to the Constitution.
 
I would not protest, but ignore him. He wants protests. That's the only reason anybody heard of him.

Remember: freedom of speech means he has the right to say (almost) anything he wants, but it doesn't mean anybody has to listen.
 
I protested him once. A friend of mine was directing a production of the play, "The Laramie Project" in Milwaukee. They came to protest the play. Counter protesters outnumbered them about 10 to 1 and it was GREAT publicity for the play which ended up selling out. So, is it worth protesting him just to protest? No. Is it worth it if it brings good publicity to whatever he's protesting against? Yes, if that's something you want to support, then go for it.

Ward
 
If you're directly protecting someone (such as the family and friends of a deceased individual whose funeral has been targeted by WBC), I recommend a quiet but massive human-shield protest. I, myself took part in such a counter-protest in Winnipeg a couple of years ago, and it was an unqualified success.

Otherwise, go for pure mockery and make sure the media focuses on you instead of Phelps. Bring out Pastafarians mud-wrestling Invisible Pink Unicorn adherents; a flashmob of people riding penny farthing bicycles; the local Star Trek fanclub... Anything that's colourful and boisterous and renders the WBC message irrelevant and uninteresting.
 
Astreja said:
If you're directly protecting someone (such as the family and friends of a deceased individual whose funeral has been targeted by WBC), I recommend a quiet but massive human-shield protest. I, myself took part in such a counter-protest in Winnipeg a couple of years ago, and it was an unqualified success.

Otherwise, go for pure mockery and make sure the media focuses on you instead of Phelps. Bring out Pastafarians mud-wrestling Invisible Pink Unicorn adherents; a flashmob of people riding penny farthing bicycles; the local Star Trek fanclub... Anything that's colourful and boisterous and renders the WBC message irrelevant and uninteresting.
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Given that every mention of the man on any media is clearly feeding him, I would protest in the form of just ignoring him. Stand in front of him chatting. Treat him like a deranged street person. Don't bring signs, loudhailers, chants or anything else that will make him more visible. Make him less visible. Get in his way, stand around doing nothing - and if he's booing something, cheer it - but don't respond to him in any way.

Treat him like someone else's bratty kid having a tantrum. Don't treat him like a serious philosophical opponent, because he isn't. He'd love it if there was a massive anti-Phelps demonstration. He'd love it if someone punched him. It just adds to the Phelps noise. Just make him as invisible as possible.
 
Thank you for your responses - they were helpful and insightful.
 
As Lisa Simpson and Paul Anka sang,

"Just don't look!"

These folks crave attention and by doing anything other than ignoring them, you're giving them what they want.
 
Isnt Shirley his daughter an attorney and knows just how far they can go? On the plus side she's a hot babe.

phelps.jpg
 
Astreja said:
If you're directly protecting someone (such as the family and friends of a deceased individual whose funeral has been targeted by WBC), I recommend a quiet but massive human-shield protest. I, myself took part in such a counter-protest in Winnipeg a couple of years ago, and it was an unqualified success.

Otherwise, go for pure mockery and make sure the media focuses on you instead of Phelps. Bring out Pastafarians mud-wrestling Invisible Pink Unicorn adherents; a flashmob of people riding penny farthing bicycles; the local Star Trek fanclub... Anything that's colourful and boisterous and renders the WBC message irrelevant and uninteresting.
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Agreed, I would do mockery. Consider some signs around the theme "God hates Figs." Link
 
As one of Phelps' estranged children (Nate perhaps?) once pointed out, Fred Phelps needs to be hated. It's a pathological condition. It's as though love and hate are reversed in his psyche. If Fred and his church showed up and everyone ignored him it would hurt him more than anything else could.
 
Ladewig said:
Should I counter-protest Fred "Whackadoodle" Phelps?
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People like the Phelps feed on attention. Since they aren't going to convince anyone who isn't already nuts its not worth even dignifying them with a response. Best to just ignore them.

ETA: NVM. I see a lot of other people have already pointed out the same thing.
 
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AkuManiMani said:
People like the Phelps feed on attention. Since they aren't going to convince anyone who isn't already nuts its not worth even dignifying them with a response. Best to just ignore them.
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Right. Then they decide to get everyone's attention with a gun or a moving truck full of homemade explosives.
 
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Mark A. Siefert said:
Right, until they decide to get everyone's attention with a gun or a moving truck full of homemade explosives.
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As Hux pointed out, Shirley Phelps is an attorney so they know how far they can push the legal envelope. They're hateful b@stards, but nothing they do is technically criminal. They're not worth the effort of trying to set a legal precedent that may endanger the rest of our rights to free speech, and they'd relish the attention they would get from it anyway. It really is wiser just to ignore them.
 
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I honestly think ignoring them as much as possible is the best defense.

Maybe even put up a sign that says something like the following:
"God Hates Attention Whores"
 
AkuManiMani said:
As Hux pointed out, Shirley Phelps is an attorney so they know how far they can push the legal envelope. They're hateful b@stards, but nothing they do is technically criminal. They're not worth the effort of trying to set a legal precedent that may endanger the rest of our rights to free speech, and they'd relish the attention they would get from it anyway. It really is wiser just to ignore them.
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Is Shirley Phelps in command of every right-wing Christian homophobe, or every member of the WBB for that matter?

And how long until the Phelps, or others, decide that their God makes them above your precious laws. or change them to suit their designs?
 
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Hux said:
Isnt Shirley his daughter an attorney and knows just how far they can go? On the plus side she's a hot babe.

[qimg]http://www.freethinker.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/phelps.jpg[/qimg]
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You have a very strange taste in women.
 
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