Two defect from Westboro Baptist Church

Mr. Purple said:
Fine, I'll bite. What exactly am I "profoundly ignorant" about? That people can be effected by their parents? At a point, (I would say 27 is hell and gone from that point) we have to hold people accountable for their actions.

Maybe we disagree about holding people with crazy parents accountable for their actions, but I fail to see how this makes me "profoundly ignorant".
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By the time you were 27 years old I suspect that you'd lived apart from your family for a number years, and that you would have formed close and healthy relationships with a greater circle of people than your own extended family, which is something these two women had not been able to do. Hell, you'd probably done this by 21. Why? Because your parents didn't pathologically train you to be part of a cultish and insular tribe. Instead they raised you to be independent.

Very few thoughts come out of a persons mind that weren't put in there in the first place. Being exposed to differing views and ideas as you (and most people) were, you have the luxury of being able to make more independent choices. You also have the luxury of knowing that, barring outrageous behavior, you are not likely to lose your entire social support for taking a specific philosophical or ontological viewpoint.

Megan and Grace have never had that assurance.

I assume that your comment "Well that line starts five million miles away to the left... " was meant to disparage the actual science that demonstrates the materialist origin of human behavior as "Marxist claptrap". You should be made aware of a few facts. Human beings have emotional needs that are based on instincts meant to satisfy material needs. They struggle to meet these needs in a variety of ways and the ways in which they do so has almost everything to do with skills that they are given very early in life and nothing to do with Idealist fantasies about "character" and "morality".

And welcoming the offenders with open arms brings them comfort?
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This is a false dichotomy.
 
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I thank you for the discussion, Joe, but we will just have to agree to disagree.

I understand your overly elaborated point that people are a product of their upbringing. Be that as it may, at a point, we are responsible for our own lives.

If they aren't, then they shouldn't be given the responsibilities of an adult.

Were she 16, I would feel differently.
 
There were some cute ones in the Louis Theroux documentary. But I just have to accept that they are crazy and probably carrying a crazy gene.:(
 
I've observed the Phelps bunch first hand (I'm a member of the Patriot Guard Riders) when they've come to Ca. to "protest" funerals for service members.

My .02 is that the prime motivation behind this ugly piece of street theatre is goading onlookers into committing act(s) that WBC can then file suit over.

For those that aren't familar with their MO, they are generally limited to an area away from direct contact with mourners, they pull up in a rented van, pull out their signage, and proceed to hoot and holler at any unfortunate passerby that happens to be handy, all under the protection of local LE.

They keep that up for 15-20 minutes making ******** out of themselves, children included, jump back in the van heading for parts unkown (my favorite destination would be a big hot fire, but the universe doesn't pay attention to my wishes) and that's it.

As far as anybody leaving that nest of ignorance, good on them.

Personally, as much as they flip my switches, I'm not going to waste much energy hating them past face-to-face encounters. I refuse to let them into my head.
 
Edx said:
You know you can be a total douchbag while not doing anything illegal right?
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Mr. Purple said:
I thank you for the discussion, Joe, but we will just have to agree to disagree.

I understand your overly elaborated point that people are a product of their upbringing. Be that as it may, at a point, we are responsible for our own lives.

If they aren't, then they shouldn't be given the responsibilities of an adult.

Were she 16, I would feel differently.
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So what are we deciding here? Burn the witch? :p
 
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The search function on this site is useless. I searched for earlier threads on this topic but the search terms "megan phelps roper" turned up no results for me, and I always check the settings. That search function is nuthin' but trouble I tell ye.
 
Megan Phelps-Roper was a 'prominent' member of Westboro Baptist Church. Insofar as a woman can be a prominent member of a masculine-dominant organization. Or the IT guy/girl is a prominent member in any organization. She introduced WBC to twitter.
 
For some reason I have always thought the leaders of this church were leftists who wanted to give conservative religious groups a bad name.
 
Monketey Ghost said:
And maybe she hated herself the whole time and thought the family's actions were wrong but was too scared and shamed to speak up. From what I know of cults, they don't take any sass very well, and indeed mete out punishment.
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I've heard Nate describe his life under Fred. Physical and mental punishment out the wahzoo. Years and years of it. Think baseball bat but not as a piece of sports equipment. Combine that with domination and humiliation, again for years. It was painful to listen to. That anyone can escape that all encompassing environment is a testament to the human spirit.

Your assessment, Mr. Purple, that these were adults capable of independent thought and action just because they were over 18 (or 21) utterly fails to acknowledge reality.
 
Hey if you want to feel good about yourself and get a neat buzz from a slow burn of condemnation, you'll find plenty of fodder in the WBC. Sometimes the people who are mentally masturbating themselves over criticizing them are far more annoying than the actual cult members. Just **** off, all of you, and get a life!
 
Joey McGee said:
Hey if you want to feel good about yourself and get a neat buzz from a slow burn of condemnation, you'll find plenty of fodder in the WBC. Sometimes the people who are mentally masturbating themselves over criticizing them are far more annoying than the actual cult members.
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I was with you at this point...

Joey McGee said:
Just **** off, all of you, and get a life!
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... then you hit the fail button so hard it broke.
 
Sorry, I watched a bunch of George Carlin recently and maybe I thought I had his schtick going on.
 
Mr. Purple said:
And welcoming the offenders with open arms brings them comfort?
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We could also shun them so completely that they'll go back to Phelps just to get someone to talk with. I think that would work well for encouraging others to leave the church.
 
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