THE HATE MAIL, masquerading as a news release, was printed in big, black type. It began this way:
Thank God for another teenager
killed in Kansas in a fiery car crash
in Bonner Springs, Fri., Mar. 28.
He died for the sins of Kansas.
God Hates Kansas.
In the news release, Topeka’s Westboro Baptist Church announced that it planned to picket the funeral of Mark A. Holmes, 18, who was killed in an accident near Bonner Springs on Mar. 28. His funeral was Thursday.
The day of the funeral, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed the revised bill that is meant to control picketing at funerals. The bill will not take effect until next week.
Had the new law been in effect this week, it wouldn’t have made much difference for Holmes’ family and friends. The Westboro picketers still would have shown up and would have been standing in about the same place, displaying the same foul signs. The law only keeps picketers 150 feet away from a funeral and says they can’t block streets or sidewalks. The law keeps the picketers at arm’s length, but does not banish them from sight.
Then what good is the law? Its only real virtue is that it does set limits, in case the Westboro people get too enthusiastic in their crusade to torment the grieving.
But you would think that Mark Holmes’ parents would have had enough torment already. Their son is dead. Just five years ago, he survived an attack of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. To save his life, doctors had to amputate both his legs. He had a short, difficult life.
But for the Westboro folks, Holmes, like all of the soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, was not a human being. He was just a convenient object lesson singled out by a vengeful God intent on punishing all people who do not accept Fred Phelps as his prophet.
The picketing will continue, as will the awful news releases, spewed out of fax machines across the nation.
No law is likely to stop this wretched practice.
Patrick S. Kelley
Editorial Page Editor
jayhawker (anonymous) says...
I see Fred Phelps differently than some. Some believe that he is a misguided minister; others, a minister who hates so much that he lost his way. I believe that Fred's behavior is calculated to get attention and that it has nothing to do with God or religion. In other words, its all about Fred and nothing about God. We should pity him.
April 5, 2008 at 11:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
I would think by now, Newspapers and their editors would be smart enough recognize that the Phelps are not about religion, not about gay people, nor about funeral picketing. They are about irritating people to the point that the offended party will do something to violate their constitutional rights. They love it when the media, the local law enforcement and or local government attempt to shut them down. When they get the desired response, physical violence towards them, or government intervention, they sue and have been making living off the settlements for alot years. I do not support them and am disgusted by their actions, but I more disappointed with the media for continuing to give them continued exposure. I predict they will defeat this law in court.
April 5, 2008 at 1:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
neighbor...you are 100% correct in analyzing the Phelps clan
April 5, 2008 at 2:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
booker5m (anonymous) says...
If Freddy is like most people he has something to hide. The way he protest Gays so much I feel there something in his background he is trying to make up for. In other words Fred is or was Gay.
April 5, 2008 at 6:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gazette_reader (anonymous) says...
I'd like to see the news industry universally decide that Fred Phelps' protests are no longer news. I agree with the other posters. We saw back when the Amish school was attacked that he can get a ton of attention just by SUGGESTING that he's going to arrange a protest. Talk about free publicity!
I really think he'll lose most of his power if we collectively roll our eyes and mutter "Whatever, Fred" and then go back to what we were doing. No free radio publicity. No free television publicity. No free newspaper publicity. Period.
April 5, 2008 at 7:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
USNretired (anonymous) says...
I wonder if they protest at Hell's Angels' funerals. If not, I guess they have a religious reason?
April 5, 2008 at 8:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
open_eyes (anonymous) says...
Phelps and his gang are all loony nuts. Period.
April 5, 2008 at 11:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
zippy (anonymous) says...
I agree with the above posters. What an embarrassment to Kansas. We need to eliminate his name from the media and our vocabulary!!!!! Nuf said.
April 5, 2008 at 11:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hottopics (anonymous) says...
They are disgraceful. If we would stop putting them in the papers and ignored them then they would have no audience. But I of course think we need to put them on a plane to Iraq and they can sit up in the hills with Osama, they have a lot in common with hating USA.
April 6, 2008 at 10:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
karyle (anonymous) says...
Fred "the devil himself" will get his in the end. He is going to do his picketing with the wrong family and his wrath will come to a hault. I am surprise he has lived this long. In my own opinion the picketing won't stop until it happens to a Congressman, a Senator etc. . . Don't make it stop because of us little people. Fred is a sick thing. Can't even call him a person or individual. He should be shackled and stoned to death, slowly.
April 7, 2008 at 12:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
under_score (anonymous) says...
If he ever picketed a funeral of someone that I loved he and his followers would get an up close and personal look at the working end of a baseball bat.
April 9, 2008 at 1:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
traceygraham (Tracey Graham) says...
And, under_score, I seriously doubt you'd find a jury that would convict you of any kind of wrongdoing.
A lot of us would love to see the phelps clan get what's coming to them.
Earlier posters are probably right though. If we really really want to hurt them, the best thing we could do is ignore them and not give them the attention they so clearly crave.
April 9, 2008 at 2:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bja_2005 (anonymous) says...
This should be a law. I attend the University of Wisconsin Stout, and we recently had 3 students perish in a house fire. These people will be here tomorrow morning, to protest on OUR campus, and then driving to St. Paul to protest at one of the funerals.
Disgusting.
April 9, 2008 at 7:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )