Happy Atheist Forum

I .....Know somebody who is planning a protest of the church at the church. Or at a protest of their own. How many of you condone such events? And if you do....what would be good sign ideas and/or questions to be asked. I....errr they will be filming said event.

I find the goading of one bunch of loony zealots by another, that gets good people killed a bit annoying.
How about "If you're going burn Korans do it in Mecca, martyrdom awaits!"

I think it's a waste of time to show up at the church to protest them.  I prefer the way that motorcycle group does it.  They show up at a funeral, park their bikes between the funeral and Westboro people, and rev their Harleys so the funeral-goers do not have to hear the Westboro people screaming insults at their dead servicemember.  

As for me, their insults and signs about thank God for dead soldiers and God hates fags and such don't bother me a bit.  I don't care what God thinks or what they think.  Would it bother an atheist as much as a theist at a funeral?

As for protesting Westboro, it doesn't get any better than this.

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fuberhumor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F02%2FEOIT6.jpg&hash=a998503f1e41ee5ee081b2601392a5d73e584e4f)

As I understand it, Westboro Baptist Church is a scam. They intentionally infuriate people, provoke them into assaulting one of the offensive church members, and sue them for a lot of money. It's not that they don't have honestly offensive beliefs, but their primary function is as a legal extortion racket.

All that having been said, when Phelps dies I'm going to host a bubble rave at his funeral and invite as many lgbt people as is humanly possible.

Quote from: "Will"As I understand it, Westboro Baptist Church is a scam. They intentionally infuriate people, provoke them into assaulting one of the offensive church members, and sue them for a lot of money. It's not that they don't have honestly offensive beliefs, but their primary function is as a legal extortion racket.

All that having been said, when Phelps dies I'm going to host a bubble rave at his funeral and invite as many lgbt people as is humanly possible.

Phelps is a dis-barred lawyer.  All of his children that remain in his cult are lawyers.  They sue for everything and have made quite a chunk of money doing so, and of course since they are a church it is tax free.

Just watched Louise Theroux do his second documentary on the phelps family.UK residents can see it here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g2kjm (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g2kjm) They are a scary bunch of people.

Quote from: "Tank"Just watched Louise Theroux do his second documentary on the phelps family.UK residents can see it here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g2kjm (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g2kjm) They are a scary bunch of people.

"Not available in your area"

Quote from: "Cecilie"

Quote from: "Tank"Just watched Louise Theroux do his second documentary on the phelps family.UK residents can see it here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g2kjm (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g2kjm) They are a scary bunch of people.

"Not available in your area"

It'll probably turn up on YouTube. If I see it I'll post a link here.

I saw that, they seem to be increasing in lunacy. Interestingly, the way Shirley sings over people who criticise is remarkably similar to a toddler jamming their fingers in their ears and wailing away.

I wonder what the dropout rate is like? they seem to have large families as a way to ameliorate this effect. Also, the chap the back of the church from San Francisco was a peculiar one, I wonder if he was gay/bi and that was the sin he was referring to?

Quote from: "SSY"I think the whole "video games make our kids killers" thing will disappear in a few years when the generation of people doing the studies were all raised with games. I imagine many of the people already are in this group.

Before this we had "violence on TV makes our kids killers", before that it was rock music, before that it was suggestive sculptures and artworks.

I agree with all of the above. However, it does not really refute the point that witnessing violence leads to violent behaviour does it? It simply demonstrates that there have been violent images in the past. People, in particular children, can be influenced by what they witness. If not there would be no religion as nobody is born a theist. So to say that witnessing violence does not lead to violent behaviour appears a little naive. The question is degree. Some people may not be influenced at all while others may be deeply effected. As usual I doubt the issue is as black and white as some would paint it. Given the variability of humanity I would be very surprised if there were not some fraction of people who are not influenced to emulate behaviour they witness. Let's face it, that is one of the cornerstones of learning. Intelligent creatures learn what is, and is not, acceptable behaviour through emulation and the resulting feedback from there peers and seniors.

Parts One,
[youtube:3r3yw5v8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ticxD0GfewA[/youtube:3r3yw5v8]

Two,
[youtube:3r3yw5v8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byDXu3aMAc0[/youtube:3r3yw5v8]

Three,
[youtube:3r3yw5v8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gXSlZ45GX4[/youtube:3r3yw5v8]

Four.
[youtube:3r3yw5v8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ua1Y7dLtIQ[/youtube:3r3yw5v8]

The bit that gets me is when they interview Grace, the 18you daughter, her photographs are very good, yet she's wasting her life hating everybody and waiting to die. If that's not child abuse I really can't see what you'd call it

Quote from: "Tank"Parts One,
[youtube:c599uzq1]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ticxD0GfewA[/youtube:c599uzq1]

Two,
[youtube:c599uzq1]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byDXu3aMAc0[/youtube:c599uzq1]

Three,
[youtube:c599uzq1]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gXSlZ45GX4[/youtube:c599uzq1]

Four.
[youtube:c599uzq1]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ua1Y7dLtIQ[/youtube:c599uzq1]

The bit that gets me is when they interview Grace, the 18you daughter, her photographs are very good, yet she's wasting her life hating everybody and waiting to die. If that's not child abuse I really can't see what you'd call it

Thank you! I'll be sure to watch it later when I have the time.

Quote from: "fester30"

Quote from: "Will"As I understand it, Westboro Baptist Church is a scam. They intentionally infuriate people, provoke them into assaulting one of the offensive church members, and sue them for a lot of money. It's not that they don't have honestly offensive beliefs, but their primary function is as a legal extortion racket.

All that having been said, when Phelps dies I'm going to host a bubble rave at his funeral and invite as many lgbt people as is humanly possible.

Phelps is a dis-barred lawyer.  All of his children that remain in his cult are lawyers.  They sue for everything and have made quite a chunk of money doing so, and of course since they are a church it is tax free.

Wow, this is far more sickening than "god hates fags" signs...

As a gay activist in Washington and Maine, I have never had the...dis-pleasure of seeing these people in person. While I despise them greatly, I will say that I hope they die peaceful, painless, dignified deaths. Not because they are good people, because we all know they aren't,  but because if they died any other way, they would become a martyr in some eyes. Mind you, when they do die, I will chuck a beer and fuck my boyfriend in their names...and try to get to their funerals so I can dance on their graves...or at the very least protest them.

Hate for homosexuality is a big part of religion's downfall. As the world have learned to accept same gender relationships they have also learned to question the teachings and values of religion. If organisations don't embrace their gay side they will lose this fight.

With regards to West Boro, at least they are getting more and more people to stick up for the "Fags" (no offense intended).

Was very surprised to see a queue of one very odd looking guy knocking at the churches door. These guys are not converting anyone into their way of thinking, they are of no threat to anyone other than themselves.

[youtube:csy9agbm]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dzSEenqc3w[/youtube:csy9agbm]

Just like so many other things in pop culture, I wish we could avoid feeding these trolls. Professional stupid drunk Jersey Shore people, women who have baker's dozen babies at a time and want money/fame, professional addicts, professional criminals, hateful/violent religious whackadoodles...it would be so awesome if society could collectively come to the agreement that these people aren't worth giving attention or energy.

Quote from: "GAYtheist"As a gay activist in Washington and Maine, I have never had the...dis-pleasure of seeing these people in person.

I always look for them at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but I haven't seen them yet. Sometimes I'm surprised they aren't protesting, but then I remember that half the population of the French Quarter probably wouldn't hesitate to shoot them on sight.

Quote from: "Ulver"Just like so many other things in pop culture, I wish we could avoid feeding these trolls. Professional stupid drunk Jersey Shore people, women who have baker's dozen babies at a time and want money/fame, professional addicts, professional criminals, hateful/violent religious whackadoodles...it would be so awesome if society could collectively come to the agreement that these people aren't worth giving attention or energy.

But then we'd have to be somewhat intelligent to find entertainment elsewhere.

Quote from: "februarystars"But then we'd have to be somewhat intelligent to find entertainment elsewhere.

Shame  

I just watched the new documentary and those people just make me sick. They attack America and yet hide behind our constitution while spewing their filth all over everyone. One of the girls in the documentary spoke of a protest of Muslims which they held where they burnt korans. It's nice for them that they can be so offensive and horrible to people, and we'll provide the protection for them to do it. I would like to see these pathetic hypocrites grow some serious balls and try that in a Muslim nation in the Mideast somewhere. I guarantee that would get rid of them once and for all.

Quote from: "Ulver"Just like so many other things in pop culture, I wish we could avoid feeding these trolls. Professional stupid drunk Jersey Shore people, women who have baker's dozen babies at a time and want money/fame, professional addicts, professional criminals, hateful/violent religious whackadoodles...it would be so awesome if society could collectively come to the agreement that these people aren't worth giving attention or energy.

Agreed. They thrive on the reactions they get from people and the money off the lawsuits when people overreact to them. If everybody would simply ignore those who really don't deserve any attention, I'd bet they would eventually fade away or restrict their silly hate-filled and attention-whoring cult to just themselves.

The dumb bucketheads.    

As for Fred Phelps senior...there's definitely something very odd going on in that strange head of his.

I've been familiar with these douche rockets for a while. Being in the military, I learned of them when a friend showed me pictures while deployed in Trashghanistan. Maybe that's what makes me so sick to my stomach. Seeing how these young people died, and watching how they're funerals are protested. I know I know, they're just dead...its not like they can take offense. But a funeral is more for the family of the dead, it should be about the deceased, not these monkey-dung hillbillies. I agree we shouldn't feed the bears, but also a part of me wants to put Mr. Phelps in an armbar and watch him go stiff from shock as I break his arms in two. That's barbaric of me, I know. But we are, after all, animals. Until we evolve out of petty animal behaviors those feelings will be there.