If you’re not familiar with the incestuous Phelps clan, Shirley is the daughter of the hate-filled Westboro Baptist Church leader Fred Phelps. Other members are largely family, which is convenient as there is no one else on Earth they do not loudly hate in God’s name. That’s right, they have ‘His’ personal hate list. From years of studying them I feel safe in saying that no one, regardless of their sexual or religious orientation, can get off of His hate list, so they are not out to convert so much as to condemn. Live and let live is not their motto.
Famous for shouting and picketing at the funerals of gay soldiers for years, it is only in recent times that they have received more than stunned silence from their usual victims who are in shock, horror and deep mourning. While the gay community is a constant target, they also go after those of the Jewish faith – a mistake which recently sent them running from a Jewish community which was not in mourning nor disinclined to give chase.
Comedian Brick Stone caught the merry crowd in Las Vegas on November 1st, when they staged a demonstration at a high school. You will hear him ask them questions they can’t answer and fluster Shirley (for the first time ever) to the point that she simply breaks out into song when he approaches.
While ugly scenes rarely cure societal ills, the law hasn’t been able to protect people adequately from them. If humiliation can work somewhat like a large pest repellent, then so be it. As you will hear, there is no point for their rants, the only people who aren’t hell-bound are the Westboro crowd – an excellent reason to book passage in the other direction.