tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14215370.post112326153142323293..comments2023-10-31T07:29:17.510-07:00Comments on = LNews =: Fred Phelps Spreading the Hate at Military FuneralsLNewsEditorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15516265929045096334noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14215370.post-1123522660573743932005-08-08T10:37:00.000-07:002005-08-08T10:37:00.000-07:00He and Paris Hilton are obviously competing in the...He and Paris Hilton are obviously competing in the Attention Whore Olympics. Won't someone hold up a "Jesus Wants to Bitchslap Fred Phelps" sign?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14215370.post-1123359019155912962005-08-06T13:10:00.000-07:002005-08-06T13:10:00.000-07:00This is beyond bad taste. He really thinks we're a...This is beyond bad taste. He really thinks we're at war because someone bombed his church? Self-important much?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14215370.post-1123261633678402082005-08-05T10:07:00.000-07:002005-08-05T10:07:00.000-07:00JIC Post:by Doreen Brandt 365Gay.com Washington Bu...JIC Post:<BR/>by Doreen Brandt <BR/>365Gay.com Washington Bureau<BR/><BR/>(Washington) Members of homophobic preacher Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas have rarely been seen protesting against gays this summer. <BR/><BR/>Instead they are targeting the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq. <BR/><BR/>Phelps' members are mostly relatives. The "church" is labeled a cult by civil rights organizations that monitor hate groups.<BR/><BR/>The clan gained national notoriety when it demonstrated at the funeral of Matthew Shepard. <BR/><BR/>Shepard, a gay 21 year old University of Wyoming student was kidnapped by two men he met in a bar in October 1998. He was pistol-whipped, robbed and left tied to a fence on a rural snow swept country road outside Laramie. He died five days later in hospital from massive head injuries. <BR/><BR/>Fred Phelps and members of his group stood outside the funeral holding posters denouncing homosexuality. He also runs the God Hates Fags web site.<BR/><BR/>The clan has demonstrated at gay friendly churches, schools, and events across the country since then.<BR/><BR/>But, this summer Phelps found a new target. Almost weekly clan members have demonstrated at the funerals of members of the military who died in Iraq.<BR/><BR/>Thursday in Princeton, Minnesota a handful of demonstrators stood in front of Immanuel Lutheran Church, where about 400 people turned out for a memorial service for Sgt. Bryan Opskar.<BR/><BR/>He was killed July 23 when a roadside bomb exploded.<BR/><BR/>The Phelps supporters held signs saying "God blew up the troops," "Thank God for IEDs," "America is doomed" and "God hates America." <BR/><BR/>The protestors said that American troops are dying in Iraq because God is punishing the United States for an unsolved bombing of the Phelps church in 1995 that left a child seriously injured.LNewsEditorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15516265929045096334noreply@blogger.com