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This is cut'n'pasted from my MySpace blog. If you're interested, please keep in touch there, if possible. If it's not possible, hit me up here.
Fred Phelps and his crew of hatemongers are going to be in Harford County, Md tomorrow (Saturday 09/30) to protest the funeral of a fallen soldier. In the unlikely event you don't know about Phelps and his "church," here's the brief version:
They show up to the funerals of fallen soldiers with signs like "God Hates Your Tears" and "Thank God For Dead Soldiers." Their reasoning? They believe that God hates America for allowing "fags" to live. Real high class. Real Christian.
So, I'm trying to get all the Christian punks and skins I know to show up and show LOVE, not hate. This is NOT a call to arms, because while our culture may dictate that these people should be pulling their teeth from barstools, our FAITH dictates that we "Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult." ( 1 Peter 3:9) Scripture also says "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody." ( Romans 12:17)
The funeral is at 10am, I'm recommending people show up at 8:30 or 9. We can park at the Schimunek funeral home (610 Macphail Rd, Bel Air, MD), which is a half mile from the funeral, and carpool. We shouldn't park at the funeral itself, as the grieving family should at least be afforded that courtesy.
Please message me here on MySpace, or call me if you have my number. I'll keep tabs on replies. Watch my blog for updates.
Full article follows:
BY KATIE BENNETT
kbennett@theaegis.com
Picture sitting in the front pew of a church at your son's funeral and saying good-bye while people you don't even know hold up signs outside reading things like "God Hates Your Tears" and "Thank God For Dead Soldiers."
This is a vision Robert and Carol Roddy have of their son's funeral Saturday morning, and it's one they dread.
Navy Petty Officer David Sean Roddy, 32, of Hampden,Va., formerly ofAbingdon, was killed in action in Iraq Sept. 16 and his funeral is Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Abingdon.
The Roddys said they were told protesters are expected to attend their son's funeral and they are devastated.
"Actually, I'm kind of disgusted," Robert Roddy said. "If I had my way, I'd arrest them and put them in a plane to Iraq."
Carol Roddy said she and her husband do not agree with or appreciate the protesters coming to the funeral for their son who.gave his life for their country.
The protesters are from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, and they have been protesting at soldiers' funerals across the country since at least Jan. 2 because they believe the war in Iraq is God's way of punishing the country for tolerant attitudes toward homosexuality, according to their web site.
The Aegis attempted to contact Westhoro Baptist Church, but no one responded.
The web site shows pictures of more than 100 military funerals members of the church have protested at all over the country, carrying anti-homosexual signs.
Though the organization has a planned Saturday protest posted on its web site, it is in Kentucky, not Maryland; the office of Maryland First Congressional District Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, however, has sent out an e-mail asking people to show up at the funeral in support of the family so as to keep ah expected protest from disrupting the service. .
House Bill 850, which prohibits acts like military funeral protests, was passed in the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich on May 2, but it has yet to go into effect. Del.Mary-Dulany James, a Democrat from District 34A, was one of the sponsors of the bill.
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The bill goes into effect Sunday, one day after Petty Officer Roddy's funeral.
Cathy Bassett, district and communica¬tions director for Gilchrest, sent out an e-mail to as many people as she could with the subject "URGENT-Family of fallen soldier needs our help Saturday."
The letter said friends of the family are asking for as many people as possible to come to the funeral to keep the protesters from disrupting the service.
"Please come out to support a family during this terrible tragedy," she wrote. "Let's try and show that our love of our country, and our respect for our fallen soldiers and their families, far outweighs the hatred that festers in the ignorant."
Bassett said, in a phone conversation Thursday, the congressman's office was contacted by a concerned citizen from Harford County who said the family needs help. She said the letter was sent out to encourage people to show up, bring American flags and help block the protesters from getting attention at the funeral.
"To help shield the family from this awful nightmare," Bassett added, "It's incomprehensive to me how a group could think this is appropriate,"
On May 21, the protesters attended a funeral for a fallen soldier in Seaford, Del., and Bassett said the pictures of the protesters holding up signs were truly disturbing.
"They are "choosing to practice their freedom of speech at the worst possible time," she said.
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