This is why Westboro Baptist Church is a joke

[kandrathe]

I am pretty sure we have laws against disturbing funerals.

You'd think that "religious" people would show some respect for a sacred rite. Ergo, they are not religious people. They exercise their constitutional rights to be scumbags in the most egregious ways.

We are in much more trouble when hateful people can become president of a big country.....o wait....that already happened.

There you go, being all arrogant and euro-centric. He's not hateful, he's just from Texas.

This all comes back to my first ironic comment. We can all be really outraged because of a few of these retards, but at the same time we get guys leading the most powerful nation on earth (for now) that don't believe in evolution.....and act on that.

Interesting that you used the R word. Do you have an issue with mentally handicapped people? Some would find your insensitivity hateful.

Not believing in evolution, or even those not having your modern view of science do not automatically fall into the category of hateful. Even most of those who disagree with gay marriage are not outright hateful. However, the debate is not forwarded by one side demagoguing the other.

And, those who practice some form of spirituality are by and large not hateful. What you see and hear about in the news, on both sides are the intractable intolerant blowhards who want everyone to adopt their point of view. Take for example, the Amish communities that dot the Midwest, they fit your stereotype of ignorant zealot. Yet, all they want to do is to be left alone to practice their faith and leave the fallen world to the fallen.

In the big picture Phelps is a nobody that uses the fact that many Americans somewhat agree with him to keep spreading his hate without being arrested.

This is not true. From what I've seen, Phelps and his family have no supporters outside their family. They are an extreme minority, but they still have rights, and evidenced by the recent SCOTUS decision, our constitution gives them the right to express themselves, even when that expression is distasteful, and disgusting.

Of course if Fred had said he would favour a social healthcare system he would no already be doing 20 years in jail.

Because... we arrest people for what they think and say? If you are representative of the political mindset of Europe, then it is scarey. The way you describe your "solutions" throw up so many totalitarian warning bells in my mind.

Of course Phelps is not arrested...in many states gays are not even allowed to get married. I mean if 9/11 was a punishment of God because the US is to gay friendly I really wonder what will happen to Western Europe if we follow his logic.

There is no reasoning with the insane. Phelps twisted logic and hate is so far out there, he and his brood are just stark raving mad. We should ignore them and maybe they'd disappear into the obscurity they deserve.

The bulk of the resistance to gay marriage in the US has little to do with how people feel about homosexuality, but is more about what people think about marriage. We are a more religious society than Europe, and therefore, more people here still consider marriage a sacrament. They object to the secularization of it, and having the State mandate what it is. Even my extremely liberal State overwhelmingly passed a "Defense of marriage" Act in 1997.

We've discussed it a year or two ago, but many people I know are guilty of trivializing and making a mockery of the sacredness of marriage. My opinion is that we should excise any preference or mention of marriage from our laws. From the states perspective, any two people of legal age should be able to have a civil union. And, those who are religious, can observe the sacrament of marriage in their church. If a church allows a same sex couple to marry, then so be it. The observation of it is purely a religious position, and the state should not be involved with attempting to regulate religious things.

But, I fear there are too many people who like to tell other people what they can and cannot do, so it will be a struggle for the minority to get the equal treatment that they deserve.