I remember the first time I heard of Fred Phelps and his “church.” It was around the time of Matthew Shepard. The Westboro Baptist Church protested his funeral and wrote lots of horrid stuff about him. I was shocked that anyone could display such violently cruel behavior. Years later, they’ve managed to repeat the behavior so often that it’s lost its shock value somewhat, but it’s still inexcusable.
I will say one thing about Fred Phelps and his den of crazy. It’s not exactly positive but it is illuminating. They did not hide their prejudice with flowery language or politically correct speech. You never heard things like this from the group:
- Love the sinner not the sin.
- God has a plan for women and men and this is not it.
- Marriage is between a man and a woman.
- Homosexuality goes against nature.
Why does this matter? People like Fred Phelps expose the raw underbelly of hatred and ignorance that are at the base of homophobia. Most people would not resort to such extreme language, but there is definitely a population that agrees with him in spirit. Many people hate homosexuals and they couch it in nicer language but the same base of ignorance and spite is at the base of their prejudice.
I’m not going to celebrate his death because that is the kind of behavior he would engage in. Instead, I believe it’s important to focus on the hate that still very much exists in the world. I think there are lots of things we can do in memorial of Fred Phelps that would be very appropriate:
- Make a donation to GLAAD or GLBT.
- Volunteer at a local shelter or program for struggling gay teens.
- Explain what prejudice is to children and why homophobia is wrong.
- Find an organization that supports gay marriage and support them financially or through volunteering (there are a whole bunch).
- Confront hatred whenever and wherever you see it.
Do you have more or better ideas?
