I don't know if anyone outside of Alabama heard about it, but in Huntsville on Monday, there was a school-bus crash where 4 children (so far) died, and several more remain in critical condition. The Bus was side-swiped by another car, and crashed through the guardrail of the overpass, falling onto the street below.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20061122-0607-schoolbuswreck.html
That's not the part that pisses me off. It is a sad, tragic event, but what I'm really pissed about is what is happening now because of it...
Fred Phelps and the Westborough Baptist Church of Topeka, KS are planning to protest the funerals of two of the students. They claim that "This crash is part of God's revenge on America for it's moral decay and support of sodomite lifestyles. This wreck is part of God's plan to rid this country of fags and idolaters and bring the people back to His good graces." (That is a direct quote from this morning's article in the Florence, AL Times-Daily...I couldn't find a link to it online)
Here is a link to Phelps' press release on the website of his "church"
http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/nov2006/20061121_huntsvill-alabama-school-bus.pdf
*WARNING: Long, venomous, pissed-off rant follows*
Where the hell does that fucking asshole get off protesting this funeral? Even if one supported his fucked-up homophobic views(Which BTW, I most definitely DO NOT support them) there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON for him to be at this funeral...I scoured the web for about an hour earlier, reading every news article I could find about the bus crash, GLAD's site, everything I could find, and did not find even one mention that any of these teenagers were openly gay...it is very possible some of them were, but there is NO mention of it, not one reference to the students' sexuality. There is mention of racial tension in the school, but nothing about homosexuality. Not one word uttered anywhere.
It's bad enough that Phelps pickets the funerals of openly gay people like Matthew Shepherd and Diane Whipple, but now he is targeting the funerals of young people who died in a tragic accident who have NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with his agenda.
He's picking out these funerals based on the attention they are receiving and using them to draw attention to himself. Does he have no respect for the families and friends of those children? For crying out loud, let them mourn in peace, and don't turn the funerals into a fucking circus. (Yes, a circus...Phelps is a clown and a freak show rolled into one)
You know, if the christians are right about the heaven and hell thing, You know who's going to hell? Fred Phelps. Not Diane Whipple, not any of these children, not even Matthew Shepherd. That S.O.B. Phelps is going there because of the mental anguish he puts people through. The fact that a scumbag like that once had a successful career in politics almost completely destroys my faith in the American political system...and in humanity because people actually voted for that asshole.
I have to question his sincerity too...I really don't think he believes the things he says, I think that he's just trying to draw attention to his cause, and doesn't care who he pisses off/offends/hurts to do it. He has to realize that he pushes more people away from his religion than he attracts. I mean, who wants to spend eternity with an asshole like that? If he's going to heaven, I'd rather take my chances with hell. The people there can't possibly be as bad as him.
P.S. I apologize if I offended anyone with the language I used...but there was no other way for me to say it.
