Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The Vocal Minority

I apologize up front for the fact that there will be no humor evident in today's blog.

Usually I think through what it is I want to say and then type it out in Word, tweak it, play with it, post it, edit it some more...

Today I'm flying by the seat of my pants. I can't even find black humor in the situation I am writing about.

I just read a post on another site about the murder of Univ. of NC student body president, Eve Carson. The motive for her murder was plain and simple robbery. A tragedy for her family and for all who knew her or who are now robbed of ever knowing her in the future.

Enter Fred Phelps and his hate filled Westboro Baptist Church. They plan to picket this girl's funeral. Not because she was gay or belonged to any of the other groups they are against but simply because they see it as a way to grab more media attention for their cause.

These people are sick. They give all Christianity a bad name with their hate filled antics.

Today I had lunch with my friendly academia nuts. It was mentioned that a group was getting together to go picket Westboro. Now on one hand I like the idea and would love to be a part of it. On the other hand, isn't that just giving them yet another platform to spread their message? If the media would refuse to give these sickos any air time at all, how long would it take them to give up and stay home? So, if we go picket them, thereby giving them more media attention, aren't we just playing into their hands?

7 comments:

TRD said...

That is a sad situation. To be honest, that is what the problem is nowadays. Everything seems to be a double edged sword...nothing is clearly "right", if that makes sense. It's hard to say what the best course of action is, but I think I would agree with you and not join the picket. But that is just my 2 cents.

The nerve of them doing that crap at her funeral....How do these people get up the next day is beyond me and not feel ashamed.

Rob

Pains Taker said...

The Westboro picketers have no respect for the deceased or her grieving family. I wonder if they intented to share this common thread with Ms. Carson's murderer.

Wamblings said...

I've had a gripe for a long time about media handling of sensationalized events. Look at all the copy cat crimes.

So you have this person with some crazy agenda. He doesn't care who he hurts as long as he keeps getting publicity. So he takes his group (including small children) out on highly publicized pickets of the funerals of our soldiers. Now he targets the family of a girl who was murdered as part of a robbery. He has no sense of decency. Just like the murderer. JUST LIKE.

j said...

OOOOHHHH those people make me sick! How can they know the same Jesus that I know? It hurst my heart what these people claim to do in the name of the Lord. And you are right - the media plays it up but maybe JUST FOR THAT REASON, and opportunity to make Christianity look bad. These days the same could be said for Obama's pastor, and I genuinley like Obama (sshhh - don't tell any of my conservative Republican friends). Thanks for the rant!

Jennifer

Wamblings said...

hehehe, you're secret is safe with me.

I don't reckon it would be a good plan to regift the chocolate bunny after I had taken bite out of him.

Camphor said...

Most religions are ok as far as they go, but they will spawn fundamentalists and that WILL cause problems. Frankly I think no one should give any group that uses hate/fear as thier platform time of the day, but that won't work either:

a) because anyone starting will an extreme basis will do extreme things. They'll eventually may blow up something to get attention. Don't tell me only Islamic groups do that (because that's not true). People do that.

b) Problems ignored don't go away.

On the other hand, picketing is not going to help either. Like they care/will listen?

Sometimes there is no hope.

All I can imagine doing, faced with people like that, is
i) Be aware
ii) Teach your kids and other kids not to hate.

Wamblings said...

I was raised in what was back then considered fundamentalist Christianity. Amazing to me how far the word has evolved in my short don't snicker life.

That there are people like Fred Phelps out there makes me sad. I suppose there have always been people like that though in every age. It is just that now they are shoved in our faces. sigh