The Death of a Dynasty

   

So Fred Phelps of the hate mongering Westboro Baptist church finally passed away, and unlike the Grinch he never had that moment where his heart grew 3 sizes in one day. Well, how do you feel about it? There seems to be mixed reaction, but most of it appears to be celebratory. 

I for one have never been the type to celebrate the death of anyone, except in movies, no matter how evil or hateful they were. I even felt incredibly uneasy about people crowding in front of The White House after our military killed Osama Bin Laden. It's probably my liberal bleeding heart. 

With that being said, I will treat this situation no different. Am I sad that Fred Phelps died? Absolutely not, but neither am I excited about it. The type of people that he created in his lifetime is no legacy that any reasonable person would be proud of. To go to the extremes that he and his followers did to get their message out is unheard of, and even insane. In their efforts to spread "the word of god" they did nothing but foster hatred for their entire cause. 

The real question in Fred Phelps death is whether people should protest his funeral or not? I always quote a Jay-Z song when it comes to issues like this..."a wise man once told me don't argue with fools, because from a distance, people can't tell who is who". I would personally love it if no one protested his funeral. Or how about, a very large group of people show up to the funeral with tons of roses and express their condolences to the family, friends, and followers of The Westboro Baptist Church. Show them the love and care that they refused to show to the families of those soldiers. How amazing would that be?

Maybe I'm more of a bleeding heart liberal than I like to admit to. Maybe the best thing to do is to let the followers of the church feel what all those families felt when they showed up to mourn the loss of a loved one and were greeted with hatred by people who never knew that loved one. Maybe for some people the only way they learn is by an eye for an eye. Or, maybe the best thing to do is lead by example.  

I'm not professing to know which scenario would best change the hearts and minds of people as far out as the followers of The Westboro Baptist Church. But even if you don't change one heart or mind that day, in my opinion, it would be much more satisfying to meet that hatred with love.