"THANK GOD FOR IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices) killing Americans in strange lands" http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/fliers.html
This is the title of multiple fliers put forth by Fred Phelps group listing the names of American soldiers killed in Iraq and stating the intent to picket the funerals...I thought it could not get worse until a new one
THANK GOD FOR THE BOMBING OF LONDON'S SUBWAY TODAY, JULY 7, 2005, WHEREIN DOZENS WERE KILLED AND HUNDREDS SERIOUSLY INJURED, WISH IT WAS MANY MORE http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/jul2005/20050707_week-733.pdf
(they also rail on Billy Graham, John Walton and various others)
This is the perfect demonstration of religion gone bad and used in a destructive manner. I know Phelps is a psycho, but his info is very instructional in talking to ...more below
my Conservative Christian friends. When they rant about:
- Christianity under attack - I point out how groups like this are tolerated and allowed and that Christianity is harmed much more by this group than the ACLU. They claim that Phelps is not mainstream, I point out that everyone is not Christian or in the same church.
- Homosexuals - I point out how persecuted gays are in comparison to Christians, how the people spouting this crap are entitled to get married, adopt, and live life equally, when law abiding, caring and compassionate people who preach love rather than hate are not
- Religion on Government/Public Schools - I ask whose religion and whether they have any tolerance for Phelps' philosophy, whether they would object to him reading the opening prayer at a high school football game, or what they would think if he was elected to Congress and allowed to pass laws in his views.
There are many more points I make with my friends. It may not change their minds, but it makes them think and usually, mellow out. They have a hard time refuting how bad this is.