This is just so unnecessary
Mar. 7th, 2006 11:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sestree I c/p the article in it's entirety from CNN. I remember reading in the Newkirk Herald Journal (Newkirk OK) that they wanted to pass an ordinance banning protesters at funerals. Now I know why.
Dodge City showdown at funeral
By Ed Lavandera
CNN
Tuesday, March 7, 2006; Posted: 9:48 a.m. EST (14:48 GMT)
DODGE CITY, Kansas (CNN) -- This past Saturday morning I found myself in a five-car caravan cutting across the Kansas plains with about 30 religious protesters. In the back of a truck, there were signs that read "Thank God for IED's" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."
I was with the Phelps family. They've launched a disturbing campaign to tarnish the funerals of fallen soldiers.
This is a painful drama playing out at dozens of military funerals across the country. The group is led by Fred Phelps.
He and his family have picketed and heckled military families at more than 100 funerals since June. They say the soldiers are fighting for an army that represents a country that accepts homosexuality. (Watch how protesters targeted the funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq -- 7:08)
I have spent a great deal of time in the last few weeks tracking the movements of Fred Phelps and his family. Saturday, I followed him and his family from their home in Topeka, Kansas, to a funeral in Dodge City, Kansas.
Fred Phelps is the pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka. The congregation is made up mostly of his family. Phelps has 13 children, 54 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
He describes himself as an "old-time" gospel preacher who says, "You can't preach the Bible without preaching the hatred of God."
Phelps and his family have made a name for themselves by showing up at high-profile events preaching their hate-filled brand of Christianity. They blame homosexuals for the destruction of America.
This past weekend's target was Army Sgt. Jessie Davila.
Davila was killed February 20 in Iraq by a suicide bomber. He served as a Marine after graduating from high school. He returned to civilian life, and had a daughter. But he was always a soldier at heart, so two years ago he joined the Army National Guard and was three months into an Iraqi deployment when he was killed.
This is also very much a story about another phenomenon the Phelps protest has created. That's the birth of a group called the "Patriot Guard Riders." They're a volunteer group that came together after hearing that so many military families were being blindsided by the protesters. (Watch bikers ride to protect a funeral -- 2:11)
More than 400 motorcycles thundered toward this showdown in Dodge City this weekend to make sure Sgt. Jessie Davila's funeral was not overshadowed by the Phelps protest. They converged from small towns all over southwest Kansas to support Sgt. Davila's family. One group leader says, "I knew we would have a crowd, but I didn't know it would be this big."
The procession of rolling thunder escorted Davila's family from memorial services to the grave site on a quiet hill.
In the end, Sgt. Davila's family says they were only able to hear a little bit of the Phelps protest. Davila's mother, Linda Claus, says she's grateful for the Patriot Guard Riders. But she also wants other military families to be aware that this could happen to them.
"When people begin to know what they're (Fred Phelps' family) really doing -- killing the American Dream -- they won't be around very long, because nobody's going to let them. They'll drown them out. They'll be gone," Claus said.
Since CNN started airing reports on these funeral confrontations a few weeks ago, the Patriot Guard Riders say its membership has almost tripled. And more than a dozen states are now considering legislation that would restrict protesting at funerals.
The Phelps family vows to continue these protests. They might be outnumbered, but the way the Patriot Guard Riders see it, it only takes one of them to dishonor the memory of a fallen soldier.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/06/btsc.lavandrera.funerals/index.html
Dodge City showdown at funeral
By Ed Lavandera
CNN
Tuesday, March 7, 2006; Posted: 9:48 a.m. EST (14:48 GMT)
DODGE CITY, Kansas (CNN) -- This past Saturday morning I found myself in a five-car caravan cutting across the Kansas plains with about 30 religious protesters. In the back of a truck, there were signs that read "Thank God for IED's" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."
I was with the Phelps family. They've launched a disturbing campaign to tarnish the funerals of fallen soldiers.
This is a painful drama playing out at dozens of military funerals across the country. The group is led by Fred Phelps.
He and his family have picketed and heckled military families at more than 100 funerals since June. They say the soldiers are fighting for an army that represents a country that accepts homosexuality. (Watch how protesters targeted the funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq -- 7:08)
I have spent a great deal of time in the last few weeks tracking the movements of Fred Phelps and his family. Saturday, I followed him and his family from their home in Topeka, Kansas, to a funeral in Dodge City, Kansas.
Fred Phelps is the pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka. The congregation is made up mostly of his family. Phelps has 13 children, 54 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
He describes himself as an "old-time" gospel preacher who says, "You can't preach the Bible without preaching the hatred of God."
Phelps and his family have made a name for themselves by showing up at high-profile events preaching their hate-filled brand of Christianity. They blame homosexuals for the destruction of America.
This past weekend's target was Army Sgt. Jessie Davila.
Davila was killed February 20 in Iraq by a suicide bomber. He served as a Marine after graduating from high school. He returned to civilian life, and had a daughter. But he was always a soldier at heart, so two years ago he joined the Army National Guard and was three months into an Iraqi deployment when he was killed.
This is also very much a story about another phenomenon the Phelps protest has created. That's the birth of a group called the "Patriot Guard Riders." They're a volunteer group that came together after hearing that so many military families were being blindsided by the protesters. (Watch bikers ride to protect a funeral -- 2:11)
More than 400 motorcycles thundered toward this showdown in Dodge City this weekend to make sure Sgt. Jessie Davila's funeral was not overshadowed by the Phelps protest. They converged from small towns all over southwest Kansas to support Sgt. Davila's family. One group leader says, "I knew we would have a crowd, but I didn't know it would be this big."
The procession of rolling thunder escorted Davila's family from memorial services to the grave site on a quiet hill.
In the end, Sgt. Davila's family says they were only able to hear a little bit of the Phelps protest. Davila's mother, Linda Claus, says she's grateful for the Patriot Guard Riders. But she also wants other military families to be aware that this could happen to them.
"When people begin to know what they're (Fred Phelps' family) really doing -- killing the American Dream -- they won't be around very long, because nobody's going to let them. They'll drown them out. They'll be gone," Claus said.
Since CNN started airing reports on these funeral confrontations a few weeks ago, the Patriot Guard Riders say its membership has almost tripled. And more than a dozen states are now considering legislation that would restrict protesting at funerals.
The Phelps family vows to continue these protests. They might be outnumbered, but the way the Patriot Guard Riders see it, it only takes one of them to dishonor the memory of a fallen soldier.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/06/btsc.lavandrera.funerals/index.html
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-07 05:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-07 05:09 pm (UTC)It will be interesting to see if Newkirk does get legistlation passed. If so I'll post it.
fyi - Newkirk is about 2000 people all told and about 1/2 of them live in the country.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-07 05:08 pm (UTC)And a law/ordinance/whatever was recently passed somewhere limiting the area in which one can protest around a funeral. I forget the details, obviously, but it is in direct response to the actions of Phelps' followers.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-07 05:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-07 07:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-07 11:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-08 12:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-08 09:13 am (UTC)This moron just came to my attention recently because of the link to my hometown. I never heard if he did protest in Newkirk at the funeral or if the city passed the ordinance and how it would've affected the cemetary as it is out side city limits. I'll have to check that out and see.
Following this line
Date: 2006-03-09 03:58 pm (UTC)As far as the PGR, I read up on their activities. I think what they are trying to do is a noble effort and might help to curtail negative protesting. What I do question is, are they protesting or protecting.
A funeral for most of us is a private affair. I would not want the last memories of my moments with a loved one marred by the impact of a protest.
***as my memory is not so dependable, I might have read this in a news paper article on the internet or it might have been one of the yahoo headlines. Newspaper article might be from the Courier Journal out of Louisville, New York Times or Newsday.
Connie
Re: Following this line
Date: 2006-03-09 04:35 pm (UTC)