In this column, I express my strong admiration for the work of the almost universally despised reverend Fred Phelps.
I'm serious, this isn't some ironic PC-hipster column by E.A. Hanks.
I actually approve of the fringe Baptist pastor, leader and motivator of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas.
Phelps and members of his small congregation hold demonstrations outside military funerals and public events, where they spend a few hours or minutes chanting, desecrating flags, and waving signs praising various disasters, while mocking their victims and claiming that America is doomed.
He tries to be as obnoxious and shocking as possible.
Almost everyone hates him, except for a few fellow extremists.
I think he's great. At this point, readers may still think this is a humor column.
It takes extreme courage to do what he does, to face public outrage wherever he goes, never knowing when it will go wrong. And it will go wrong, unless he quits.
He's almost as brave as a suicide hijacker, whom I don't approve of. Unlike him, I wish the percentage of gay males was much higher. So why say such hurtful things?
Simple.
The world is evil.
Phelps is the only person who acknowledges this fact, gets appropriately upset about it, and vigorously protests the situation in his courageous manner.
This is one of those statements most people can't understand, like math. I think the world is evil for the opposite reasons Phelps does (homosexuality versus bureaucracy) but our hate is identical. In both cases, it's the perceived public tolerance for these things that's so infuriating.
Of course, if the world was not evil, this article would be wrong. Perhaps the world could be made not evil?
Notice I'm not praising that loner Loughner who shot a Congresswoman and killed six others in Arizona in early 2011, although I do understand him.
For that to happen, I would have to be insane with hatred.
I'm not insane with hate. Mad in the other sense of the word, yes.
Blinded with rage?
Been there, done that.
Single-mindedly, dysfunctionally, intolerant?
Check, check, and check.
Utterly indifferent to mainstream values and sentimental sensitivities?
Level unlocked.
Now, crazy: that's the big leagues. It takes practice to get there. Many are called, but few are chosen. Actually, that's the next column.
A quarter of a trillion people have suffered unspeakable agonies in their lives, and multitudes finally snapped, but almost none had the courage to reject the reality hoax. They were merely trapped by it.
Phelps and perhaps a few members of his flock have, and for that I salute them.
Still, we are talking about a group which threatened to picket the funeral of a nine year old girl who never harmed a fly, while praising her senseless murder: perhaps their most shocking effort so far.
In this extreme case, could we at least agree that what they were doing was inappropriate?
Yes we could.
Even that canceled demonstration was nowhere NEAR dramatic enough to protest the world's evils.
He could have spent a thousand years disrupting every funeral, and barely made a dent in the problem.
Once again: I believe the world is evil.
Exactly how evil is the world? Evil enough to justify Fred Phelps. He just wants people to notice.
I actually believe this. Unlike John Lennon, I am the only one. Like Leonardo Da Vinci, I'll have to wait for the world to catch up.
Seems I'm not getting through, so let's put this another way:
There's no reason to hate Phelps, because he has no power.
If he so much as pointed a water pistol at a mourner, he would be arrested. It would make the cops' day.
As an absolute outsider, he doesn't really hurt gay rights, but indirectly accelerates their cause.
He doesn't believe in coalitions: he's against everyone else, including me.
However, he might just plant a seed of doubt in a few receptive minds: the ultimate heresy, the amazing truth that resistance is still possible.
That will be his true legacy.
I can't criticize him for one simple reason: there are conditions under which I would join him. You the reader would never do such a thing, of course.
I wonder why it hasn't happened already:
Countless men trapped as alimony slaves, forced to support children that aren't theirs, people screwed over by the medical-industrial monopoly, or at the mercy of evil bureaucrats, all have one thing in common: they have submitted completely.
Many people can act tough, but when things really get tough, when all of society is implacably arrayed against them, almost no one has the guts to fight back.
The disapproval of the masses is the mightiest Kryptonite. Almost everyone wants to be popular or have higher status. Failing that, they will accept slavery instead.
Phelps is the kind of problem that you can choose to ignore, and nothing will happen.
People do not have the option to ignore the outrageously overpriced healthcare monopoly, unpredictable street violence by Flash Mobs, arbitrary corruption and government fraud, extortionate regulations and unfunded mandates.
He makes the perfect scapegoat while the real devils run wild, praised by the establishment.
Nobody knows why cowards choose to accept evil.
Perhaps they want a steady stream of problems in their lives, because that will make it easier to die. Those who are not afraid are mostly evil or indifferent.
What kind of a world do we live in where someone looking for a genuine hero has to settle on Fred Phelps?
This world.
Follow-up (written a few months later):
Here at Resistance Central, we're having a hard time finding individuals or groups willing to admit that the world today (and even more so in the past) is fundamentally evil.
This simple truth is too much for most to handle, let alone agree with. Almost everyone has been brainwashed or is too scared.
Even the most abused victims try to appease their tormentors and the malicious society that sustains them.
Could there be a way to fight back?
Westboro Baptist Church is the single anomaly on a crap planet: a handful of brave resisters daring to challenge the mainstream for their own reasons, unafraid to be shocking.
They alone recognize the existence of evil as a force of nature. This simple insight compensates for all their faults.
By comparison, even the most self-absorbed druggie dropout is a paragon of conformity.
The Westboro Baptist Church is a rare beacon of hope in a worse than worthless world. They're better than any atheist hipster.
Can anything be done to prevent this last flickering candle from being extinguished forever? Perhaps you could support them or send them money?
No you can't! They won't accept donations. They don't even want to be friends. It's too late for that.
When I contacted them with a few questions about coordinating protests and tactical alliances they told me to stop emailing them. Someone like me shouldn't be contacting them at all.
This is disappointing, but not surprising. We'll keep you informed about any options to resist the oppressors.
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