Loud, raucous crowd combats Westboro Baptist Church

Comment by: Philip Racuel Posted: October 16, 2009, 8:33 pm

“There were no incidents of violence and no arrests made, though one counter-demonstrator shook with rage and shouted at Phelps-Roper until police officers escorted him away.”

I would be the person you are referring to. It might have been a good idea to quote what I said to her.

The mainstream press was all around Phelps-Roper and were not challenging her at all…just letting her spew her hate and I wanted to put her on the spot.

Being a person of faith myself hearing her use Christ’s name while ignoring all of the things he said about love and tolerance enraged me.

So in the confrontation I challenged her…and quite frankly caught her off guard,..which is what good mainstream media reporters should have been doing by the way (I am talking about the TV media not print)

I said “you just mentioned Jesus Christ…” She shouted over me and started repeating “Jesus Christ” and then finally screamed “He said to keep his commandments.”

My response was, “His commandment was to love your neighbor, teaching hate is not keeping his commandments.”

I was not escorted away. The San Diego Police always do a great job at these protests and they were doing their job to make sure the scene was safe for all.

Now the reason I confronted her and was indeed enraged is becaiuse in 2000, in east county, I was severely beaten by three youths- the youngest 16 and the oldest 21.

I was on the bus one night and they said I was looking at them “the wrong way”. The next night I got off the bus and was ambushed. They beat me with beer bottles in the face and according to the ER staff I was indeed lucky to survive the head trauma.

During the beating I was called fag, queer and I clearly remember one kid saying “God sends fags to hell.”

It may have not been the Phelps clan but whatever so-called church these kids parents attended eventually brought them into the homophobia fold.

These children were taught to hate by people like the Phelps clan.

Since that time I have become aware of at least five teenagers, who took their own lives because of religious based hate towards homosexuals.

The trouble is that no one in the media is reporting that part of the story.

Yes they are insane…yes they are hypocritical…they swear by the Jewish purity laws in Leviticus and yet hate Jews as well.

But the bigger story is the effect- either direct or indirect they have on similar churches of hate and on the family that the Christian right claims to protect.

As the demonstration went on at SDHS somewhere in America a gay kid was being called a fag and humiliated.

Somewhere in America a gay kid was being bat up because of his effeminate nature or presumed homosexuality. somewhere in America a gay kid was seriously considering suicide because they could no longer take the mental, physical and or verbal abuse.

Somewhere in America a gay teen was being kicked out of his or her home because God hates fags and mom and dad do too.

Think that is extreme or an exaggeration. I met two throwaway homeless teens- age 15 and 17 at the protest today.

The bigger story- aside from my own is the effect the poison spewed out by these people has not only on adults but on children as well.

While you report is the best I have seen thus far it would have been nice if more than NBC 7/39 pulled me aside to see just why I decided to confront Shirley Phelps-Roper.

Comment by: FrankFitz Posted: October 17, 2009, 7:53 am

Nut jobs.

Comment by: T. Michael Cart Posted: October 17, 2009, 9:30 am

A list of their planned picket destinations in San Diego can be found here. http://www. bit.ly/1DcuU You can make a difference by showing up and speaking your mind.

Comment by: Vic Posted: October 17, 2009, 1:12 pm

The Soviets had it right: religion should have been suppressed long ago. It’s better for society and it strengthens religion by weeding out the posers and leaving the people of faith to carry on…quietly.

Comment by: Marie Posted: October 17, 2009, 6:16 pm

Four days in San Diego, sounds like a vacation that’s tax deductable to me. After all they are “preaching”. Spend an hour or two in front of a school or church, then go to the beach, shop, go to the zoo. Just have a wonderful time. And I’ll bet that if they wear their cute little t-shirts, they can deduct the admission fees also.

Comment by: jax Posted: October 17, 2009, 8:15 pm

The reference to “you will eat your babies” comes from the OT scripture: Lev 26:29. This is a warning to Israel that their disobedience would be punished with famine, resulting in starvation that would drive people to eating their kids. To keep a long story short. If we all lived by OT law today a constant sacrifice would have to be made to atone for sin. Now with the sacrifice of Christ (Messiah) we can afford to understand that sin is sin, but with the atoning blood of Jesus allows us to not be put to death by sins such as adultery, rebelliousness, homosexuality etc…. If these people choose to judge others by OT scriptures then they themselves will be judged in this manner. Let’s just say it will not be very pretty for them when they themselves are judged for being so judgemental.

Comment by: Daniel Reveles Posted: October 19, 2009, 3:50 pm

Arthur – good to you have you back! The reaction to your story here is one of total disbelief. “Are gringos totally locos?” and “Have Americans gone mad?” We have our problems here too; our streets and water service will never reach American standards,the lights are out on most of our traffic signals, city services are abominable, but we can never hope achieve American’s high level of hate.

Saludos from Mexico

Comment by: Dee Tate Posted: October 20, 2009, 1:13 pm

.” She also said the congregation’s members were there to tell the students there was “no mercy” and warn the students “destruction is imminent.”

Apparently she doesn’t read or believe in Jesus’ teaching.All we can do is pray that the Lord will give her knowledge and understanding of what she says she believes