A Quandary

The Westboro Baptist Church yesterday confirmed the passing of founder and former pastor Fred Phelps, Sr.  While I took a great deal of delight in yesterday's An Imagining post, I am left in a quandary at the confirmation of his demise.  I am fighting the overwhelming urge to break into riotous rejoicing by choosing to reflect on his legacy to the world.  Fred was nothing if not loud, akin to the infamous clanging cymbals of the Bible.  Fred was prolific in his vociferous denigration of the LGBT community, the victims of AIDS, 9-11, school shootings, fallen soldiers and natural disasters.  Yet by his very vociferousness, Fred forced mainstream America to acknowledge that yes, Gay people do exist.  We are not some curiosity to be swept under the rug or hidden away in that closet so no one can see us.  America had to confront their fear of the unknown and the marginalized. 

However, in the process, Americans came to know Gay folks as friends, neighbors and family members.  A surprising (to them) thing happened as they got to know us as Gay people.  They discovered that we were people just like them, good, bad or indifferent, but just people nonetheless.  Funny thing about getting to know someone face to face, it is much harder to hate someone you know than a nameless, faceless boogieman of your own imagining.  For this, we must thank Fred who singlehandedly (and with the help of his followers) advanced the cause of equality immeasurably.  Although his aim was to eradicate homosexuality, he brought to light the beauty and humanity of all those he sought to marginalize.  While he may forever be a caricature of the hateful, bile spewing bigot whom no one wants to become, he should be remembered as one of the fulcrums upon which equality for all was leveraged.  I just hope that we as Gay folks can be more gracious to his family and friends in the hour of their grief than was ever afforded even one of us by him or his followers. 

The words of Martin Luther King seem to be appropriate in this instance:

"At times we are able to humiliate our worst enemy. Inevitably, his weak moments come and we are able to thrust in his side the spear of defeat. But this we must not do. Every word and deed must contribute to an understanding with the enemy and release those vast reservoirs of goodwill which have been blocked by impenetrable walls of hate."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr., Dexter Avenue Baptist Church; Montgomery, Alabama, Christmas Sermon, 1957. 

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Your Friday Musical Moment features Piano Concerto Number 1, Opus 11 by Frederic Chopin with a performance by Evgeny Kissin and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta from their 2011 75th Anniversary Concert.  You may also hear Kissin's 1995 Carnegie Hall performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto Number 1 over on my tumblr. 

Finally for today is a salute to the hirsute with this week's edition of Furry Friday on display for your appreciation below the video.  You may also want to check out the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for sharing a part of your Friday with me, have a fabulous weekend.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

An Imagining

I have often stated in these pages how I would love to be a witness to the moments when some of our most self righteous 'Christian' homophobes pass from this world to the next as they approach the Pearly Gates of Heaven.  This would be of course be to take extreme pleasure at the look on their faces when Jesus says be gone to the pits of hell, I know you not.  One of the most infamous and virulent of these 'Christian' homophobes is Fred Phelps, Sr., former pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church.  He along with that nasty piece of work that is his daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, lost a recent power struggle within their little familial cult and Fred has since been excommunicated.  Fred now lies near death at a Kansas nursing facility, his time among us nearly at an end.  One can only imagine the scenario when in all his self righteous pomposity he approaches those Pearly Gates.  I ran across one such imagining on the Huffington Post yesterday.  I have taken the liberty of reblogging it in its entirety below in hopes that you derive as much pleasure from it as did I. 

The Judgement of Fred Phelps

Originally published on the Huffington Post

by Joe the Nerd Ferraro

Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist is in the process of passing on. As Christians we are told not to judge. That happens, I guess, at the Pearly Gates. I don't want to get there too soon, but if I do get there and the place is wired for YouTube, The Judgment of Fred Phelps might be an interesting watch. Since we have no clue what will go on, we are left to speculate. Here is my impression...

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After the bright light dims Rev. Phelps finds himself face to face with a straggly faced guy.  Long salt and pepper beard, looks like he just got off a Harley.  He’s holding a large ring with keys.  He sits up from behind a desk looks over Phelps and motions to him to take a seat.



“Phelps?”

“Where am I?”

“Someplace eye hasn’t seen nor ear heard of.  You Phelps?”

Phelps is getting excited.  “Yes sir.  Have I made it to the House of the Almighty?”

“Just around the corner.  But we have to go over some things first.  My name is Shepard.  I work here to make sure that we allow the right folks through.”

“Were you one of the Shepards in the fields when Christ was born?”

“No, my arrival is more recent.  We are here about you.  You have heard about the Final Judgment?”

“Yes, I have been preparing all my life for it.  I read the Bible and I stood up for it everywhere I could.  I stopped the sinners as much as I could.”

“Oh, so you could tell who the sinners were?”

“The Bible told me about the fornicators and the homosexuals and those who wage wars.  I went after those with a vengeance.  I was trying to make it right for Jesus.”

“Very good, so you looked at the teachings of Jesus and used them to force his kingdom on earth?”

“Absolutely!  I was proud to do it.  It was my life’s work.  I allowed people to call me all sorts of names while doing the work of the Lord.”

“So you think you are set to go into the Kingdom?”

“Yes sir, I cannot wait to see my room in the mansion.  I cannot wait to speak to Jesus Himself.”

“Really?  So you think you are going to meet God today?  I am impressed.”

Shepard sat back in his chair for a moment.

“You were a preacher, right?”

“The best.  I guess except for the ones already here.”

“So tell me how you exhibited love for those sinners?  You know, hate the sin love the sinner?”

“I told them of the hellfire that awaits them if they refused to accept The Word of the Lord.”

“Very nice.  How big was your ministry at the end?  How many people did you bring to the Lord with your hellfire method?”

“It was a small ministry at the end, but everyone knew about it.”

“Kinda like a banging gong?”

“That’s not fair”

“My apologies.”

Phelps began to glare at Shepard. 

Shepard leans back, pulls his beard.

“Do you forgive them?”

“Who?”

“The sinners who made your life so tough by calling you names.  I understand you made many people upset with how you preached.”

“That is God’s job.  Not mine.”

“hmmmm, I see where we are going here.  As a preacher, what do you think of Matthew 16:19?”

“You mean where if I hold something bound on earth, it remains bound in heaven?”

“Exactly.”

“Since I am a preacher of the Word of God, it was my job to hold people bound.”

“Really?  So being a preacher gives you special powers in the eyes of the Lord?”

“Yes, I was responsible for my flock.  I would hold people bound to the Laws set down.”

“What do you think of the Pharisees?”

“They were the ones who fought Christ at every turn.  They focused on the Law and not the person.”

“Very good.”



Shepard leaned back.

“You don’t get it do you?”

“What?”

“You do not have a clue as to the damage you have done?  You committed that damage in the name of God.  You took the name of the Lord in vain.  You blocked people from seeing Jesus by putting up a wall against the very sinners He came to save.  And you distorted His name to do it.”

Phelps gets into Shepard face. “HOW DARE YOU?”

“No -- how dare YOU.  Calm down for a minute. Take your seat.”

They sit back -- Shepard continues.

“I mentioned Matthew because that isn’t something special for just the self-anointed.   That goes for anyone.  Anyone who is here or that you have condemned to hell, well, they are in hell because of you.  You used the Word of God to put them into hell while they were on earth.  They got a head start because of you.”

Phelps perks up.  “That is great!”

“I guess it is.  You have put more people in hell by your blanket statements in the mass media than pretty much anyone over the last decade or so.  And your followers who quote you will continue to lop people into hell.”

“Wow -- I had no idea how that works.”

“You will even get credit for those your followers assign to hell.”

Almost ecstatic Phelps -- “When do I get in?”

“I guess you did not hear me.  Matthew 16:19 cuts both ways.  Do you think all those folks you consigned to hell on earth are going to let you just waltz into heaven?  As you have bound them to hell -- they bind you to hell.”

“But they are the scum of the earth.”

“Funny, that is what they were saying about you when they would get here.”

Phelps looked puzzled as Shepard continued;

“People who committed suicide over their sexual orientation, soldiers, folks from the 9/11 tragedy.  Even the extended families of those tragedies came here with your chip on their shoulders.

Do you know what it is like to tell a 13 year-old sexually confused kid they are not getting into heaven because of you?  Or the kid’s mom who died of an angry broken heart a month later.

We were able to get some of them to forgive you so they could get into the mansion.

There are literally millions of people you have reached with your message that we cannot let in. 

If you want to enter this kingdom, you need to go to each of those people and make it right.”

At that Shepard got up giving Phelps a come-with-me motion.

Shepard opens a door that looks out on a sea of people.

“You might want to get started.  By the way, I got into the Kingdom and got this gig because I forgave you.”

“What did I do to you?”

“Think about it.  My name is Shepard and I keep quoting Matthew.”

Follow Joe The Nerd Ferraro on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joethenerd

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Your Musical Moment for today features 6 Opus 10 Concerti for Flute, Strings and Basso Continuo by Antonio Vivaldi.  Included in the play list are Number 1 in F Major "La tempesta di mare"; Number 2 in G Minor "La Notte"; Number 3 in D Major "Il gardellino"; Number 4 in G Major; Number 5 in F major and Number 6 in G Major.  You may also hear the Flute Concerto in E Minor by Saverio Mercandante over on my tumblr.   

Then for your visual appreciation is a little collection of denim dynamite for this week's edition of Men in Jeans.  Then of course there is the Hottie of the Day!  over on my tumblr.  Thanks for sharing part of your Thursday with me, see you again tomorrow.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!