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A church supports this behavior?

CattleArmy

Well-known member
OMAHA, Neb. -- A woman was arrested in Bellevue on Tuesday during the funeral for a fallen soldier.

Shirley Phelps-Roper was arrested on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allowing her 8-year-old son to stomp on an American flag.

Phelps-Roper is a member of a Topeka, Kan., church that conducts anti-homosexual picketing at funeral services for U.S. soldiers.

Hundreds of people packed Bellevue streets Tuesday morning to pay tribute to a firefighter and soldier.

Spc. Bill Bailey was serving in the National Guard in Iraq when he was killed by a roadside bomb.

Police said the group to which Phelps-Roper belongs had a permit to protest 300 feet from Bailey's funeral.

Bellevue Officer Joe Gray, who made the arrest, said that at first the group brought out a couple of members' own American flags.

"The arrestee, Ms. Phelps-Roper, put one around her waist. The second one was given to a 10-year-old, who put it on the ground and started kicking it in the area they were protesting," Gray said.

Nebraska law states that it is a Class 3 misdemeanor when a person "intentionally casts contempt or ridicule upon a flag by mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning or trampling upon such flag." The law was passed in 1977.

"It appears the adults weren't stepping on the flag because they knew it was a violation of the law. But they allowed the children to go ahead and do that," Gray said.

Phelps-Roper said she believes she has the right to use the flag as a symbol, and said Nebraska's law is outdated.

"We're going to challenge that statute," she said. "That statue should have been repealed."

Gray said the arrest wasn't personal and has nothing to do with his beliefs. He said he's simply doing his job.

"It's state law, so we were enforcing the laws of Nebraska," the officer said.

Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov said the words from the group are fighting words and that takes it away from protected speech.



In another article found at :http://news.usti.net/home/news/cn/?/usa.top/2/wed/ap/Afuneral-protest-arrest.RvMm_Hu6.html


I found this bit of insanity that the group believes:

The group says the deaths of U.S. soldiers are God's punishment for a nation that harbors gays and lesbians. Nebraska and 37 other states have laws restricting how close protesters can get to funerals, inspired at least in part by the Westboro protests.
 

nonothing

Well-known member
there is a time and place for wacko's like this to make thier points.......A soldiers furneral is not that place...Show respect people!!!
 

CattleArmy

Well-known member
If the funeral for the young man killed from Cherry County is in Valentine I hope these kind of people don't show this disrespect not only to him but also his family.
 

Mrs.Greg

Well-known member
CattleArmy said:
If the funeral for the young man killed from Cherry County is in Valentine I hope these kind of people don't show this disrespect not only to him but also his family.
I totally agree...I see this as not going over at all well with our respected Neb. posters here on ranchers. This young man deserves to have his family and friends say a decent Good-Bye


I also think your titles misleading,no respected church supports this.The behavoiur is disgusting and far from Godly
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
Isn't this the same bunch that protested @ the Matthew Shepherd incident in Laramie a few years back??? If so, they are famous for this kinda crap all across the country.

They even made an appearance here when a local boy was killed. Seems the local 'red necks' handled them pretty good!!!


Mrs. Greg....they consider themselves a ' church'...I forgot the exact name but there's a bunch of'em
 

Mrs.Greg

Well-known member
Well I also think its ridiculous the were Granted a permit to protest...who the hell is giving out those permits??

Theres alot of crazys that do things in the name of God,heck look at Son of Sam,doesn't make them true Christians IMHO
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
Here they didn't get a permit...they just showed up the day before and made their presence known in and about town.

There was a big funeral held for this young soldier, and it was HUGE. The procession alone was over 3 miles long and the sides of the roads were chocked with people.

Anyway, the local " boys" got ahold of them and kept them at bay during the whole funeral and procession. About 25 burly red necks ( as Soapweed refers to us here in the South) kept'em busy or scared or both and out of the way.
 

Mrs.Greg

Well-known member
kolanuraven said:
Here they didn't get a permit...they just showed up the day before and made their presence known in and about town.

There was a big funeral held for this young soldier, and it was HUGE. The procession alone was over 3 miles long and the sides of the roads were chocked with people.

Anyway, the local " boys" got ahold of them and kept them at bay during the whole funeral and procession. About 25 burly red necks ( as Soapweed refers to us here in the South) kept'em busy or scared or both and out of the way.
Good for your local boys...I strongly suspect the same would happen here.

I truly pray this does not happen at the funeral for "our" ranchers grandson.I think theres enough Red necks in Soapweeds area that it will be handled,it just shouldn't HAVE to. :cry:
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
Well, here the local law just stepped aside when they found out what the 'boys' were up to.

I guess they had their hands full with just crowd control.

If they would ' step aside' more often.....a lot of bad things would ' go away'!!!!
 

NMRANCHER

Well-known member
kolanuraven said:
Well, here the local law just stepped aside when they found out what the 'boys' were up to.

I guess they had their hands full with just crowd control.

If they would ' step aside' more often.....a lot of bad things would ' go away'!!!!

The only problem with that is that someone would not keep shut about it and the next thing you know the closest town has a 100% (or more) population explosion. And they are all ACLU Lawyers!!!!!!!

:cry2: :cry2: :cry2: :help: :mad: :mad: :mad:

And there goes another tree in the name of justice.
 

Cal

Well-known member
CattleArmy said:
If the funeral for the young man killed from Cherry County is in Valentine I hope these kind of people don't show this disrespect not only to him but also his family.
I just can't see them doing this and then live to tell about it.
 

Steve

Well-known member
CattleArmy
A church supports this behavior?

to my knowledge the correct answer to your question would be NO,...unless your defination of a church is a family raised on hatred., which I doubt,...


Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. (born November 13, 1929) is the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), an independent Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas. Phelps is also a disbarred lawyer and founder of the Phelps Chartered law firm. Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is listed as a "hate group",... Christians of virtually every denomination, have denounced him The church at Westboro which he leads has 71 confirmed members, 60 of whom are related to Phelps through blood or marriage or both.




the four Phelps children (..., Mark, Nate, Katherine and Dotty) who had left the church asserted that their father's religious beliefs were either nonexistent to begin with or have dwindled down to nearly nothing. They insist,... Phelps, wherein he is literally addicted to hatred.,...Phelps' estranged son Mark has said Phelps "simply wants to hate and to have a forum for his hate. . . . If it weren't the homosexuals, it would be something else."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps
 

CattleArmy

Well-known member
Mrs.Greg said:
CattleArmy said:
If the funeral for the young man killed from Cherry County is in Valentine I hope these kind of people don't show this disrespect not only to him but also his family.
I totally agree...I see this as not going over at all well with our respected Neb. posters here on ranchers. This young man deserves to have his family and friends say a decent Good-Bye


I also think your titles misleading,no respected church supports this.The behavoiur is disgusting and far from Godly

It is a church based group you and I may not respect it but they are considered a church based group.
 

schnurrbart

Well-known member
kolanuraven said:
Isn't this the same bunch that protested @ the Matthew Shepherd incident in Laramie a few years back??? If so, they are famous for this kinda crap all across the country.

They even made an appearance here when a local boy was killed. Seems the local 'red necks' handled them pretty good!!!


Mrs. Greg....they consider themselves a ' church'...I forgot the exact name but there's a bunch of'em

It is the Westboro BAPTIST church in Topeka, KS. Just as everyone in our country is given the right of free speech, so are these crazies. They aren't protesting the war or anything even close that. They are protesting gays. Unless we, the people, take away the right of free speech there isn't anything that can be done about it OFFICIALLY!
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
NEWS FLASH for you.... Yep..that's the bunch and they were here protesting the WAR!!!

They might have gotten in a jab at the gays while here...but they were here only for that boys funeral!
 

CattleArmy

Well-known member
kolanuraven said:
NEWS FLASH for you.... Yep..that's the bunch and they were here protesting the WAR!!!

They might have gotten in a jab at the gays while here...but they were here only for that boys funeral!

Technically it really isn't about the war. The group strongly believes that it is the society's views toward gays and lesbians that is leading to the death of the soldiers. They just take their disrespect to the funerals of the dead to not only disrespect the families and the dead soldier but also to spew their own crap. :x
 

schnurrbart

Well-known member
kolanuraven said:
NEWS FLASH for you.... Yep..that's the bunch and they were here protesting the WAR!!!

They might have gotten in a jab at the gays while here...but they were here only for that boys funeral!

No, you are wrong. They are not protesting the war. The are at the funerals of soldiers saying that the soldier died as punishment for serving a country which gives gays rights. That is the crux of the whole protest. Nothing to do with the war per se.
 

Steve

Well-known member
it is not about the War, it is about thier hatred....

In the wake of the tragic Amish school house shooting, members of Westboro Baptist Church planned on picketing the funerals of the five girls killed in the shooting. Their signs were going to call the girls "whores" and that they are "burning in hell". In an attempt to stop them, news radio personality/host Mike Gallagher attempted to dissuade them. After first rejecting a monetary offer, Gallagher offered them an hour of unrestricted airtime on his show. WBC accepted,

While the Law may define thier group as a "church",..I am sure GOD does not...

Calling themselves a church so thier hatred can be "protected" is wrong and should not be tolerated.,..Ironically even the KKK can't tolerate them....
In December 2006, the Ku Klux Klan distributed flyers attacking the church


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
schnurrbart said:
kolanuraven said:
NEWS FLASH for you.... Yep..that's the bunch and they were here protesting the WAR!!!

They might have gotten in a jab at the gays while here...but they were here only for that boys funeral!

No, you are wrong. They are not protesting the war. The are at the funerals of soldiers saying that the soldier died as punishment for serving a country which gives gays rights. That is the crux of the whole protest. Nothing to do with the war per se.


Oh that's right...I forgot you were here in Ga that day...just across the road from these guys with their signs and such. :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

I was here, at the funeral, saw the ' church' group and our ' boys' who were standing in front of them with a few fence posts at their sides. Yeah...that was YOU alright. :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:


I think the war SUCKS and everyone here knows that....but to pull what they did, where they did is way below SORRY!
 

schnurrbart

Well-known member
kolanuraven said:
schnurrbart said:
kolanuraven said:
NEWS FLASH for you.... Yep..that's the bunch and they were here protesting the WAR!!!

They might have gotten in a jab at the gays while here...but they were here only for that boys funeral!

No, you are wrong. They are not protesting the war. The are at the funerals of soldiers saying that the soldier died as punishment for serving a country which gives gays rights. That is the crux of the whole protest. Nothing to do with the war per se.


Oh that's right...I forgot you were here in Ga that day...just across the road from these guys with their signs and such. :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

I was here, at the funeral, saw the ' church' group and our ' boys' who were standing in front of them with a few fence posts at their sides. Yeah...that was YOU alright. :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:


I think the war SUCKS and everyone here knows that....but to pull what they did, where they did is way below SORRY!

No one, especially me, is defending these sorry people. My only feeling about this to just set the story right. They are not protesting the war as such. They are dead set on removing gays from America and they protest at soldiers funerals to say that the person died because they are serving a God-less country. I doubt very few people hate this war as much as I do. Soldiers do not like war at all. They hate war! Their business requires that they sometimes have to be in war and that means they could die. They hate it and their families hate it. I spent 27 years wearing that uniform and defending you. So get off your high horse with me.
 
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