Whitney Houston's Funeral To Be Picketed By Westboro Baptist Church

[Great Caesars Ghost]

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Whitney Houston's Funeral To Be Picketed By Westboro Baptist Church


First Posted: 02/16/2012 5:28 pm Updated: 02/16/2012 5:37 pm

Having previously picketed services for Matthew Shepard, Michael Jackson and Steve Jobs, Westboro Baptist Church now has its sights set on Whitney Houston's funeral.

The Christian Post is reporting that members of the right-wing Christian group, known for its strong anti-gay stance, are planning to stage a protest at the pop diva's private memorial, set for this weekend in her hometown of Newark, N.J.

<snip>

It is unclear why Westboro would have such an issue with Houston, who was known as a devout Christian and started singing at Newark's New Hope Baptist Church, where the funeral will be held. Phelps did imply that Houston's gay fanbase may have played a factor, tweeting: "F--k call her 'gay icon.' Yeah, WBC is picketing that funeral."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/16/whitney-houston-funeral-westboro-baptist-church_n_1283072.html?ref=gay-voices

[RKP5637]

1. Outrageous! They make a mockery of freedom of speech! n/t

[cstanleytech]

39. It wouldnt be freedom of speech of we could limit theres.

Just saying is all.......personally I wouldnt be upset if they all came down with a bad case of the runs just before the funeral.

[Booster]

2. This may be one funeral where one of them gets seriously hurt.

[Great Caesars Ghost]

5. If someone from WBC does get hurt or killed

I believe there are HIGH POWERED attorneys that will do defense pro bono.

[BlueIris]

9. If someone gets hurt, WBC will use it as an excuse to sue.

Don't by into it. WBC is a gigantic scam designed to provoke people so it can sue the crap out of them and make $$$ in the process.

[teknomanzer]

20. Best thing to do is wait until one of them takes the dirt nap...

And then show up at their funeral. Old Fred isn't getting any younger. I will bide my time. Oh what fun we will all have.

[BlueIris]

38. Personally, I think the best thing to do would be to ignore their hateful scheme.

Last edited Fri Feb 17, 2012, 05:45 AM - Edit history (2)

Aside from pointing out the scam-tastic quality of their "protests," I say: don't engage with these sad, pathetic grifters. They are useless wastes-of-space and do not deserve anyone's attention. Even picketing Fred's funeral would be giving them more recognition than any of them should get.

[The Wielding Truth]

28. Couldn't they be stoped because what they do could be considered inciting a riot?

[BlueIris]

37. I've wondered a lot about that.

Haven't managed to dig up a lot of answers.

[tanyev]

3. That won't go well.

[crunch60]

4. They would love that

That would give them a reason to SUE! That's what they live on, money from lot's of lawsuits.

[nxylas]

8. That's something often alleged, never proved

It almost falls into the category of an urban myth, in that nobody ever provides specific examples of it happening.

[xmas74]

31. I don't have printed proof

but Megan Phelps-Roper does regular PR work for the group on all the local radio stations and she has all but come out and absolutely admitted to it on the air.

One station made a comment about how the rumor has it that they win lots of money on their lawsuits and she basically admitted to it. She stated something along the lines of having to sue, if necessary, for their free speech rights and that financial winnings allow them to keep going.

I wish that local radio stations had written transcriptions but most of them around here do not. I do know that one of the stations she calls in to regularly is 96.5 out of the KC Metro area. She does interviews with them often and likes to also make song requests.

[nxylas]

41. That's OK, I believe you

Most people who talk about the WBC making their money from lawsuits don't provide the level of detail contained in your post. I'm not trying to defend the Phelps cult, I just like people to back up their allegations with something more specific than "Well, I heard...."

[LibertyLover]

44. Just some more information for you on WBC

Old Fred was a lawyer, but was disbarred in 1979. A number of his children went to law school and have their own law firm, Phelps Chartered. I know that in the 1990s they used Phelps Chartered to sue the city of Topeka several times. From one suit they received $16,500 and are pursuing another one for $100,000. WBC claims that its money comes from donations from the congregation, but that's a bit disengenuious as most of the congregation are Phelps' family. Phelps Chartered can be engaged by members of the public for legal work, so part of the funding for WBC, as funneled through the congregation's gifts, comes from regular legal activities of the attorneys at Phelps Chartered, but WBC does indeed pursue litigation against individuals and institutions that have, shall we say, annoyed them. IIRC, WBC counter-sued the Maryland man whose son's funeral the group protested. He sued them and won at the state level but WBC appealed and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which found for WBC. It was one of those court cases that you knew had to be decided the way it was, but you really didn't want it to be.

[KamaAina]

6. God does not hate Whitney Houston so stop saying that!

[tclambert]

24. That cartoon would be better if God's T-shirt had a Flying Spaghetti Monster symbol on it

instead of the Jesus Fish.

Maybe better would be if He wore a shirt that said, "I hate the Westboro Baptist Church."

[sakabatou]

7. Oh god...

[katty]

10. they've got too much dumb time on their hands-freakin' idiots

so who is underwriting these nutjobs?

[BlueIris]

11. Why the Westboro Baptist Church is a Scam. (Warning--extremely graphic content.)

The following is an interesting piece I read two years ago about what the WBC is really about. It contains references to WBC's hateful terms. Including anti-gay slurs. (The author is not insulting gay people, just criticizing the WBC, but I want to warn people who want to avoid that language no matter what.)

Please, no one buy into what Fred Phelps and his ilk are trying to pull here. No matter how much he may deserve to face our anger, I would hate to see anyone get provoked into getting sued in his profitable lawsuit scheme.

http://kanewj.com/wbc/

[The Wizard]

19. They'll need doctors

not lawyers.

[quakerboy]

12. Are we supposed to be outraged?

I cant seem to care much what WBC does, nor where they do it, as long as they are not intruding on the funerals themselves and not doing anything illegal. They are irrelevant to anything meaningful.

[Jester Messiah]

13. Old schtick is old.

Who gives a rat's ass?

[Atypical Liberal]

14. Understand - these people are not a church at all. They are a business.

My understanding is that these people are a church in name only. Their actual goal is to be as publicly offensive as possible so as to provoke a response that they can sue over and make money.

This is not a church - it is a money making racket.

The more controversial the better for them.

[frogmarch]

16. Exactly. They picket funerals in

hopes someone will assault them so they can sue and make money. As you said, it's a money-making racket.

[rocktivity]

15. Nothing that the Newark biker clubs can't handle.

rocktivity

[glinda]

17. Would be great if they showed up.

[The Wizard]

18. They better have an escape route

Newark could get very hostile, very fast, and the police might well be distracted.

[MADem]

36. I had similar thoughts.

Also, you can't sue someone if you can't identify them.

[EvilAL]

21. Now there's

a fucking surprise.

[MichiganVote]

22. In Newark. Uh huh. That's a REALLY bad idea. Stock up the bandages hospitals.

[jaysunb]

23. ROFLMAO !

First, I don't for one minute believe they will do this, but, trust me, it will be the very last funeral protest they'll do. And just like my fellow Vet said upthread: "they better have an escape route"...preferably one that takes off like a chopper.

btw:RIP Whitney.

[bluestateguy]

25. I'll expect the Patriot Guard Riders to show up

I do hope that they do not just restrict their activities to military funerals.

[gopiscrap]

26. Yes they come to non military funerals

the westboro shit heads were gonna protest the Powell boy's funeral and the bikers showed (westboro chickened out) we actually had 4,000+ folks ready to the funeral site to shield the family if we needed to.

[craigmatic]

29. they better come with loads of security because NJ won't tolerate this.

[tawadi]

30. Opportunistic attention whores. eom

[jmowreader]

32. I figure they're gonna bury Fred in the back yard when the time comes

and admit he died a week AFTER the funeral.

The alternative is to announce the event, and a day later there'll be a protest on 12th Street in Topeka that makes the Million Man March look like two guys with a bullhorn.

[Bad_Ronald]

33. Don't these vile a-holes ever get tired of being vile a-holes?

I mean, even people who love what they're doing & are unconditionally dedicated to their vocations take lunch & dinner breaks....and even vacations once in awhile. It seems to me that these people work indefatigably at being reprehensible douche stains 24/7, 365 days a year.

[Lex]

34. They are boring and predictable.

They have more than jumped the shark. I went to the counter-protest when they protested Elizabeth Edwards' funeral and there were like 1500 of us counter-protestors and 5 Westboro people. We took pictures of them like they were freaks. Which they are.

[appleannie1]

35. They picket just to picket. They have lost all manner of respect or meaning a long time ago.

[BlueMTexpat]

40. Attention-seeking publicity whores ...

that's what they are.

That a vicious group like this is allowed to use the name "Baptist" and "Church" in vain is a travesty of what is meant by freedom of speech and religion.

If they used names for what they truly are, i.e., Fascists and homophobes, at least they wouldn't get a tax break, even if we still might have to put up with their nasty POV.

[liberal N proud]

42. At this point they should not even be called a church

They make no sense and surve no purpose.

[RKP5637]

43. They should be called Hate, Inc. n/t

[lunatica]

45. Hatriots burn with red hot intensity

[Javaman]

46. their protest has less to do with Houston that it does with face time on the news.

they haven't been in the spotlight in a while.

They are media hounds.

[Gringostan]

47. Has their tax exempt status, as a church, been revoked? NT

[struggle4progress]

48. This was reported on 14 Feb or earlier, hence was not LBN when posted here on 16 Feb:

Westboro Baptist Church Plans to Protest Whitney Houston Funeral
By Clara Morris , Christian Post Contributor
February 14, 2012|3:34 pm
The Westboro Baptist Church plans to protest Whitney Houston's funeral ... http://global.christianpost.com/news/westboro-baptist-church-plans-to-protest-whitney-houston-funeral-69485/

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