Burnt Orange Report

Fred Phelps = Nazi

By Byron LaMasters

And no, I'm not engaging in hyperbole. For those of you unaware, Fred Phelps is the guy that pickets funerals (notably Matthew Shepard) of gays and lesbians, people who support gay rights, abortion rights, etc. etc. Via the People's Republic of Seabrook Fred has a new game on his website, GodHatesFags.com called: Fags vs. Kids:

The object of this game is to place exactly 5 sodomites (represented by a pink swastika) and exactly 3 kids (represented by a baby bottle) on the grid to the right, such that none of the sodomites can get their repulsive hands on any of the kids. A sodomite can move any number of spaces in any direction in a straight line (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally).

To place a sodomite on the grid, click once on an empty square.

To place a kid on the grid, click once on a sodomite.

To make a square empty again, click once on a kid.

Here's the final solution:

Anyway, if you've never heard of the guy, check out his website. He makes Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson look like moderates. Some people say it's best to ignore the guy. Giving him attention only boosts his ego and fuels his passion and hatred. It makes sense to some extent. Still, my philosophy in fighting these types of people is a calm, pragmatic approach. While, I've never met the Phelps clan, I have had the opportunity to participate in counter-protests against the radical right-wing organization, Justince For All. While they did not protest this year on the UT campus, they did the two previous years. Justice for All is an anti-abortion organization that displays 15-foot high pictures of aborted fetuses at various stages in development. My freshman year, they reserved the West Mall Rally Space for a week to display their protest. The pro-choice groups on campus were mobilized, but their counterprotests - dumping several thousand wire coat hangers in front of the JFA display, then sitting in a circle and then undoing them (as if they were preparing to perform a coat hanger abortion) - really only served to heighten the tension. I thought of an idea that several PFLAG chapters had done in protesting Fred Phelps. PFLAG had urged people to pledge a donation to some gay youth group or some AIDS organization for every minute that Phelps and his gang protested some event. It worked. PFLAG had raised between several hundred and a couple thousand dollars each time they had used this tactic. So, I dedided that the University Democrats could ask people to pledge even just a dime or a quarter to a pro-choice organization for every hour that JFA protested. It worked. Within a day, we had pledges of over $15 for every hour that JFA protested and they eventually protested about 25 hours (and didn't come back the last day they had the rally space because of our efforts). The pro-choice organizations decided to give the pledged money to the Lilith Fund, an organization that helps fund abortions for low-income women. So, what did Justice for All acheive in their protest? They helped a low-income woman have access to an abortion. Using tactics like this against people like Fred Phelps and their ilk is the only way to get them to stop. They're a great fundraising tool.

Posted by Byron LaMasters at June 2, 2004 06:38 PM | TrackBack