Comic Genesis Forums

fred phelps...sigh...on behalf of the rest of the state of kansas, i'd just like to apologize again for somehow maintaining complicity in the development of an individual who thinks 'www.godhates...' ANYTHING is a good name for a web site. we don't really like him here, either. i'm really sorry. we're really not like that (we don't, however, all wear little blue pinafores and braids, either--how did i end up in a state where my choices of association are dorothy gale and fred phelps?). really. we're very nice people, at least in lawrence. we're embarrassed about it, too...<P>geo<P>------------------
The little pleasures give me victories.
The big ones make me...scared.<P>PDP

Hey George? As for Bin Laden, soon he is going to burn for what he carried out and was pleased about on September 11th. Since a certain dummkopf (guess whom that'd be), he too is insane, and has no remorse for innocent people, by the thousands, dying for nothing.

George? Who's older, you or Fred Phelps? (No, I'm not asking your age. This is a rhetorical question, leading into a point.) Unless you are 15+ years older than Phelps, are from the same community as Phelps, <I>and</I> buy into Hillary "It Takes a Village (Idiot)" Clinton's theories of communal child-rearing, then <I>you bear no personal responsibility for the oral and epistological flatulence with which Freddie-boy pollutes the world about himself.</I> Freddie-boy has chosen his own (burning) crosses to bear, and you have no need to apologize for him. Just my opinion, but I have yet to see any reason for me to change it.

... As well as declaring pi equal to 3 or 4, depending on which statute you read. Now, I can understand gathering all your nuts into one basket, but how do you rationalize giving the power to legislate?<P>I still don't hold you responsible for that, though, George - it occured before you were born. As for publicly confronting Phelps & Phriends, though, I don't see what you'd accomplish, beyond martyrdom. Better to just offer a rational alternative. Phelps will vanish soon enough, only to be replaced by others of his ilk. They've been with us since the Paleolithic Era, they'll be with us in the future - and they've never yet managed to slow the rest of us down. Every time I run into one of them, I think about that... and <I>smile.</I> For some reason, that smile upsets them terribly... <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/biggrin.gif">

i've actually mastered the beatific smile, just for that purpose. i've had punches, rocks, rhetoric and blood (fake, i think...it had a very 'cornstarch and food coloring' feel to it, and didn't go brown...) thrown at me. it drives them nuts for me to just continue to sit where i am sitting, sing what i am singing, or do what i am doing, as if they were not even there. it's (for me at least) not so much a matter of direct confrontation, but of voicing opposing views in different forums. for example, if i hear someone is holding a hateful rally somewhere, i go somewhere else that day and do something nice for people. every time i hear of a group of people getting together to hate somebody or other, i put my little bit o' balance in by getting together to love some people. i get less news time, but TV puts on ten pounds anyway, and i don't need to see myself on camera and stress about the fact that it was a bad hair day to end all bad hair days...<P>------------------
"Oh stars in your courses, tempt me not to unrequited love, for a simple meal of honest crumbs is more satisfying than a magnificent feast of what might have been..."

hm. for a lot of reasons, i'm not equating freddie phelps with bin laden. i'm not sure how that parallel was drawn. i've got my own opinions about what will happen to/with osama bin laden, and all i will say is that karma can be a harsh mistress.<P>the thing is, though, as far as being responsible for phelps, we keep letting the yutz open his big fat yap and spew his hate in our cities. i don't show up at enough of his rallies and tell him he's an idiot and should go home. i just don't have the time, or i would show up everywhere he protests and hold up a sign that says, "hey, rest of america! this idiot does not speak for all of us!" i respect his right to spew hatred. i just don't respect his right to say that his brand of hatred is the status quo in kansas. what i feel responsible for is not being able to make the time commitment required to be vocal enough to show the rest of the world that a lot of kansans are actually very nice, tolerant, enlightened people--despite the fact that we seem to have outlawed evolution (grin).<P>geo<P>------------------
The little pleasures give me victories.
The big ones make me...scared.<P>PDP

Yes, beatific is good - although I've never managed to make it work. It doesn't fit my face, for some reason. (Probably because I'm blond, blue-eyed, and about fifty pounds too heavy. A beatific smile on the face of someone who looks like an overgrown cherub? It tends to provoke giggles, I've found.) I prefer something more predatory - it looks more shocking, and it causes hatemongers to start pondering their vulnerabilities. One thing I've always liked about confronting those types - thinking isn't their strong suit. Once I can shift the confrontation to that basis, they're on <I>my</I> ground. That's when I can start playing with their minds - small toys, but hey, cats <I>like</I> small, frightened toys... <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/biggrin.gif">

beatitude usually works for me, because i have the face of a 13th century madonna as opposed to a cherub (it's a little creepy, and i'm sure the long straight hair really doesn't help...) i've mastered something else for the situations where the peaceful face is not enough. the calm, earnest smile, combined with the phrase, "before you continue to touch me without my permission, i'd like you to consider the fact that i can break your arm in four places in the time it would take you to draw your next breath. remove your hand from me or i'll remove it for you." no one has pushed the issue in a long time. i think it has something to do with the fact that i'm not bluffing, and it shows. i'm a pragmatic pacifist. i believe in my father's version of pacifism, which is this: never throw the first punch. never throw a punch unless you absolutely must. but if you must throw a punch, throw the last one, and decisively so. about ten years ago, a fellow protestor (on the 'other side') decided it was a good idea to shake me by the arm until i 'saw reason'. i was eventually required to lay him down on the ground, sit on him, and give him a firm talking to about the folly of touching those who had not touched you first, no matter how innocuous they might appear. we still move in the same protest circles, and he to this day will not touch an opponent first, no matter how angry he becomes. he also points me out to other protestors as "no one to mess with". a reputation for being able to defend oneself is quite helpful, as it enables me to stand bodily between people who would harm the weak and those who cannot defend themselves, and prevent aggression and violence in what should be a peaceful setting for the airing of opinions. as a rather large and solidly built woman with some combat training and experience of a sort, i feel compelled to defend those who are unable to defend themselves. then, there's the fact that i know from experience that i can stand a fair amount of physical abuse without suffering lasting damage. i'm not one to go looking for confrontation, but it's reassuring to know that if it finds me and won't give up, i can handle it.<P>geo<P>------------------
"Oh stars in your courses, tempt me not to unrequited love, for a simple meal of honest crumbs is more satisfying than a magnificent feast of what might have been..."

Ah. The one my sister (a truly dangerous woman, with whom I am proud to claim kinship) prefers is to grab the assailant by the elbow pressure point, and then sweetly inquire as to whether the oaf would like his arm back - and whether he still wants it attached. Having been on the recieving end a time or three dozen (hey, she had to practice on <I>someone</I>), I can assure you it's quite effective at inspiring an attack of politeness. It's also sudden enough, and from an unexpected enough angle, that it's almost impossible to counter - even when you know it's coming. I (eventually) learned to spot the signs from far enough out to take evasive maneuvers, but I still get jumpy at reunions...<p>[This message has been edited by David Adrian (edited 12-18-2001).]