It’s a small thing, only doing $10,000 worth of damage, but the location is newsworthy.
A fence and garage at Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church became engulfed in flames early Saturday, according to the Topeka Capitol-Journal Web site. The fire did not spread to the church building.
The cause of the fire is unknown, and I sincerely hope it wasn’t arson — setting homes on fire is not the way to settle grievances, even against people as despicable as the Phelps clan.
Noted.
It would be much better if it were started by a lightening strike. They’d have to start coming up with ways the “f*g conspiracy” could be controlling the weather.
Maybe a little bit of hell broke through and started the fire? Strange that it occurred there.
It was sweltering yesterday in Kansas. No wind, high humidity and about 100 degrees. A broken piece of glass with the sun in the right spot could have caused a fire, but I prefer to think it was God that caused it, perhaps a warning to stop being such a bunch of rude IDiot wingnuts.
I also hope it wasn’t arson: reason over violence. The Phelps clan, as despicable as they are, are not politically* violent themselves, nor do they advocate or endorse human to human violence (savoring God’s immanent violent destruction of sinners is not the same.) Even if they did, it is not for vigilantes to take the law into their hands.
If it was arson, strange that they’d go after the garage, instead of the church.
*(I’ve read that Phelps himself is physically abusive, and his sermons advocate good ol’ fashun whuppins’ for the kiddies and women-folk)
Sastra @5,
strange that they’d go after the garage, instead of the church
The garage, unlike the church, might possibly have housed something of value.
And the garage burned, and the fence did likewise.
Then there was a great voice from the heavens: “Ah, that wasn’t the fire which burns but does not consume, either. Where is that jar?”
And thus, by the acts of an angel with opinions, the day of the second coming of the miracle of the burning Bush grew ever nearer.
From the Book of Hogwash, 4:1-3.
Hey it was a garage,any thing could have started the fire.Improperly stored oily rag’s or gas,ect.And the Phelps are a oily type of people.
Definitely sounds like an act of god.
Sastra, while the Phelps clans do not use physical violence, just think what it is like for friends and family of the dead to see these “humans” celebrating the death of their loved ones. Sorry, these people make me ill.
#8
“Improperly stored oily rag’s”
God hates rags?
I also certainly hope it wasn’t arson too. The Phelps klan do themselves no favours and make no friends. Noone needs to act against them, they are their own downfall.
At #8: Boof – back of the net! :-)
The Phelps’ funeral protests have become completely invisible due to the efforts of a national Biker movement that calls itself Patriot Guard Riders They are up to nearly 10,000 members and attend funerals with family permission.
Their tactics are fairly simple and non-violent. They bring huge American Flags which they use to curtain the Phelps gang, and they drown out their chants by revving their bikes.
They simply monitor the activities of Westboro and out organize them.
Westboro is easy to counter because their whole game depends on attracting media attention in advance of their ‘protests’.
I am sure it was arson, and that the fire was set by members of the Phelps clan themselves. They’ve been a bit starved for media attention as of late, and this is an easy way to get their name back into the headlines.
Fire in the Garage?
Meth Lab perhaps?
That would explain their behavior.
….wait, so I am the only one who sang the lyrics from Bloodhound Gang’s “Fire Water Burn” when I heard the news?
Oh well… It’s still a catchy song…
(PZ, fix your </blockquote> tag.)
I have a really hard time not experiencing an extreme form of Schadenfreude over this.
Janine ID #10 wrote:
Get as ill as you want — causing offense, even grievous offense, is not a form of “violence” which justifies physical violence in return.
Of course, there is more merit in desiring respect for departed loved ones, than demanding respect for superstitions. We all love people, people exist, and love has value. Superstition — not so much.
Jonathon brings up something I’ve wondered about since I first saw the story. What if a member of the church set the fire? Two scenarios. One, to create another “persecution” of the church. Two, a finally-recovering member’s protest.
@ #11
Threads done, Sigmund has won.
@sigmund
Yes, he does. Phelps, being dyslexic, substituted f’s for r’s and the rest is history.
Scooter #14
who would have thought that a bunch of “filthy” Bikers would out Christian the Christians :-)
and before anyone gets out their soapbox, I’m a member in good standing of SCUM (South Coast United Motorcycles) fortunately we don’t have to do anything like that down here in Australia, but I’m guessing that if we did, the biker community would be very easy to mobilise in this way. may I bless their free spirited and thinking ways :-)
The land my house stands on was consumed by fire about 45 years ago,a fire that was probably just started by some dick throwing a cig butt out of a car.It consumed half the mountain and killed quite a few people.
So while the burning bush references are all kinda fun,I for one dont wish fire onto anyone,deluded fuckwit or not.
Sigmund @#11, that is going to make me giggle for the rest of the day!
Scooter, those tactics were developed by friends of Matthew Shepard during the highly publicized trail of his murderers. They made giant angels that they would place between the cameras and the Phelps clan.
#11: Elaborating on rags. It could have gone something like this:
A Phelpite comes to hear the sermon after spending the whole day cleaning the garage, wiping his sweaty brow with one of the cleaner rags, the ones set aside during the cleaning as being a-okay according to ol’ Leviticus.
From the doorway, he hears a familiar shrill voice. It seems to be saying something like this: “Rags must burn! Fire on rags! Fire! God hates rags!”
Shrugging, the Phelpite goes out, kneels by the garage, and gets out the prophet-approved fire bow. After a few minutes of rolling the bow back and forth, a thin wisp of smoke rises.
A few minutes after this, the Phelpite runs to the great hall, and shouts: “Hey, boss! The garage’s on fire just like you ordered!”
Some confusion follows, as the boss is suddenly very cross.
Personally I don’t believe there is anything newsworthy about the Phelps clan, they should be ignored into obscurity, where they belong.
Sastra, I am sorry if it seemed like I was advocating the use of violence against the Phelps clan. It needs to be pointed out the the clan thrives on violence directed against them. First, it feeds into their martyr complex. Second, most of the clan are lawyers. They habitually sue those who attack them. That is how they get their traveling money.
My issue was that what they do is a form of violence. It is not physical but from my point of view, it is a violation.
Janine ID #26
I didn’t know that. The Patriot Guards originated in Kansas City, appropriately. I heard one of the founders interviewed on AM Radio. They are pretty cool and totally bi-partisan, lefty-righty, hawky-dovey.
They’re available to counter protest any Westboro activity if I’m not mistaken. i was thinking about joining up, but too lazy to get the old scooters running. Gas prices may change that soon, but riding Houston Freeways on 40 year old motorcycles seems unwise.
Hey I just got a new hurricane watch this morning but I don’t know how to read it.
They are all going to get down and praise God for saving the actual church from being burnt down now, aren’t they?
Hey #23 what do yall ride down there, Chaplain?
Do any of those ‘new’ Royal Enfields show up from India?
I still have an old ’68 Bonnie and a 75 Commando.
I want to but them back on the road but not sure if it’s Whitworth it.
par ump pump
Has the Phelps clan conducted a head count recently? It’s plausible that on a really hot day the hatred inside one of them built up to the point of triggering spontaneous combustion. Were any primate-like remains found in the ruins?
Damn #11, you beat me to it!
The only good thing about the Phelps’ is that the younger ones are so horribly brainwashed, that they have stated that they believe the end times are near, and therefore don’t see a need to get married or have children. I think we can all feel a little bit better about that.
Animal rights wingnuts are firebombing scientists:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/04/MNMI124HSI.DTL
It could simply be a matter of money.
Candy sales have been slow (you know that part of the clan history, right?), so they’re hoping for an insurance check.
It’d be great if they got nailed for fraud.
The Phelps gang is going to have to make some new signs now:
GOD HATES FENCES! and GOD HATES GARAGES!
karen,
No that’s what they always meant by God hates FAGs. FAG is just an acronym. Poor, misunderstood Freddie.
Well, this should be an end to atheists … the fire did not spread to the church, ergo there is a god.
Probably for the insurance money. Phelpites are protesting a court ruling last Friday, They have to pay vehicle taxes on the truck they drive to protests. Kansas Court of Appeals ruled the protests are political more than religious. Phelpites have probably spent more than the $130 tax fighting the ruling.
Glen#20 Shirley Phelps-Roper, idiot/spokesperson for the clan, did claim persecution. Shirley claims the court is taxing them to remove their “credibility” as if they had any. And that the court is setting precedent taxing religions they disagree with. Rags, like it, going to pass that along.
Louis Theroux’s BBC documentary on the WBC a few years ago gave me the impression that Phelps always claimed accidents were god’s judgement, and god’s judgement should always be welcomed. One of the younger clan members claimed she would be happy to see a friend getting hit by a bus as it was god’s doing.
Thus there is a certain poetic irony in the WBC’s misfortune.
You know, I think she’s really missing the point. Point being, would she be happy to be serving god’s will if SHE got hit by a bus … and left in permanent misery? It’s really not that hard to see someone else’s suffering and tell them that they are doing god’s will and he must have a reason for it. But can you do/say the same (and mean it) when you are the one in pain?
My bet: meth lab. Someone’s gotta make some money, and I’m sure their donation plate is looking a bit spartan.
I miss their website godhatesfags.com which I cannot access since I have the web at work and my company uses a filter that blocks the word “hate.”
I am gay and this site was soooo over the top with their hatred that it was actually funny.
He must have done something wrong and God is angry at him. Wonder what it can be?
If only the US didn’t tolerate homosexuality, nobody would die at war…
To everything there is a season
Burn, burn, burn…
(apologies to the Byrds)
Thomas J. Theobold, your comment made me laugh out loud. Meth-lab fumes would be at least a semi-plausible explanation for the messed-up behavior and activities of this bugged-out group of cretinous inbreds. As for the fire, I’ll bet you my whole house that we find out they did it to themselves. Seriously. (And again, Westboro Baptist Church, better get used to those flames.)
Hmmm, I can’t say I’d be particularly grieved if the cause of the fire was arson.
Alex, they aren’t thanking god for not burning the church. They are claiming that the church was burned and the fire was set because of the example set by activist judges. I shit you not. Straight out of supreme loon Fred’s mouth:
Oh, and now damages are $20-30K. Apparently those black robed monsters are going to go to hell, which has enlarged to accommodate them. Here’s another article to read. There are a lot of reasons for them to have set it themselves apparently, not just insurance money.
http://pageoneq.com/news/2008/westboro080408.html
…my company uses a filter that blocks the word “hate.”
Seriously? You can’t pull up websites with the words “whatever” and “Chateaubriand” and so forth?
Pam’s House Blend has additional info:
Phelps church burns, Fred blames judges and homos (4 Aug 2008)
ARSON?!? My first thought was “I wonder what kind of flammmable substances they were stockpiling in the garage, and why?”. Phelps and his inbred clan are an example of the worst kind of extremists religion tends to create. Did they decide that picketing funerals just wasn’t effective enough before or after they bought the diesel fuel and fertilizer?
Just spitballing.
Phelps church burns, Fred blames judges and homos (4 Aug 2008)
Shit, the bastard survived.
To use Fred’s favorite intro: This fire was “no doubt” set by members of the Westover Baptist Church. If someone wanted to set their house on fire, then I would imagine they’d have done it long ago. And, what the fuck do they care about the damages…you can’t take it with you, can you, Freddy? I mean, I’m still pulling for them to screw the IRS that their property is taken and sold to homosexuals for a cut-rate price.
I mean, I’m still pulling for them to screw the IRS that their property is taken and sold to homosexuals for a cut-rate price.
Turning it into a bathhouse would be awesome
Transexual surgery center?
And, I love how the value of the damaged property rises exponentially with the number of interviews given. It’s also really funny that they’re claiming “fag arsonists burnt down our church.” ?? Your church? Did they consecrate the fence?
Hey Scooter #32
Nah we got good bikes down here :-)
I started my biking career on a Honda C50 step through, don’t laugh, it got me around without having to annoy my parents. I sent up to a 250cc dirt bike and then to a Yamaha 250LC water cooled 2 stroke that went like a scalded cat. I eventually made it up to a Honda Goldwing 1100 that was a pig to ride but never stopped (even sometimes when you actually wanted to stop)
The last bike of any consequence I had was a Yamaha RZ 500, it was a pure race bike with a headlight and indicators stuk to it so it could be registered. v4 500cc 2 stroke that would get up to 200pkh in a single city block and still pull up at the intersection (I have the police radar photo to prove it laying around somewhere, a friend was Highway Patrol, and did it for me as a favour one day as he was just as curious as I was about its performance)
Then the rot set in and I got married, I recently bought a little 50cc 2 stroke scooter to get around on. maybe if fuel prices keep climbing I can convince SWMBO to let me get something bigger so I don’t have to borrow a mates old BMW R80 to go on club rides :-)
BTW I haven’t used a whitworth spanner in decades :-)
I agree that Sigmund @ #11 wins.
Just want to point out that the Phelps doctrine is that EVERYTHING that happens is ordained by God. Including violence. So, while it is WRONG to kill a person (for example, Matthew Shephard), and the people who did that are in deep doo-doo with God – the fact of the matter is, God WANTED that to happen. I believe it was Fred Phelps who confirmed in an interview that if he was murdered as an act of hate against what he says, it would happen because God willed it.
Therefore, whether or not that fire was deliberately lit, God wanted them to buuuuuuuurrrn.
Of course this reasoning also means that millions of homosexual relationships occur because God wills it – but then, let’s not let logic come into the argument.
I don’t want anyone ever to instigate violence against the Phelps. I want people to go out and convert THEM to what we believe – and we believe that they are wrong.
They preach to us, why not just preach right back at them? I don’t know anything about the ‘patriot guard’ but they sound like they just get between the Phelps and their protest targets. If they talk to them peacably, with a mandate of ‘do no harm’ as well, that would be ideal. Is this the case?
If it is arson, I do hope the criminal is prosecuted.
Can I get an Atheist Amen? And #36 provides some perspective (Animal rights wingnuts are firebombing scientists:). Sure the Phelps clan is batshit crazy and offensive, but I don’t wish any violence on them. OTOH, firebombing *Animal Rights Activists* can’t die soon enough for me. “Animal Rights Activist Devoured By Lab Rats” is an ironic headline I could cheer about.
What? Sixty-plus comments and not one remark about Phelch Baptist Loony Bin and flaming faggots?
*Sigh* Up to me, I suppose. But I have far too much class to go there.
That’s my bet too. I seem to recall reading something which claimed that if their case was unsuccessful, the “church” (which is also their place of residence) was subject to immediate foreclosure and sale. I can see them being spiteful enough to destroy it rather than hand it over to “fag-enablers” or whatever they call their opponents these days.
I want to thank the liberals and conservatives for showing their contempt for free speech and expression and letting the world know how much they hate the bill of rights.
The reaction toward Westboro, beyond mere contempt (which I share), in trying to shut them up or worse, set their fire to their house, is a testimony to how far removed we are from the intent of our founders.
From the right to the left. I find you all disgusting.
personally I don’t care if the fuckers burn. Anyone who advocates for my death (I am transgender) in my book is asking for trouble. Quit feeling sorry for these people; they will portray themselves as innocent and helpless when they are in fact predatory people
Fuck them.