Fred Phelps - AIBU to say that there is a death...

[manicinsomniac]

... that is a long way from being a tragedy.

I know, we shouldn't speak ill of the dead, everybody has a family who mourns them etc but in this case, I really can't see anything but benefit to society.

Is that harsh?

(sorry if there's already a thread going on this, I put his name into search but nothing came up)

Obituary here:
www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/fred-phelps-sr-leader-of-westboro-baptist-church-dies-at-84/2014/03/20/a0c5cd30-ae2b-11e3-a49e-76adc9210f19_story.html

YANBU. I knew the Westboro Baptists were deeply unpleasant, but to be bad enough for the Klan to protest against them takes it to another level.

Didn't his church throw him out anyway? I wonder if they will picket his send off?very very odd lot.

YANBU. However I'm choosing to take the moral high ground and not sink to their twatish level, celebrating someone's death. However I'm not critical of anyone that does in his case.

Why should we not speak ill of the dead, I've never really understood that. If you're a cunt in life, death ain't making you nicer.

Good riddance to him!

Good point Dee - I'm not celebrating as such. I'm just not in the slightest bit sad! (hopefully there's a subtle difference somewhere!)

Yanbu - the world's a better, more compassionate place without him

Letting his death go unnoticed would be best I think.

...except that he leaves ELEVEN children, all of them qualified lawyers, and all well versed in using the First Amendment in the service of hate.

Agree 100% with DumbleDee.

YANBU, it's a person very few people will be sad to see leave the world. I'm sure his family love him, as much as that group of people know about love.

Disgrace some of his children left the church and have been disowned.

When he was younger he was a great lawyer for civil rights.

You've got to wonder what twisted his soul the way it was.

Won'tMissHimForASecondTiggaxx

I like to think that, if he was right in thinking there is a god, he's discovered by now that homosexuals are welcome in heaven but he's going in the other direction.

I think one son lives in Canad and promotes gay rights doesn't he? I suspect he was crossed off the family christmas list.

11 kids. Selfish whotzit! Who thinks 'what the world needs is 11 mini-mes'.

11 kids. Selfish whotzit! Who thinks 'what the world needs is 11 mini-mes'.

That would be eleven, qualified, well-paid taxpayers, who are subsidising the pensioners who didn't "replace" themselves, economically-speaking.

Even better obituary in Time magazine

time.com/32564/fred-phelps-westboro-baptist-obituary/

I would suspect his motive in having so many kids wasn't for the benefit of society (he would be the type to froth at his tax dollars going toward welfare for vets and single mothers) but so that he is populating the planet with 'his kind'.