Democracy for Vancouver

…But it’s all part of a deal to get them to leave the Virginia-Tech funerals alone:

A national radio talk show host made a deal with anti-gay protesters to draw them away from Ryan Clark’s funeral.

Clark, widely hailed as a hero for trying to shield other students during the Virginia Tech shootings, was targeted by the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The Topeka group claims that those who died in the massacre were sacrificed by God for America’s sins.

The Topeka protesters generally show up at funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and hold up signs reading “God hates America” and “God hates fags.” Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of the founder, said the church thinks gays are breaking God’s law, as are all those who support gay rights in any way.

“At this time, there is not a distinction between those who practice those deeds and those who enable those who practice those deeds,” Phelps-Roper said.
She said she was unaware that Clark listed himself on his two MySpace pages as either “bi” or “gay.”

“The first hint we had of it was when I spoke to the CBS guy,” she said.

To the Westboro group, funerals of those who died in war or other tragedies are merely opportunities for publicity. So just as they did following the Amish school shootings in Pennsylvania, the church agreed not to protest at Virginia Tech funerals in response to an offer from talk show host Mike Gallagher.

Producer Lance Anderson said, “Yes this is true. For three hours [Tuesday], Mike will allow them to spew their hatred on his radio show in exchange for them not protesting at the funerals of anyone who was shot at Virginia Tech.”

Which is - of course - making the assumption that they’ll honor the deal. They don’t seem particularly rational or sane. Plus, handing them a big, mega-watt megaphone seems almost as odious as allowing them to show up at innocent people’s funerals.

Original link.

Found at the Bulldada Newsblog