Do I have your attention? Good.
I found this excerpt after watching a short video on the Phelps family. Nested within the comments you will find countless expressions of rage, hate and essentially exactly the same sins and sick mind set this family is demonstrating.
The same amount, you ask? Well, I suppose I could let you be the judge of that.
“caint belive this women she is an american hatin nazi who should be killed!!
if i where see this bitch in the street i would run her fuckin ass over and then beat the shit out of her and her whole fuckin krew!!
fuck those baptist bitches!!!”
– zakkball2245
“If i ever saw that woman i would beat the shit outta her…”
– babyphat2036
“I hope they get tortured for days, then slowly and painfully killed.
That’d be fucking awesome.”
– Tilaron
“I truly hope the bitch gets raped.
Might put the world into perspective for the slag”
– MCH1984
“yes… give me a gun n a car i can burn =)
il PROUDLY do em ALL in.. even those little children”
— UwAnAgOhUh
I could go on, but I think I’m starting to get sick to my stomach. Now it’s not exactly an epiphany to learn that sick, and rude comments are being propagated on YouTube. Any simple search for police videos will reward you with countless comments about how police “don’t fight fair”.
My concern is that while people say stupid stuff online, perhaps it is because they feel comfortable and anonymous enough, to say whatever they are actually feeling. Surely no one in their right mind would ever say something like this to a co-worker, or worse yet, their boss. The mere idea of attaching these statements to your name in any way would be considered ludicrous by anyone wishing to have a real career. However we don’t see names here, we see seemingly random words, characters and numbers.
I understand I am not telling you anything new, you are most likely already aware of the problems the Internet faces, but I do have to ask what these people are speaking out against. A family that yells “Fag” more times in a minute then a Counter Strike server consisting of 14 year old youth? Or perhaps they are protesting the brainwashing of the children:
[ Transcript from video, Boy appears to be about 7 years old ]
Woman: “Noah, do you know what Fag Troops are?”
Boy: “It’s this nation,
of these fags,
It’s the, the nation of fags,
that’s what fag troops means.”
Woman: “If you’re not a practicing fag, what are you? “
Boy: [ No Answer, Kid looks down ]
Woman: “And what if you support fags, what are you?”
Boy: “You’re a dyke”
However, how could they be protesting for these children? Some have gone so far as to say they would happily kill the children. Some would be happy killing the adults, most likely turning them into martyrs for the children and other radicals.
So would killing them actually do anything useful? Of course not. Why? Besides the obvious moral implications, it would only add fuel to a already roaring fire. Anyone who doesn’t think that similar minded individuals exist out there, haven’t watched “Jesus Camp” yet. Giving these people something else to use in their arsenal would be the most absurd idea yet.
The actions on the part of this family are hateful and they are hurtful. If I were to write up a sign and take the same stance against any minority, especially in a small group on a street corner, I would be arrested before I could say “Fag”. I watched a guy get arrested at a protest for allegedly trying to break a solid tempered steel parking meter open with his $200 wooden conga drum. Apparently he needed the $5-10 stored inside. Too bad he didn’t see the cop car parked 2 feet away.
So how is it that these people actually get to do this?
Why is it that a peaceful protest against the mass usage of oil has snipers located on building tops, helicopters flying overhead, countless police standing guard, and yet these people don’t even get a second glance? Would it help if we sent some black Christian radicals down there? Maybe then there would be police everywhere, helicopters and snipers. Maybe then we would see people getting dragged away for breaking parking meters.
You might be asking yourself now which group I am ranting about, the religious fanatical family, or the people posting comments about the family. My answer is simple: Both. I am in complete shock at the distaste and utter nonsense that this family has portrayed, and feel equally towards most of those that have responded. (Of course not all comments were bad, some were quite understanding).
I don’t know what everyone’s stance is on this, I don’t know all the facts. Everything I have said is based off opinion and simple observation. However I do feel that this should be called a hate crime, and I do feel that this should not be tolerated in our society. Free speech is not making people feel like less of a human because of who they are, that is oppression. I understand that these people are upset, I was outraged when I first watched this video; however failing to demonstrate self control, and take a deep breath first, is exactly what this family is coming under attack for.
I do hope to have some dialogue on this though, and I will approve everyone even if they disagree with me, so long as they follow these rules:
- Don’t tell me this is has anything to do with race, sex, or religion. The family involved are religiously fanatical, and I do not consider them to be an accurate representation of Christian individuals at all.
- Do not tell me this is because of a lack of God, I am Agnostic, yet I do not wander the streets spreading hateful propaganda, and I certainly would not want to do this online either. Even if I can quickly register a 15 digit random nickname at YouTube.
- Have a point, or agree / disagree with a point, ask questions, read, give information.
Any posts that I feel are unacceptable will be sent to the email address given by the writer.
I ask those people to then reconsider what they have written, and how they might demonstrate their opinion and thoughts ( no matter how controversial to my views) without cursing, or insulting others.
A big Thank You to hazel8500.wordpress.com where I learned about this video first. As well as to the commenting individuals who used common sense, and actually thought out the issue before voicing their opinions. As well as to my son, who has quietly played while I banged this out.
