From the I hate stupid people file

From the Opelika-Auburn News:

Clergy slams funeral protest

Mitch Sneed / Staff Writer
July 29, 2005

News that the Rev. Fred Phelps and his Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church will protest the funeral of Opelika’s Sgt. Christopher Taylor didn’t sit well with local ministers.

Phelps, known worldwide for his public anti-gay protests, sent releases to local media outlets Wednesday claiming that a group would be here to protest what he called the government’s refusal to stop allowing "gays to take over this country."

Sgt. Taylor was an Opelika native and soldier. He was recently killed in the fighting in Iraq. His life and death have nothing to do with Phelps cause at all. But none the less, "Rev." Fred Phelps is trying to use the sacrafice this brave American made to further his cause of hate under the banner of Christianity.

Members of the Lee County Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance spoke out and wanted to spread the word that local religious leaders detest the kind of spectacle that Phelps brings

The Rev. Mike Roberts of Trinity United Methodist Church said Phelps should stay at home rather than to be disruptive at a time when a family is trying to grieve.

"What this man is saying is not representative of what we as Christians believe," Roberts said. "We want people to know that. He should stay away and take care of his business at home and allow us to take care of our own. It’s totally inappropriate for him to come to where people are grieving a fine young man, spreading hate."

It is beyond inappropriate. The idea that Phelps is a church leader concerns me greatly, as he is undoubtedly leading many souls down a dark path that will not lead to the salvation he is supposed to be guiding them to.

-the Progressive Conservative