Whispers

So I originally was going to write today about a good thing...and I still am...but you'll just have to pardon me for the first few paragraphs or so here while I let off some steam.

A few weeks ago I happened onto a story about the Westboro Baptist Church. If you are not familiar with the organization, or cult, or whatever you might want to call them, they are the group that goes around picketing at funerals of fallen soldiers. I won't go too far into their history, I have checked it out on their web page and you can too http://www.godhatesfags.com/ yep, your reading that right. Now I'm not the guy driving the gay bus...that's not my fight at all, but geez.

Anyway, so I saw this story a few weeks ago and it really enraged me. I don't get mad about much...I'm pretty easing going most of the time, but this...this....this really pissed me off. I wanted to just start writing about how wrong these people are...I wanted to tell the world (I live in my own world, I can reach most of me) how wrong this is. The problem being, I'm in no way fit to start a religious debate...I'm just an old drunken heathen...I'm not qualified to tell anyone how right or wrong any of their religious practices are. What I am experienced in, and I'm not asking for pity, is death. I've seen a lot of death in my 27 years. Its not that I wanted to, or was a funeral chaser or anything like that, it just so happened that I've just had quite a few people pass away in my life. Some of those people I was very close with, and the went "before their time" if you believe such a thing. I know how to mourn, or at least how to cope with death...or maybe I don't, but I do know how death makes you feel inside. I also know that if these groups would have showed up to one of those funerals with their hate pickets, I wouldn't have stood by, I wouldn't have held back...something would have been done.

So Angry!!!

Soldiers...Men who died while serving their country. Whether you believe the war that is happening right now to be right or wrong, they did their duty as soldiers. Oh, and this is not about the war in Iraq, or on terrorism, or about oil, or whatever you want to believe that its in...these people picket any fallen soldier. If a soldier were to die protecting the group of picketers from angry family or a fallen soldier, then they would picket that soldier's funeral. Go read the web page, read the insanity, feel the hate that flows from their site.

There is a FAQ section on their site...you can get a lot of info about the madness from this section alone. The following is their answer on why they picket soldier's funerals:

Why do you picket soldiers' funerals?
Here are some axiomatic matters of fact: These turkeys are not heroes. They are lazy, incompetent idiots looking for jobs because they're not qualified for honest work. They were raised on a steady diet of fag propaganda in the home, on TV, in church, in school, in mass media - everywhere - the two-pronged lie: 1) It's OK to be gay; and, 2) Anyone saying otherwise, like WBC, is a hatemonger who must be vilified, demonized, marginalized into silence. Therefore, with full knowledge of what they were doing, they voluntarily joined a fag-infested army to fight for a fag-run country now utterly and finally forsaken by God who Himself is fighting against that country.

They turned America Over to fags; They're coming home In body bags.

Are you mad yet?

Imagine a wife and mother and the children that are at home alone, wondering when or if they will ever see their man again. Imagine the feeling that runs down their spine and back up into their stomach when they hear the news that their soldier didn't make it. Imagine the loss and despair, imagine the pain and the memories, and now imagine trying to lay that loved one to rest with an angry mob of irreverent ass holes (it had to be said) chanting that God killed your fag soldier. Imagine a hurting mother having to explain why these animals are calling daddy a Faggot. The Westboro folk say that they do not teach hate, but rather teach truth. Which does seem funny if you read one of their featured articles : http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/feb2006/20060220_ten-american-military-idiots.pdf

If you don't' want to read it, here's the headline: WBC to picket funerals of ten American Military idiots killed last Friday

This is where the good comes in. I was reading through the headlines today (gotta love headlines) and I came upon the story of some bikers called the Patriot Guard Riders. They ride to the funerals of fallen heroes, but only the ones they are asked to attend, and position themselves between the hatemongers and those who are mourning. Some of these dudes are pretty scary looking, but they are not there intimidate the opposition, rather they are there to support a family who has lost a loved one. You can read more about these guys at:

www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1546831/posts or www.patriotguard.org

Then it makes you feel good again. It feels good that someone is stepping up and taking on the extremist. It makes me feel good to know that someone has enough respect for these families, enough love in their hearts to go out of their way to try to let a horrible horrible day be a little less painful. It makes me want to buy a Harley and hit the road. These guys have a link on their web page where you can get more info and also one where you can give a tax deductible donation. I'm not telling or even asking you to give them money, but I get paid at midnight on Thursday (direct deposit, tmi???) and Friday Morning I'm going to give them some of mine.

Somebody say something...everybody say something!!!

For so long now it seemed that the only people speaking up, were the ones opposing all things American. Rallies and rants about taking prayer out of public schools and its functions, about honoring the religious habits of muslims and other religions or those who choose no religion at the cost of the one that this country was founded upon, about changing the pledge of allegiance, about taking the commandments off courthouse lawns, about taking the Christ out of Christmas and I've wondered if anyone of the good guys was ever going to say, "enough is enough".

So here I am. An uneducated, non-practicing Christian alcoholic (I'm a balls to the wall sinner folks!!!) I have no standing within my community, I will never run for office (although maybe I should with these credentials), people don't look up to me...basically I'm not much...but I'm saying that enough is enough. It's a mere whisper...all I need is another whisper...and another...and another and then all of a sudden we are saying something and it can be heard.

I'm not asking for you to change, I'm asking that you quit trying to change me.

I'm glad to be a Texan, and thankful that I live in these United States, but some things need fixing. Maybe I'll move to Australia...those guys have got some balls when it comes to their country and how it will be run.

Oh yeah, and tonight when you say your prayers...say a little prayer for the Texas WettNex...may they get what God has in store for them!

Hear the music... www.myspace.com/thetexaswettnex