We turned Fred Phelps protest into a fundraiser that brought in $11,000
SILENCED | Fred Phelps, the leader for many years of Westboro Baptist Church invaded military funerals and protested Jewish, LGBT and AIDS organizations. Phelps died Thursday, but his family said there will be no funeral services for his detractors to protest. Above, his family protest in front of the Dallas Holocaust Museum in 2010. (David Taffet/Dallas Voice)
Fred Phelps died, and all I can say is good riddance to rubbish. No forgiveness needed. No hand wringing necessary.
Phelps was never anything more than a few stupid signs. When his church picketed my synagogue with a sign that read, “Your rabbi is a whore,” I blew up a photo of the sign and gave it to my rabbi.
Fred and his church were never a threat to the LGBT community. In fact we benefited from his extreme hatred. When Fred came to town, I always enjoyed watching the right wing run from the limelight. The few who agreed to an interview squirmed as they tried to explain how their hatred of the LGBT community was different than Fred’s.
Fred was great at attracting media attention. He knew just what buttons to push. When the entire country mourned the death of Matthew Shepard, Fred put himself squarely in the spotlight. As military deaths mounted with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Fred injected some bizarre link with homosexuality, and there he was in the news.
While conservative religious communities were wringing their hands because Fred’s brand of hatred made them all look bad, the gay community benefited. In fact, when we outsmarted him, we profited.
When the clan protested a Congregation Beth El Binah Shabbat service at Resource Center, we turned the appearance into a fundraiser.
Resource Center needed a new industrial-size ice maker. For months, they were getting ice from the bars on Cedar Springs every day for the hot meals program.
An ice maker would cost more than $3,000.
When Fred announced his appearance, we knew we could raise $3,000 during his appearance and dubbed the event, “When Hell Freezes Over.” By the time Westboro left after less than an hour of picketing, we raised more than $11,000.
A few weeks later, Councilwoman Pauline Medrano helped us dedicate the new piece of equipment as “The Fred Phelps Memorial Ice Maker.”
The lesson is that your hatred may just blow up in your face. Did Phelps know what his visit produced?
Not one to just leave well enough alone, I sent him a thank you note with pictures of the ice maker, a list of other things purchased with the money we raised during his visit and an invitation to come back with a list of additional things we were hoping to buy.
He never responded — but he and his clan didn’t set foot in Texas for another year and a half.
Make no mistake, Westboro Baptist Church is a family business and nothing more. The business plan is to horrify people by protesting at the worst possible moment. By protesting a military funeral, a time when emotions are charged, the hope is to incite someone in the crowd to assault Shirley or one of her cronies.
They turn around and sue the city for not providing adequate police protection and the city settles with them, which is cheaper than fighting them in court.
While police understand they must provide basic protection to even the most vile protestor, emotions can overcome the most hardened officer. In Dallas, the
Phelps clan protested outside the Dallas Holocaust Museum several years ago. Police did a good job of keeping the 12 members of the Phelps clan on one side of the streets and the 300 counter-protesters on the other. In between were several officers, TV news crews and me.
As a TV reporter interviewed Shirley, one officer became angrier and angrier listening to the anti-Semitic filth she spewed. I was afraid he was going to belt her.
As much as I would have enjoyed seeing that, I stopped him.
“No, that’s what she wants you to do,” I explained to the officer.
One pop across the mouth, and the city of Dallas would have owed Fred’s church a few hundred thousand dollars. The officer understood and backed off.
Since the news began circulating about Fred’s impending death, I’ve seen too many posts online about forgiving Phelps. Or praying for Phelps. Ridiculous.
Forgiveness is given when someone apologizes or asks for forgiveness. You don’t forgive someone who’s just going to spit in your face.
Sometimes, though, we need to forgive to heal ourselves. So for those who are so angry at this petty little man, forgive. But do it to let the anger go. Do it to heal yourself.
Others suggest praying for this piece of crap. Again, if prayer for someone so hateful heals you, pray for him for that reason. If prayer is healing, I suggest a prayer for Nathan Phelps. Nathan is Fred’s son who escaped the cult 20 years ago and has since helped other family members leave. Nathan became an LGBT ally who has fought for gay rights.
When he heard about his father’s illness, members of Westboro kept Nathan away, preventing him from saying goodbye to his father. While he repudiated his father’s hatred, Nathan had a right to see his father for some closure.
Pray for the military families whose mourning was disrupted by Fred’s actions, but put his life in perspective. After the Dallas Holocaust Museum protest, Max Glauben, a Holocaust survivor who lives in Dallas, got it exactly right.
“If a few stupid signs and a dozen stupid people were the worst thing I ever saw in my life, then I had a pretty good life,” he said.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 21, 2014.