Thoughts on the death of fred phelps

     Fred Phelps, the hate monger in charge of the worst church in America is dying. I have so many feelings about this. On the one hand he and his "church" have instilled so many hateful feelings in me over the years from picketing funerals of soldiers to showing up wherever with their awful signs. A part of me, the not-so-civilized part, wants to be hateful back. I want to feel some terrible joy in his demise and perhaps hope that some of that hate will die with him.
   But that won't happen. Hate will live on always. It is an unpleasant truth but one man's death will not make much of a dent in the hate that is in the world. Perhaps for a time the Westboro Baptist Church will founder but I am sure there are many who are eager to take his place and lead them into ever more horrible acts. So what will my hate do? Nothing but make me feel small, petty and angry and who wants to live that way? Vanquishing this devil will be a good thing for the world but it won't be a final thing. There will always be more devils to come. As long as there are people there will be ones with black hearts and evil intent.
   I also don't want to rattle on about it on Facebook or Twitter or other forums. Why? Because he will get what he wanted the most: Attention. The world will whittle our attention down to this one black spot and we won't be seeing any of the other things we need to be concerned with. I don't want to give him the satisfaction of taking my attention away from more important things like equal marriage rights for LBGT people, equal access to legal services, health insurance and spousal support. Let's bring ourselves OUT of the hate pit and into the light of love, acceptance and nurturing the ones who have been hurt the most from this man. Let's celebrate our togetherness in wanting the best for everyone and wanting acceptance for all ways of life, love and the freedom to be who we are without fear or repercussions.
    In closing:  Let's be the light we want to see in the world. Forget fred. He is not worth our time.