This is utterly and completely *brilliant*

[mamadeb]

God Hates Shrimp

Comments

[leahmiriam.livejournal.com]

Shrimp=height challenged crustaceans.

[hearts-n-roses.livejournal.com]

I have always loved that site. The message it sends is perfect.

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

The Lord also has very strong feelings about trimming beards and mixing fibers, according to that same chapter of Leviticus. It's my favorite!

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Well, there are a quite a few people who follow all those things. (No shatnez in my wardrobe and before my husband grew his beard, he used an electric razor. He still does, but only on his cheeks.)

Fred Phelps is not one of them. Nor is he required to be.

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

Oh, exactly. Sorry, I should have spelled out what I meant more clearly. I know that there are plenty of people who follow all those things -- and you know, most people living by those laws manage to do that without behaving like violent bigots. But not Phelps. The religion Phelps professes does not require him to avoid shrimp, refrain from squaring off the corners of his beard, or spew hatred at gay people. And yet he points to Leviticus in that selective way, to justify only one of those behaviors. So, yeah, he should be setting up boycotts of Eileen Fisher and makers of disposible razors as well as Long John Silver!

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Which is why Phelps should keep his mouth shut.

The man should infuriate even people who believe the way he does, if only because he's only hurting their cause.

[ex-pumagrrl389.livejournal.com]

Phelps' religion is called Egoism. Its goal is to inflate one's own ego. He does it by making obnoxious staements in public, thus drawing a lot of attention himself ...

[devilc.livejournal.com]

WORD.

[jonbaker.livejournal.com]

Well, I follow those mitzvos, to the best of my ability.
They may not be binding on you. Check your Jewish identity.

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I was awfully unclear there and didn't intend offense at all. (See my response to mamadeb directly -- I hope that's clearer.)

[ginamariewade.livejournal.com]

Yabbut, even though you follow all the rules to the best of your ability, I doubt seriously you've ever picketed the funeral of someone whose observance you disapproved of.

That's the part that slays me.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I always assume that there's a special place in his own hell waiting for him.

You're supposed to comfort mourners.

[brak666.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely yes. When I first heard about that, I was just so horrified. It's a shameful thing, and not Christian at all.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Your father must have been incensed.

[brak666.livejournal.com]

That is fabulous!

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

As is your icon.

[sweetbriar.livejournal.com]

Falls over laughing! Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe!

[ex-pumagrrl389.livejournal.com]

So absolutely brilliant! And I would SO love to see the reaction of the so-called 'Christian Right'.

[vass]

Hooray! I've always hated shrimp myself, just as a personal taste. I find them icky. GOD IS JUSTIFYING MY HATRED!

[batyatoon]

There's someone I know who once told me that I was the only person she knew whose opinion on the Bible she respected, as I was the only person she knew who actually followed the whole thing (to the best of my ability), instead of the pick-and-mix approach favored by most people who cite the Bible.

-- or in other words, if I said God forbade homosexuality, she'd take me a good deal more seriously than most. Because I don't eat shrimp either.

Go figure.

[zsero.livejournal.com]

Catching up. Phelps. The first thing is, he has no following whatsoever. He's the "pastor" of something called "Westboro Baptist Church", but as I understand it this "church" has no members outside his own family. He is reviled by pretty much everyone, especially fundamentalists. It pisses me off when people attack fundamentalists, or Christians, or religious people in general, by using him as an example. Because he doesn't represent them, or any significant subset of them, in any way.

The second thing is, I'm not at all sure he believes what he says. Because picketing funerals, and making an obnoxious arse of himself, is how he makes a living. He puts himself in situations where he's likely to be attacked, and every so often he is. Then he sues the attacker. He's careful never to threaten anyone or give legal cause for anyone to hit him. He just taunts them until they lose control and do, and then he pwns them.