The news of Fred Phelps’ death, the founder of Westboro Baptist Church, sent a stream of profane celebratory social media statuses into the cyber world. In the real world, people high-fived and remarked that his death was an act of God.
There were endless news stories published that weren’t news at all, but instead gleeful tributes to the anticipated death of this 84-year-old man. The entire nation seemed to share a collective joy in his death.
It’s easy to get swept up in the post-Phelps hype that has generated such hateful remarks, but doing so isn’t getting us anywhere. Although his death is one of the more beneficial in history, picketing at his funeral is not justifiable.
I’m sure now that he is on the other side, he doesn’t need reassurance he was wrong, and there is no point in trying to do so now.
Phelps was a horrible man. He created a group responsible for the public humiliation and ridicule of countless people — there is no denying that. But his death sprouted an irony that came from our own hateful cores and lowered us to the same level of shame as Phelps.
When we bash Phelps and the Westboro church and call the devil to drag them to hell, we are no better than the intolerable nuisances that they are.
Picketing his funeral would be like screaming back at the evangelists who preach in Free Speech Plaza. Once you engage with them, all you end up with is a collective yelling match with no indistinguishable words on either part.
In their confused and brainwashed nature, they truly believe what they are doing is the right thing and while they are clearly mistaken, they posses an unexplainable ignorance to the pain they cause.
On the other hand, we know right from wrong and are consciously making the choice to mock Westboro Baptist and celebrate the death of its leader.
To be clear, I don’t think anyone outside of his family and church should be mourning his death. It’s the fact that the aftermath of his passing generated such hateful discussion toward him, his family and his church that the hypocrisy was too great to ignore.
I’m sure when Hitler died there were celebrations, and I wouldn’t blame those who were celebrating. There is nothing wrong with being happy such a terrible person is now unable to kill and torture more people. But there is a difference between happily welcoming a death and bitterly cursing a life.
Naturally, the first thing opponents of Phelps wanted to do after his death was organize a picket at his funeral. In theory, it sounds appropriate that he and his followers get a taste of their own medicine they so commonly dealt out to the undeserving soldiers and LGBT community.
But honestly, that wouldn’t get us anywhere. Dishing out the same horrible actions we condemned them for would only make Phelps laugh in his grave.
If people truly believed the work that Phelps did was so evil, they wouldn’t turn around and do it back to him. Letting him leave this world without a picket and allowing his family a peaceful funeral is more than just being the bigger person. It’s standing your ground without submitting to the hypocrisy of the Westboro Baptist Church and its followers.
Cursing his name feels a lot like we are letting him win. Think about it. Phelps is gone now. If we still allow his poison to spread and influence our own actions, then we are the ones keeping him alive.
Leave that for the other members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who will hopefully die off as well and put an end to all the ideas he perpetuated.
His death shouldn’t be a reason for our hatred to be reawakened and dramatically voiced. It should instead reaffirm our own peace and be a pleasing incident that brightens the future for those who were scorned in his name.
Maybe I just expected more from those who righteously shuddered at his actions in the past. The way people are handling Phelps’ death makes me wonder just how different we really are.
Annette Sommers is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Dublin, Calif.