tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503780133886911294.post7628106579514728039..comments2010-11-29T15:05:07.413-08:00Brother DanChahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13086652661473213185noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503780133886911294.post-366275782506154272010-11-29T15:05:07.413-08:002010-11-29T15:05:07.413-08:00Amen! Phelps is a boil on the butt of this country, a person who uses our own institutions so adroitly to burlesque what we are for his own ends. For all the social disagreement over the wars we&#39;re fighting, for all the political arguments we&#39;ve endured these last few years, we do respect the Sacrificial Warrior. Phelps uses his right to speak freely to turn the ceremony that honors that Warrior into a validation of his prophetic message.<br /><br />Passing laws just amplifies the noise Phelps causes, because he will attack the very laws passed to regulate his speech. And Phelps is very Old Covenant in this respect - he is the totem himself for a whole clan of families that feels as he does, a voice for the whole bunch of them, multiple generations of hateful totem-bashers.<br /><br />I wonder sometimes what sort of confrontation would disarm him, if such a thing is possible. Hateful speech against him is self-defeating. Passing laws, as I indicated above, provides him with another podium where he can broadcast his message. Is there a tack that could be taken to negate or counter his message of hate with one of love and compassion? He certainly does not request our compassion - our hateful reaction to him seems to be his very desire. What would happen if hundreds of people came alongside his little band, knelt silently, and prayed? How do you suppose he would react to something like that?Denhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03698978231695842070noreply@blogger.com