Tree hugging Hippie Freak

It is unfathomable to me that the very people who seek to discredit and dismiss anything related to the environment are, by and large, the same folks who are of an age to remember the days before fast food, plastic bags, and industrial farming. My father, whose mother baked her own bread, grew and canned their vegetables, and whose father raised chickens, hunted and fished, sniffs with disdain at what he views as my "tree hugging socialist crap". His sister in law, who uses disposable everything, and eats out almost every night, says, "What do I care, I won't be around." Jeez.

At some point in the late 70's, my father supplied fish that he caught for dinner. It was about the time that we learned that toxic waste from New Jersey (where else would it come from?) was being illegally dumped and making its way into the Susquehanna River. As we were eating, we asked where he caught them....... well, I asked him "What does cancer taste like?" Meal over, thanks to the tree hugger.

He inspects my vegetarian meals with a mixture of disgust and curiosity. He knows I loathe his eating processed foods, ham (GAG) hamburger (GAG), and canned vegetables. He feigns wheezing at the first cut into a clove of garlic, says the recycled toilet paper hurts his ass (then tells me that when he was small, they used a Sears catalog) and whines like a toddler about the low sodium soups I buy for him.

He has made some concessions. He is taking plant sterols for his cholesterol (fear of surgery on carotid artery) given up oval spiced ham (OMG it is the FATTIEST deli meat known to man). He is using the George Foreman grill, which was purchased the evening I witnessed him frying hamburger patties in a nonstick pan containing about a half a cup of oil, which he had added "so the burger won't be dry." He us using a homeopathic remedy for leg cramps, but wants to know why he has to put it under his tongue (because the bottle says so). He lets me grow arugula in his raised bed, and uses natural fertilizers, but drew the line at growing edamame ("What the hell is that?") He rationalizes the organic foods and other products as being because my daughter has health issues, which is better, I guess than having a tree hugging communist weirdo for a daughter!

Does God hate Fred Phelps? I do.

Last week, I finally received "The Laramie Project" from Blockbuster, after having it at the top of my queue for months. As I watched this documentary, which deals with the torture and murder of a gay man in Wyoming, and the prosecution of the two men responsible for the death, I saw a group of protesters who included an elderly man in a red and blue "puffy coat". They held signs which said things like "God Hates Fags". That evening, the ABC national news aired a piece about a case to be heard by the United States Supreme Court which arises from a protest at the funeral of a young man who was killed while serving his country abroad. As footage of the protest was shown, I again saw the elderly man in the red and blue puffy coat, and signs that said "God Hates the USA" and "Thank God for dead soldiers". I was appalled. The man's name is Fred Phelps, and he is the leader of the "Wellsboro Baptist Church".

Yesterday, I saw a You Tube video from a group called "Not in our Town", which promotes acceptance and tolerance. Students in San Francisco area schools organized a show of support for their gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to counteract a planned appearance by....you guessed it....Fred Phelps and company. He is everywhere. His group spends almost a quarter of a million dollars per year in travel expenses to spread their hatred. Where are they getting this kind of cash? His plethora of websites bear names like "smellthebrimstone.com", and feature Matthew Shepard (the murder victim) engulfed in flames, and assertions about Matthew Snyder (the dead soldier) which include that he was raised to serve the devil.

Listen up, Fred Phelps!!! You immoral heartless bastard...... I challenge you to show me anywhere in the New Testament where Jesus directs you to cause heartbreak to parents who have lost a child under tragic circumstances in order to validate your bizarre view of the world. Show me where Jesus says that "God hates fags". Explain to me what that soldier's parents have to do with any of the bases for your protest. Why them?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus states "Blessed are those who mourn". How does that reconcile with protesting a child's funeral exactly, Fred?

St. Paul wrote: "At the end, three things endure...faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love." Where's the love, Fred? If Jesus exemplifies love, you epitomize hate. I can't even waste my time praying for you, Fred. I will reserve my prayers for the two Matts, and the countless others you've hurt with your venomous actions. Just please, for the love of God, GO AWAY.