This is priceless!

Westboro Baptist Church Accidentally Condemns Ivory Coast In Anti-Gay Marriage Flag Fail

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) has inadvertently declared its hatred of the Ivory Coast, after printing the Irish flag backwards on its placards.

The controversial religious group - famous for their homophobic attacks and hate-filled speeches - took to Twitter to share photos of its members protesting the monumental yes vote in the Irish Gay Marriage Referendum last week.

But there was a problem – the colours of the flags were reversed to orange, white and green - transforming the flag from that of Ireland, to that of the Ivory Coast .

For reference:

Flag of the Republic of Ireland

The colours of the flag of Ireland (also known as Éire in Irish), are 'green representing the Gaelic tradition of Ireland, orange representing the followers of William of Orange in Ireland, and white representing the aspiration for peace between them.'

Flag of the Ivory Coast

The colours of the flag of la Côte d'Ivoire 'were intended to symbolise the following: the orange colour stands for the land, the savannah found in the northern part and its fertility, the white represents peace, and the green represents hope and also the forest of the southern part of the country'.

So in both flags, white symbolises peace. It's a shame that the Westboro folks don't seem to know the meaning of peace and all it entails. But what do you expect of bigots?

I hope it means an end to the hate, or at least the organised hate

Death of controversial pastor could mean end of Westboro church

Al Snyder, father of slain Marine Matt Snyder, sued Phelps and the church after members picketed his son's funeral. The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in 2011 that Phelps and his congregants had the right to picket and protest.

"I'm not jumping for joy but I'm certainly glad the world is rid of someone so evil," Snyder said. "He inflicted a lot of pain on a lot of people and he was a very sick man."

The church has suffered internal turmoil in recent years. Four of Phelps' 13 children were estranged from their father. One of them, Nathan Phelps, has gone on speaking tours denouncing the church's beliefs.

As Phelps aged and weakened, daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper became the church's spokeswoman, carrying on the anti-gay rhetoric, Potok said.

Kansas news media recently reported that a board of eight church elders excommunicated Phelps from his own church last year for allegedly advocating a "kinder approach" to church members.

Responding to his father's death, Nathan Phelps told the Daily Mail in Great Britain in an interview posted Thursday that when the elders excommunicated his father, they moved him to another home where he stopped eating and drinking. Nathan Phelps, who now advocates gay and lesbian rights, said he believed the church will unravel following his father's death. Three members have left in recent weeks and more desertions are on the way, he told the British tabloid.

I wish these people would crawl back under the rocks they came from

Westboro Church Plans Protest for Joplin MO

People who live in Kansas shouldn't do this sort of thing to people who are grieving after a tornado. Mother nature (or God?) might just drop a house on them, in an act of divine justice.

Thanks to @BurbDoc for the head's up.

I'm not sure this is true; it may be one of those Facebook rumours

Okay, I do not approve of beatings, and I'm sure their lawyers will have a field day, if this is true. But, to quote Evie from The Mummy: 'You know, nasty little fellows such as yourself always get their comeuppance. Always.'

Mississippi town figures out simple, effective way to stop Westboro Baptist Church funeral protest

According to this story (and I haven't been able to verify it, as it's making the rounds but has only been picked up so far by FoxNews, which isn't the most reputable in my opinion), one protester who'd come to town got beaten when he started spouting off at a local gas station. Protestors at the hotel discovered that pickup trucks were blocking all the cars with Kansas license plates. Those who did make it to the funeral were quietly requested by the police to come with them to discuss a crime and missed the funeral during the routine questioning.

The story originally came from an Old Miss message board and then to this site:

Westboro Baptist Church Goes To Mississippi – And Loses

My gut tells me that this is not precisely what happened, that there may have been a grain of truth in it, but of course the devil is in the details. I'll keep an eye out for more information.

But, oh, I believe they really will get their comeuppance for all that hate they spew, someday.

Hate is a four-letter word

I cannot understand the depth of hatred that the Westboro Baptist Church spews on a daily basis. A supposed 'parody' of Simon and Garfunkel's 'Sound of Silence' was referenced by Joe.My.God. today on his blog. The person who put it up on YouTube did so to illustrate what the church was doing and included the lyrics, which are rather chilling, as are the signs held at various protests. I couldn't bring myself to embed it here. Go to Joe's blog if you want to see it.

There is so much good in the world. And then there are people like this, who fail to see anything beyond their own noses as good, and who simply cannot understand truly Christian sentiments. (Unlike many Pagans, I don't have trouble with followers of Christ...now Paulists, on the other hand....) I do have trouble with people who profess to be Christian who betray every word Jesus was ever said to have uttered by spewing hate and playing God in determining who should go to Hell and burn. And these people certainly qualify.

I hope they get true Judgment in the end. I rather think they'll be surprised, though.

But first

an example of how medical studies get mangled by journalists, courtesy of the Daily Mail...

Cancer danger of that night-time trip to the toilet

Thanks to Graham Murkett (somegreybloke on YouTube) for the link via Facebook.

On another note, please consider signing a petition to make it a crime to protest at military funerals (as the Westboro Baptist Church has been doing for years, blaming homosexuals for deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan). I was signer #886. Granted, they're a little out there (if the Supreme Court rules in a current case for the Church, the folks who have organised the petition want to try to amend the Constitution, which frankly isn't going to happen in this case), but...their hearts are in the right place. It's horrible to think that in your greatest time of grief some yokel gay-hater is going to show up at the funeral with pickets, shouting obscenities. It's obscene itself, and Congress should do something about it.

Okay, this is what I get for checking my Facebook page. I'm going to bed now, really. Good night (again).