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TO SUPPOSEDLY WRAP THIS UP ON SUNDAY, AUG. 10:
I salute the people in the pic above, who showed up Saturday to safeguard the family of Tim McLean, the young man who was killed and beheaded on a bus.
As it turns out -- and why should anybody REALLY be surprised -- the wacko, anti-homophobic so-called religious idiots from the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas were nowhere to be found.
After all their chest-thumping about their plans to protest this kid's funeral to press their point that Canada was being punished by God for its permissive laws that actually legalized homosexuality, they stayed away.
Maybe in fear they turned back to look at Kansas and they were turned into stone by God somewhere in the Canadian Shield after they had snuck across the border?
Maybe He didn't part the Red River and they got eaten by catfish?
Maybe He purposely gave them the wrong directions to Winnipeg and they're up on the shores of Hudson Bay being eyed as prey by polar bears and being eaten alive by swarms of foot-long mosquitoes?
Or maybe they just showed their true colours and decided they wanted to save their own skins and didn't want themselves to be "beheaded" by the mass of mindful people who showed up to protect McLean's family?
THESE PEOPLE ABOVE ARE WHAT TRUE HUMANITY IS ALL ABOUT.
These Westboro Wackos are the real crazy cannibals in this whole thing, far worse than the very tortured soul who immigrated to Canada from China and who's accused of beheading this young man.
He is mentally ill, obviously, and has severe emotional problems that caused him to do this. But these religious zealots are much worse -- they're just morally bankrupt and supposedly of sound minds and hearts.
It was gruesome, gross, repugnant.
But it's real and it's where we seem to be at now where people like this, who are far worse than any Muslim fundamental groups, can figure they are so blindly right that they can do take their twisted beliefs and terrorize a family and a country that is reeling.
It was gruesome, gross, repugnant.
But it's real and it's where we seem to be at now where people like this, who are far worse than any Muslim fundamental groups, can figure they are so blindly right that they can do take their twisted beliefs and terrorize a family and a country that is reeling.
I can't believe stuff like this can happen. It boggles the mind. Our tiny brains, as proven by this Westboro group, were never intended to have to cope with the light-speed changes that our planet is going through now.
It's unbelievable. But it's all true. And that's scary.
It's unbelievable. But it's all true. And that's scary.
Vince Li is without a doubt mentally ill - he may never get rid of the demons in his head that made him do what he did. And from what little he has said, he seems to have some understanding of the horror he has caused.
ReplyDeleteBut the demons from beyond the border.... I agree that they should be shot on sight. How horrible to plan to disrupt, with senseless and vile dogma, the mourning of a family who just lost their loved one in such an incomprehensible way. The horror and despair Tim McLean's family and friends must feel will be escalated beyond belief if these nutjobs actually make it to the funeral.
I so don't understand people like that group - they are so out of touch with reality that trying to understand their reasoning just isn't possible.
It tears my heart to pieces to imagine what the McLean family will experience if that group gets through all the security, police and Winnipeg vigilantes.
It's not only gruesome, gross and repugnant, it's high farce. I actually laughed when I read this. Only in George Bush's America.
ReplyDeleteSadly the world is full of nutjobs, and they rarely see eye to eye with each other, let alone "normal" people. Thanks again, religion.
ReplyDeletePonygirl:
ReplyDeleteI don't know if they should be shot on sight, but if they just so happened to be lynched or something, I might snicker just a bit.
These arseholes are from Kansas. That, if you recall, was Dorothy's home in the Wizard of Oz.
It's also, if I recall correctly, the first state to force upon its schoolkids the concept of intelligent design and to stop teaching them about the theory of evolution.
That area is the heart and soul of America's fundamentalist right-wing religious movement, the ugly little head that lives inside the body of a much larger U.S. of A., slowly poisoning it and taking it over or at least trying to.
By the way, you have a cat growing on your shoulder.
Andrea:
Yep, only in Dubya's America.
The land of democracy, freedom for all (who can afford it) and where all the Bible Thumpers of this ilk will survive, see, when the world ends -- while we all rot in hell.
Just because they say so.
I would have laughed if they had just announced they were coming up here telling us what a bunch of dinks we were for actually being one of the more enlightened countries on the planet.
But doing this to this family...ugh.
Stace:
Gimme that old-time religion...altogether now!
Stuff like this enrages me. If I lived in Winnipeg, I'd be volunteering to be part of security at that funeral. Why can't these nutjobs put themselves in the shoes of Tim McLean's loved ones for just one moment and see just how wrong it is for them to even entertain the thought of protesting this innocent man's funeral? Lobotomy sounds like a wonderful idea - I'd even volunteer to perform the procedure on them myself.
ReplyDeleteAnna:
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, I've thought about being part of that security group, but I'm driving my kids all over the place today and my car's on the verge of dying.
The latest on this is here:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/story/4210375p-4802837c.html
Good on those folks for attending and standing guard for the McLean family.... I would have been one except I was at work all day.
ReplyDeleteThose nutjobs better scuttle back across the border pretty quick or they just may 'enjoy' some Canadian hospitality. Never mind that the daughter was spouting off about the lack of religious freedom in this country. That's so ludicrous (sp?) I guffawed out loud.
The good ole US of A - the land of the 'free' - what a joke. There is so much less freedom of speech there than here. And it will only get worse as that black hole of regilious fanatics widens in the Mid-West, threatening to engulf the whole nation... the whole planet, if they have their way. You're right, WW, they ARE more dangerous than the Muslim terrorist types.
Yes, I do have a cat growing on my shoulder... and she's a sweet one too - unlike the snippy old guy. You'd like her.
Ponygirl:
ReplyDeleteThe nutjobs, of course, never showed up. They just unleashed their venom from the safety of their so-called "church" and decided not to risk physical harm.
Hey, but wait -- if they've got God on their side, they could never be harmed, could they?
Or if they did perish, wouldn't they just immediately be welcomed into heaven, bypassing Purgatory?
I think it's important to say that like any ridiculous group, these idiots are not representative of all Americans or even more than some miniscule percentage.
Most Americans -- all of the ones I know -- are beautiful, sensible people.
But the U.S. or parts of it certainly do seem to be a haven for these crazies.
I'm glad you've found a cat that doesn't actually kill people on sight.
I have quite a few American friends, having lived in that country for five years a while back. And they are wonderful people.
ReplyDeleteBut there are some areas that do seem to spawn these types of crazies, for some reason. Scary stuff.
The cats are opposite ends of the spectrum, for sure.
Ponygirl:
ReplyDeleteBut the old guy's still around, right?
Spawning ground is right...it does seem to be a place of extremism in every way, America.
But like anywhere else, the majority -- and I know this from the Americans who are bloggers I'm familiar with -- are great.
WW: yes, the old guy is still around and now plays with the little girl (she's 1 1/2 - he's 14). He's in great health and enjoying her company. Even the dog plays with her, so she's a good match.
ReplyDeleteI agree - America is a place of extremes - contradictory in many ways.
But I also agree that most of the people who live there are everyday average joes like you and me - all around good people.
Just seems the nutjobs hog centre stage so often, you get the impression that that is what everyone is like down there. Very sad in a lot of ways.
Ponygirl:
ReplyDeleteYounger women, older men...don't quite know how that works, but I guess sometimes it does. :-)
America largely is contradictory, I think. But there's a majestic quality about it, its power, its people, its prejudices, its paranoia...
Who can figure the place out? Least of all, them or us?
WW: In people years, she'd be 15 and he'd be 75..... eewwwwww. But it's platonic, so whatever....
ReplyDeleteI don't think there will ever be any figuring out that conundrum of contradictions that is America...
Ponygirl:
ReplyDeleteAnd I'd be about 892, right?
And now to the truly bizarre of America, Dubya has come out and said Russia's invasion of Georgia was -- what did he call it -- "disproportionate."
You mean, Georgie, like what you did in Iraq?
WW: Well, for almost a millenium old, you look pretty damn good. Must be all those trips through hyperspace - keep the genes young!
ReplyDeleteGood old George.... hasn't got a fricken' clue about anything. I really don't understand how he made it through two terms in office ... what a dork.
But then, didn't we say the US is incomprehensible?
Ponygirl:
ReplyDeleteActually, in intergalactic time, the earth equivalent of my age would be 14 years and 8 months.
Which would explain a lot about my maturity level on occasion :-)
I think I've always tried to make the point that it's not Americans, but America, that I call out for its innanity.
It is large groups of individuals, of course, who together form religious movements and who make political decisions and form governments.
All I know is all of the American individuals I know are great people.
I can't explain it beyond that.
I think with any organization of individuals into a group, it seems the group takes on a life and personality of its own.... becoming something unique with the potential to evolve into something no one anticipated.
ReplyDeleteBut most people as individuals are most often good people - as are the Americans I call friends.
Regarding your level of maturity - you run from one extreme to the other - from mature responsiblity to totally assinine (sp?) silliness - quite the talent!
Ponygirl:
ReplyDeleteIt characterizes the adolescent male of our species.
So it really is true, then, that boys never grow up?
ReplyDeleteActually, if everyone kept attuned to the child within, we might be better off. Too many people forget how to relax, have fun and enjoy life in general.
PG:
ReplyDeleteNo reason to do something as drastic as THAT.
But don't you think people would be less likely to go off the deep end with these nutjob thoughts if they were relaxed and happy in their lives?
ReplyDeletePG:
ReplyDeleteThat's a big leap to make, if I understand what you're saying and relating things back to Americans.
I think Americans are so much like us, individually, that aside from accents, you couldn't tell us apart.
But in terms of the entity that all those individuals are part of -- the collective -- the beliefs some of them seem to have in isolation and taken separately are the most extreme on the planet.
It's just you can't judge any individual by the actions of those extreme individuals, you can only judge those extreme individuals.
My thing about no reason to be as drastic as THAT was simply an answer to your question about why boys never grow up.
I don't know if you know this, but the cat has stopped growing on your shoulder and a bunch of curly hair is now growing on your face.
Oh.... silly me... I misunderstood your answer. ((grins sheepishly))
ReplyDeleteI don't really like judging anybody but when groups like that Westboro bunch surface, you can't help but say something.
Collective.... sounds like the Borg, doesn' it.....
AHA! So that's why it's been hard to see... well, I am going for a trim today so we'll see what the next pic looks like.
Aidan and I have this theory about religion, and religious wackjobs. I think everybody acknowledges that right now is a pretty tough time to be alive on the planet... we've got economic, political, and environmental stresses, we've got nasty happenings in the news, we're all pretty screwed up right now. In times like that, people feel that they need something to cling to, something to believe in. Enter GOD. And when there is an increase in religious fervour in general, there will be a corresponding increase in the nutcases who take it too far.
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredible show of humanity from an amazing group of people. Sometimes, you have to take action and stand up for what's right.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about those fanatical wackos from Kansas. There's a reason why tornadoes plague Kansas. God is trying to get rid of these idiots.
Ponygirl:
ReplyDeleteYeah, and how were you even breathing?
Stace:
Very aptly put. I agree 100 per cent.
Eroswings:
Right on, man.
WW: It may look thick and smothering but all those curls leave lots of air space. So breathing was not problem. Besides, I have an extendable snorkel for times when it gets too long. Uh... I guess that will pretty much all the time now, as I am growing it out a bit more...
ReplyDeletePonygirl:
ReplyDeleteBut you said you were going for a trim...oh, never mind.
WW: Still have to have it trimmed while growing it out - I really don't favour the Wild Man of Borneo look much... which is what I would get with these curls if I didn't get it shaped once in a while.
ReplyDelete