fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2634 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2634 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

__________________________________________________

02.

[Lady Gaga]

__________________________________________________

03.

[free!, attack on titan]

__________________________________________________

04.

__________________________________________________

05.

__________________________________________________

06.

__________________________________________________

07.

(Panic! at the Disco)

__________________________________________________

08.

__________________________________________________

09.

[Anarky]

__________________________________________________

10.

(Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

__________________________________________________

11.

[Frozen]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 013 secrets from Secret Submission Post #376.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Is Fred Phelps really dead?

(I kinda rely on F!S to tell me whether the rumors I hear are true because I don't have a subscription to an actual newspaper and can never tell which websites are reputable...*awkwardly shuffles away*)

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/20/us/westboro-church-founder-dead/

As a doornail.

Sweet.

I don't know, sure he was a terrible, terrible person, but the end of a human life is still sad.

DA

Not to me it's not. He was a horrible, horrible human being and when horrible, horrible human beings die it's not sad IMO.

When my dad's best friend, who was a complete and utter dick, died I wasn't quite happy (because even he wasn't Fred Phelps level awful) but I didn't find it the slightest bit sad.

I'm probably a terrible person though.

I don't think you're a terrible person, I think it's natural to want to see shitty behaviour punished, and is there a better punishment than death?

But the way I look at it is "He was a horrible, horrible human being" - and now that's all he ever will be. He won't be the man who had a moment of clarity and devoted his remaining years to helping people he had previously been attacking. He won't be the man that donated his kidney to save a young person's life, he won't be anything new. All he is now is who he was.

I've done some pretty horrible shit in my life, (sure maybe not Fred Phelps level horrible, but that's really just haggling over the price, isn't it?) and I've lived long enough to realise I was wrong. I've lived long enough to try and make the world a slightly better place, but if I'd died, if I'd not had the chance to be a better person, that would have been a really sad thing, I think.

Re: So

(Anonymous) - 2014-03-21 03:48 (UTC) - Expand

Yes. I wonder how this will affect their church, if it will at all. Having them stop protesting would be nice.

I think they're well past needing their patriarch, especially if those rumors of his excommunication are true. Unfortunately his legacy will remain long after he's gone.

He got excommunicated from his own church? Huh.

Unfortunately his legacy will remain long after he's gone.

Damn. >(

That's only a rumour, but the theory I heard it was so they wouldn't have to spend church funds on his care/burial.

forgottenjester - 2014-03-21 01:24 (UTC) - Expand

(Anonymous) - 2014-03-21 05:49 (UTC) - Expand

Apparently his daughter took over, and if anything she's even worse than he was, so I would expect things to continue pretty much as they have been.

Extra sad face.

Yup. After seeing a couple of random authors I follow do so, I marked the occasion by donating to an LGBT organization. It seemed the best way to respond.

Yep. I said "YAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!" when I found out. I know that probably makes me an awful person, but oh well.

huh, I guess. Last I heard he was dying; apparently he went through with it then.

People were talking about picketing his funeral. I really hope nobody does. We're better than that. Let him pass in relative obscurity.

Yes and I can't say I'm particularly sad about it.

This is the first I've heard of it. Death does suck but I'm definitely not sad either.

I think death is always sad. Even for the worst of us.

While we're alive the course of our live is still in flux. Even the worst human being, while he/she lives, still has some small potential to change. The worst of us, while he/she lives, is still capable of making a positive difference to the world.

But once a person dies, the shape of their life is fixed and final. Fred Phelps can now be nothing more than that evil cunt who made people's lives significantly worse. Sure, maybe it was unlikely he would turn his life around and contribute something good to the world, but while he was alive he always had that potential.

I see what you mean and I think what you say has merit. I just think there was very little possibility for change. People are stubborn, and especially when you've lived your whole life believing one thing, it takes a hell of a realization or discovery to do a complete 180. People get set in their ways; I have family like that. (Though nothing remotely comparable to this guy.)

Still, I guess it's more the idea that he could've changed and become a better person; maybe even undone some of the harm he caused. That would've been lovely, and yea, it is sad it never happened.

I'm actually weirdly sad about this. I know that there was like a .0001% chance of it actually happening, but I always kinda hoped that, just maybe, he might eventually figure out he was wrong and regret what he did. Now he'll never have that chance.

My grand fantasy for these sorts of people is that they actually go to meet their god, and their god says, "do you understand what you've done?" And when they say, "what do you mean? I followed you," their god responds by giving them knowledge. In the space of a second, they experience both self-awareness and the pain of all those they hurt. And then their god tells them that they must spend a number of years equal to the duration of their previous life dealing with that pain.

I doubt that's how it happens, but it makes me feel better to think that it does.

it would be awesome if it worked that way

I agree. Holy shit do I agree. I wish I'd read your post before making my TLDR post above.

YES YES YES YES YES, he is.

He is indeed.