Clown Funerals...

I am having one of those days where my internet travels have taken me to some strange places. These travels allow me to view strange things. I have got to say this is one of the stranger ones I can recall. I guess, like everyone else, clowns die. And, when a clown dies he has to be given a proper farewell (aka funeral).

It is hard to know whether one should be laughing or crying when looking at these pictures. Personally, I was just shaking my head and wondering what thoughts would go through your mind if you were standing in the cemetery and saw any one of these images unfold before your eyes...

The images are available here, here, and here.

The Westboro Baptist Church

I have written about the Westboro Baptist Church formed by the Rev. Fred Phelps in a previous entry. These people are the crazy Christian fundamentalists that have decided that God has given them a mission that revolves around the eradication of homosexuality, abortion, and adultery. The chosen method of eradication is to protest at all manner of funerals and attribute the death of the individual to some tolerance of homosexuality, abortion, and adultery.

The WBC is the group you see on TV holding the signs and placards that read, "God Hates Fags". These people are hate-mongers, vilifiers, and by my reckoning not even remotely representative of the Christian faith.

The latest target of these idiots has been the funeral of Tim McLean. McLean was the young man decapitated on a Greyhound Bus in Canada the other week. The WBC has decided that the decapitation and cannibalism of McLean was God's way of letting Canada know that he is displeased with the tolerance of Canadian policy and law towards the issues of homosexuality, abortion, and adultery.

To suggest that the WBC is a few sandwiches short of a picnic basket seems to ignore the fact that the picnic basket is not a few sandwiches short but rather it is empty, devoid of all sandwiches! There is nothing rational in the positions that the WBC adopts.

Thankfully, the Canadian border guards have been instructed to bar entry to members of the WBC to Canada. The family of Tim McLean has a right to grieve in peace and bury him without interference from the WBC! I am one that normally advocates that people have a right to protest, and even if I do not agree with you, I still would argue for your right to protest. Nevertheless, some lines in the sand need to be drawn, this is one of those times. The idea of targeting specific individuals as having died because of a government policy and then picketing their funerals is offensive.

The WBC is the same group you see picketing the funerals of fallen soldiers throughout the US. For me the message of the WBC constitutes hate speech and they should and must be prosecuted where the law allows for this sort of vilification to be prosecuted.

My guess is that God hates the Westboro Baptist Church!