Posted on 10/13/2005 4:29:57 AM PDT by acad1228
CHELSEA — God spoke with the roar of revving motorcycle engines during a protest Tuesday by six members of a Kansas church that believes God is punishing the U.S. for protecting homosexuals by killing soldiers overseas.
Chelsea residents, however, believed God spoke on their behalf as the engines of more than 100 Veterans of Foreign Wars motorcycles drowned out the voices of the Westboro Baptist Church members who were allowed to protest from 1-1:30 p.m. before the 2 p.m. funeral services for Staff Sgt. John Glen Doles.
The protesters were escorted by police from the Chelsea Police Station to and from the protest site at the corner of Sixth and Vine streets a half block away. They left immediately after the protest, said Chelsea Police Chief Kenny Kelsey.
Chelsea’s main street was lined with American Flags in honor of Doles, who was killed when he and five others were ambushed by enemy fire last week in Afghanistan. He was laid to rest with honors in a small cemetery southeast of Chelsea.
Town and local law enforcement consisting of Chelsea police, the Rogers County Sheriff’s Department and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol made good their intent that nothing would disrupt funeral services for the local hero and his family.
Chelsea Mayor Kenny Weast said he received a fax last Tuesday saying church members would be in Chelsea to protest at the funeral.
Weast contacted local law enforcement and a successful plan was devised.
Said Weast: “We planned for the worst and hoped for the best.”
Weast’s own feelings about the protest, however resonated those of the town.
“What a tragedy to have a group like this protest the day of the funeral, one of the hardest days this family will have. It makes me sick,” he said.
Kelsey, Chelsea’s chief for six months, said neither set of protesters “were allowed to cross the street and every body stuck to it.”
The American Legion Riders from Southeast Kansas, which represented a number of Kansas towns and communities along with members of other organized motorcycle groups, attended the funeral to protest the protesters.
This group from the so called Baptist church in Kansas are among the most cruel people you can imagine. They travel the country to protest at soldier funerals, saying the soldiers and country brought death on themselves and its a good thing it happened. They were due here in the Atlanta area for a soldier funeral several months ago but didnt show.
While they have a right to do what they do, they also have a right to burn in hell when its over.
Load pipes serve a many purposes...
The lowest of lowlife.
Wow... no coffee is showing this AM... ,p.
how 'bout loud pipes!
And why do the Baptists allow these sick people to continue to use the Baptist name?
When this was posted yesterday the Bikers were from the American Legion, not the VFW.
Are those two organizations one and the same?
Agree totally. Good post.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1500918/posts
Are those two organizations one and the same?
No.
I have yet to meet a fellow Baptist that accepts or believes anything these whackos do or say. I don't know what can be done about their usurpation of the name "Baptist", as much it sickens me.
They have an eternal price to pay for defaming God's name and failing to show Christ's love to the world. Apparently they have neglected to read the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; particularly the parts in red lettering.
This is happening here in Oklahoma quite frequently. The Baptists can't stop him from using the Baptist name because they don't have exclusive rights to it. Phelps' Church is made up almost entirely of his family members whose sole method of fundraising is to protest different funerals and schools hoping they'll be assaulted so that they can sue the local municipality for failing to protect them.
Some of his people came to another town here, Sand Springs, Oklahoma, to protest a school where a young gay student was standing up for himself after being bullied for being gay. Phelps' people were quietly encouraged, by a large number of large men with axe handles, to leave the city. This all happened away from the school, so the local police couldn't be blamed for failing to protect the protesters.
Old Fred was supposed to come down here to Florida to protest at a Tampa funeral a couple months back. I had my butt-kickin boots all shined up and was ready to meet him. The POS never showed up. Life isn't fair.
-Eric
Normally Im against bombing churches.................but in this case.........
And people think Loud bikes are obnoxious....
They serve a purpose
It happens with all religions. I call them BINOs
The thunder of 100 idling Harleys drowning out that noxious twit; excellent!
No. They're both veterans' organizations, but the VFW requires service in a combat zone for membership. You can belong to both [ I do].
wow, so bombing and men with axe handles as another poster has said is the new way of dealing with difficult people? whod a thunk it?
These people are used throughout liberal/leftist blogs as the standard bearers for all things from "right-wing Christian fundamentalists". Every thing they do is dragged out and posted as a notice of what all "right-wing Christians" are about. It's sad; for those who believe it and for those wrongly tainted by it.
Phelps' church people left their luggage in Laramie Wyo. motels after the towns people there watched them burn and trample our flag. Not a good move in Wyo. or most places out West. I heard they were in a real hurry when they left. Wyoming folks do not care for outside interference in their internal affairs and the Shephard case did not bring out the best in them.
You're not from around here, are ya? We... er... they left the guns at home. Didn't want to kill anyone. Just wanted to let the Phelps clan know their actions were unwelcome.
Thank you so much for representing the good guys! (and thank you for keeping me and my children safe).
I live in the town from which this article came and I also happen to be a cousin of the wife of the soldier whose funeral these wack jobs attended. I can tell you that our paper isn't always the best as far as facts go.. In fact, they're often wrong.. There were somewhere between 10 and 12 protesters, and they were completely drowned out by about 50 to 75 members of the American Legion Riders.. I think that there also may have been some there from the VFW along with several local law enforcement agencies also on motorcycles that I believe they must have counted..
Whoever they were, they did their job.. From where the church sits, no one who attended the funeral could see or hear them. Many of them even stayed after the funeral and lined the main street of Chelsea saluting, bowing their heads, or simply put their hands over their hearts as the procession drove by. Each and everyone was so totally supportive and respectful to all family members and friends that it touched me to the point of tears.
Each and every one of these men will forever hold a place in my heart because of what they did for us and I truly wish there was something that me and my family could do to let them know how much we appreciate it and how much I know our hometown hero looked down on it and appreciated it as well.....
It really helps to know that the your family appreciated what the American Legion and VFW riders did and that it helped to minimize the protesters.
I have great admiration for your Aunt. As I recall from a prior story, it was she that called for the motorcyclists to show up and drowned out the protesters.
Almost all Americans really want to support the families of our fallen soldiers and would never dream of causing a ruckus at a funeral. We know that this is a very difficult time for them and would never want to add to their pain.
Your Aunt is very courageous and may have given ideas to other families that are or will be affected by the phelp's family protests. Or may have even found a way to put an end to these disgraceful protests.
how about lead pipes?? That's what needs to be used on those people.
Fred Phelps is very, VERY gay.
I have seen him only once or twice in news clips.
What surprises me is that he isn't very dead or very beaten and bruised...I'm not saying that would be the right thing to do, but showing up to protest at a soldier's funeral??? He just better make sure he has plenty of police protection!!!!
Thank you!!
I didn't know it was my Aunt that called them to come out.. Do you happen to know which one it was? We are a very large family and of course, the day of the funeral we didn't really have very much time to talk. I am assuming more than likely it was my Aunt Sherry, who was SSGT Doles mother-in-law, but it really is news to me. My dad and I had heard the day before about the protesters and then about a group of bikers (the American Legion Riders I suppose) that travel the country following them as a counter-protest... If you know what story it was, could you link me to it??
I believe it was Sherry Doles that encouraged motorcyclists to rev their engines to drowned out the protesters.
Was it possibly Sherry Dyer or Sherry Dyer-Maggard? That's my side of the family, through SSGT Doles wife's side of the family, so I'm not kin to the Doles, however, they seemed to treat everyone as family. It's a very small town, so everyone pretty much knows everyone..
Thanks a bunch for looking..
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