Captain's Quarters -

I'm sure Phleps would be very welcome at a VFW fish fry. So much so that he'd never leave, if you catch my drift...

I always wear phylacteries, from the time I was a young boy. I wouldn't want to get some poor girl pregnant or get a bad gonorrheal disease.

I don't think the soldiers would need the phylacteries until the fighting is over and they go back home. Prob'ly wouldn't hurt them to pray but they should keep it short and their head down while they do it.

Just goes to show that Americans have no monopoly on jerks.

Funny but if the Israeli soldiers were as observant as this Rabbi would like they would all be exempt from military service under Israeli law and Israel would have no armed services to defend itself. If the Shas Rabbi were so interested in insuring the observance of halachic law by soldiers in the military, he should use his influence to repeal the ban on Israel's religious serving in the military. Just a thought.

I'm guessing Fred Phelps thinks Jews are Christ-killers, so the thought of this guy being Phelps' long-lost uncle is humorous.

I just don't understand Phelps at all. He pickets military funerals because the civilian government forced "don't ask, don't tell" on the military? It probably requires a leap of illogic that I just can't make.

This is an odd comparison. Ovadia Yosef says some things that sound very strange in an American context but he's no Fred Phelps and is sometimes quite liberal.

We go to these fish frys on a regular basis--we call them soldier's funerals. The downside is getting downwind from those fools in those funny hats. Maintaining sobriety for them is not a high priority; and, Gas-X is in short supply.

I saw one of the Phelps women on TV a few months ago, being interviwed by someone. Well, sort of being interviewed because the woman wouldn't really answer any questions, she just kept ranting about homosexuality.

I've always found them odd, these people who claim to have special insight into the Divine mind. This Rabbi thinks Israeli soldiers are killed because they aren't observant enough, Phelps thinks our soldiers are killed because gay people walk among us and Osama bin Laden thinks everyone should be killed who isn't Muslim, isn't Muslim enough or is the wrong kind of Muslim.

And they all claim to speak for God. Who needs no one to speak for Him. And certainly could do better than these messengers if He did.

Well of course you find it odd. You are a rebel against your God without a cause! You have no cause fools!! God GAVE YOU - each of you dolts HIS STANDARD!! YOU could speak for God - but you will NOT!!

Sadly, you brutes don't get to decide with whom God gives his word and you don't get to decide WHO he sends forth to speak to your rebellious back sides! If you would bother to CRACK a Bible and SHUT your mouths, you would find that the method God uses to tell a Doomed people that they are Doomed is by sending his servants, the prophets onto your streets - HELLO Doomed america - we are here to tell you that your destruction is on the horizon! Stay tuned for yet a short while!

So - as you wait - how about you SHUT YOUR MOUTHS, GET A BIBLE, CRACK IT, READ IT, OBEY IT, and above all else, SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!! Every word that you speak at this hour to continue in rebellion and to teach rebellion to your fellow countrymen will be required of you when you stand before your God and give account of the WASTE of your life on this earth!!

So let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter - fear God and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS - that is the whole duty of man - for God will bring every work in judgment and lay open all your secret things whether they be good or evil!

PUT AWAY YOUR IDOLS, YOUR FILTHY MANNER OF LIFE AND YOUR FALSE gods!! You have enraged your God!

Pssst... Shirl!

Meet me in the washroom, third stall from the left!

Well the Rabbi makes as much sense as the senile/brain dead members of congress and there are a lot of them, 99 44/100% democrats. They're idea of supporting the country is to go out and spout what the enemy tell you to.

At least the Phelps folks have the courage of convictions to stand by their words no matter how misguided or wrong. The Shas people, OTOH, start with the usual dissembling, waffling and outright mendacious rewriting of history when called on their rhetorical excesses.

In an attempt to clarify his recent statement that "soldiers died in war because they did not observe mitzvot," Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said Monday that he was actually referring to soldiers in biblical times.
...
"The rabbi meant it in the sense of mutual responsibility," Yishai said. "That is, if the public sins, the soldiers might pay the price.

At least the Phelps folks have the courage of convictions to stand by their words no matter how misguided or wrong. The Shas people, OTOH, start with the usual dissembling, waffling and outright mendacious rewriting of history when called on their rhetorical excesses.

In an attempt to clarify his recent statement that "soldiers died in war because they did not observe mitzvot," Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said Monday that he was actually referring to soldiers in biblical times.
...
"The rabbi meant it in the sense of mutual responsibility," Yishai said. "That is, if the public sins, the soldiers might pay the price.

Sorry, went a little click-happy here...

That Shirley Phelps-Roper post, that's got to be someone's idea of a satire, right?

Hmmm...well maybe not. As was said by another long ago, "Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad."

Phelps folks "have the courage of their convictions"? Well the same can be said for bin Laden. Not much to cheer about in that.

Fred Phelps is no mouthbreather.

I have every reason to believe that Mr. Phelps is quite evil, but not stupid. His Wiki page calls him a disbarred lawyer, and I don't think you can be disbarred without first having passing that state's bar exam. This leads me to believe he's not stupid.

It is very, very unwise to see spectacularly wicked people and regard them as stupid. I have every confidence that Satan is smarter than anyone I know.

The great evil of Mr. Phelps and Rabbi Yosef comes from the fact that they have been gifted with very, very much, and that they have, in my opinion, betrayed that stewardship.

I've enjoyed your blog for some time, though I've never posted a comment before. I have to protest, though, your comments about Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. He is one of the leading figures of Orthodox Jewry worldwide (I believe that this is not a matter in dispute). I'm not going to discuss the theology of what he said; I understand that you don't agree with it or his ways of expressing his views. That's your prerogative, and anyhow this blog may not be the proper venue for Jewish theological discussions.

But never compare him to Fred Phelps. As you well know, there are other Christian religious figures who also suggest divine punishments to America for various putative sins. Again, whether you agree with them is your business. But what makes Phelps reprehensible is something else: his cruelty and callousness, his way of taking advantage of the pain of soldiers' families, publicizing his views at their funerals, rubbing more salt into their wounds.

Anyone who knows anything about Rabbi Yosef knows that he is a beloved figure in Israel and a really kind and sweet person who is always busy helping others, including soldiers. If he speaks sharply sometimes it's because he believes that it's part of his job. (Rabbi Shach used to do the same, and people got just as angry over what he said.) But his dealings with people on the large and small scale have always been filled with love. Please don't confuse his theological positions with his personality, or assume that anyone you disagree with must be nasty.

On the other hand, if your objection is indeed to Rabbi Yosef's theological point of view, please compare him to those American Christian leaders you disagree with. Just not to Fred Phelps.

"...anyhow this blog may not be the proper venue for Jewish theological discussions."

I'd be interested in that.

I don't know anything about this Rabbi and actually very little about Fred Phelps who I think is rather typical of someone battling his own demons, in this case most likely suppressed homosexuality.

This Rabbi probably is the complete polar opposite of that loathsome creature. But still he did seem to make a connection between the death of Israeli soldiers and divine retribution.

Shirley Phelps-Roper:

I think you, WBC, and particularly your filthy father need to shut YOUR mouths.

Most of the people who read or comment on this site have never severely abused their children; most have never been disbarred for unethical conduct like your father; most have never rejoiced at the death of a 17 year-old girl, like your father; most have never taken delight in protesting at funerals in such a vicous, and often vulger way, as you and your "church", most have never been arrested for battery or other charges as several of your "members" have, including your "prophet" father.

For those of you who want to learn more about the exposes the Phelps don't want you to read, Google: ADDICTED TO HATE, transcripts of a lawsuit and LOVING GOD'S HATE, by the Topeka Capitol-Journal to read about the above facts, and much, much more.

Perhaps I've spoken too quickly. Shirley, open you mouth once more and tell us why you and the "prophet" HAVE NEVER SUED THE TOPEKA CAPITOL-JOURNAL FOR LIBEL!

hahahaha, the WBC is a source of great free entertainment, but in all seriousness, they have the right to speak their minds

Well, all I know is that once upon a time Christianity was the mainstay of American culture and since this country went into full-scale rebellion in the 60's, the social problems have skyrocketed.

First of all, I'm not saying change didn't need to be made--To Wit: The civil rights movement,(And lest we forget, Fred Phelps endured much persecution for defending the rights of Black Americans at a time when doing so wasn't politically correct), but since the 60's the country and much of the world has been involved in a "throw the baby out with the bathwater" mentality.

The issue isn't about whether the Phelps's, or you and I are perfect--because obviously we're not, but if you wonder why we have schoolyard shootings, gang violence, road rage, and so many other problems today we didn't have then, (despite the passage of more and more laws) ask yourself what we were doing differently BEFORE things got the way they are now.

Well, all I know is that once upon a time Christianity was the mainstay of American culture and since this country went into full-scale rebellion in the 60's, the social problems have skyrocketed.

First of all, I'm not saying change didn't need to be made--To Wit: The civil rights movement,(And lest we forget, Fred Phelps endured much persecution for defending the rights of Black Americans at a time when doing so wasn't politically correct), but since the 60's the country and much of the world has been involved in a "throw the baby out with the bathwater" mentality.

The issue isn't about whether the Phelps's, or you and I are perfect--because obviously we're not, but if you wonder why we have schoolyard shootings, gang violence, road rage, and so many other problems today we didn't have then, (despite the passage of more and more laws) ask yourself what we were doing differently BEFORE things got the way they are now.

I'v always been confused about the WBC's obsession with homosexuality. Why gays? It just seems that an all-powerful god would have more important things to worry about. Stop spouting about fire and brimstone, preaching the upcoming armaggeddon like every cult ever in existence. Or at least leave the country if you hate it so much. Take a look at which countries in the world today have more progressive policies and which don't. They're the best places to live (from a quality of life viewpoint). It just seems like their leader must have had a gay encounter when he was younger (coupled with a bi-polar disorder, or daddy issues?) and went psycho, eventually brain-washing his children and ruining the lives of his poor family. The WBC is the epitome and an extreme example of religious oppression, which is a main reason why more and more people are discovering religion-free lives - not wasting their lives expecting the best to come afterward. If more people concentrated on helping each other and bettering humanity, appreciating the short time we have here, then nutbars in cults like the WBC would have a harder time finding a voice, and converting the uneducated.

All those people at GHF, especially Fred Phelps, are big-time cocksucking closet cases. Fred likes it up the ass as well, but then his guilty feelings take all the pleasure out of it.