July 8th (Westboro Baptist Church)


Friday 8th July, the Phelp interview.  The main reason I thought the Phelps would be fun would be a passage in Luke (also in another gospel I think), where Jesus is describing the end times.  Two men in a bed!  Jesus says you can get raptured if you are two men in one bed!  I also listen to a load of xian radio going across country, and I could make such a great gay sermon from this.

‘Remember Lotts Wife!  This is clearly a reference to not looking back, and the very next line is about two men in a bed.  Jesus is quite clear about his choice of sexes here, he could have said a man and his wife, he could have said a mother and her child, but no, its two men in ONE bed, ONE bed, signifying the one-ness of the two men… etc etc’.  This is always what bugs me when people start blathering about being ‘scholarly’ in Christianity.  I’ve listened to the scholars, and yes of the stupidity they issue forth, this (two men in ONE bed) comment wouldn’t even register above the noise!

Anyway bear in mind it was just an idea, and that I had driven from Columbus to Kansas city the previous day, and had no time to prepare at all.

They were very courteous when they greeted me, Megan and Megan, one young and pretty, the other as ugly as her opinions.

I had hoped to try and keep it all on a civilized, clear and logical level, but it became almost instantly obvious that this was a lost cause.  The hostility of ‘Meg the Eldar’ was really something I was unprepared for.  The volume, the amount, and the hostility in the pitch of her voice was that of a bitter, bitter woman.  Like a dog that’s been tormented daily till all it knows how to do is attack anything that comes within biting distance.  The daughter, I had the feeling was only there for eye-candy, or was just there as a spectator so Meg the Eldar could show her how to properly hate something not of the cult.  The daughter spoke softly and had it just been me and her we might have made some progress.  She had a venomfangx look to her.  Every argument had a ‘memorized by rote’ unthought through answer, but given time it might have been possible to untangle some of the mess.  But alas, Meg the Eldar, from the very start was throwing in pointless insults at every opportunity, ‘your nothing special’ ‘your country is worthless’ ‘your mother…’ etc etc.  Water off a ducks back for me of course, I’ve had more shit thrown at me than that before. Battle-hardened to the childish feces flinging 🙂 .  Eventually, I decided that Meg the Eldar could not be allowed to streamroller the events by doing 90 % of the talking, only 5% of which was relevant, but when I accosted her about it she threatened repeatedly to leave.

Realizing that she essentially had the trump card of just walking out, I  went for the ‘Jesus endorses homosexuality’ gambit.

It hit the spot, and they ‘RAGE-QUIT’.  The great thing was though that Meg the Eldar acknowledged that women should be grinding mill with rocks when the rapture happens.

PWNED BITCH.

After that back on the road, and drove for a LONG time.  Made it to Colorado Springs by dusk, and stopped off at a coffee shop to upload some stuff, catch up with email etc.  But by this time I was a spent wraith.  My plan had been to head up to the mountains and find some quiet forest road to park on.  Eyeballing the map ‘Cripples Creek’ looked fun.  Boy did I get it wrong.  I was expecting things to get quiet and empty very quickly.  Not a bit of it, turns out its all ski resorts etc up there.  Nothing worse that having to drive on and on and on in the dark when you are exhausted.  But alas no alternatives.  Eventually gave up and found a larger siding and just crashed out.  I had figured the traffic would die off quickly after midnight, but not a bit of it.  There was a steady stream of cars, every minute or so throughout the night.  I just couldn’t figure it out.  Where were they coming from and going too? To me this looked like a road to nowhere.  At any rate I woke up in the night to see Jupiter rising over the mountains.  First time I’ve seen him this year!  Hopefully nearer opposition I will get a team together to do a global planetary timelapse!

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38 Responses to “July 8th (Westboro Baptist Church)”

  1. Jack Flynn Says:

    I can’t wait for the entire interview!

    I wish you were still posting on your beautyintheuniverse channel…

  2. Anonymous Says:

    Keep up the good work TF00t. Look forward to seeing the full interview.

    Hope your road trip goes well too.

  3. Danny Thompson Says:

    Keep up the good work Tf00t.

    Hope your road trip goes well 🙂

  4. dreadnaught Says:

    Louis Theroux did a BBC documentary about the Westboros. It’s quite informative, even if their blind hatred and ignorance make one’s head hurt. He was with them for weeks and got the same impression you did– and made about as much progress. Except he didn’t get the Rage Quit FTW.

  5. Marlo Rocci Says:

    When you enter batshit crazyland, you run into batshit crazy people.

  6. Anonymous Says:

    Tunderfoot, I think you’re wrong with your interpretation on this one. It was not uncommon even in the first half of the twentieth century for men to have to share a bed in a low cost inn. Around the late 1700’s it was the norm. There’s even a famous story of John Adams and Benjamin Franklin sharing a bed and both of them being at odds because one prefered to sleep with the window open, (Franklin I think). Bases on your interpretation of this passage one would believe that that great scene in Planes Trains and Automobiles with John Candy and Steve Martin was about homosexuality. And the passage didn’t say “two women grinding in bed”, it just said “two women grinding”. I think it’s wonderful for you to take on evil idiots like this but i really think you missed the boat on this one. If you had more time to prepare I’m sure you could have pinned them on contradictttory or vilolent passage after passage. You never would have gotten through to them though, but it would have been entertaining.

    • Andre Says:

      I don’t know, You have to look at the context imo. Talking about 2 men in one bed AND 2 women grinding. once is kinda stretching but two times one right after the other is probably the author having some fun with the reader.

    • Rella Says:

      I believe TF brought up the “two women grinding” as a time reference, not a sexual one. How many women grind grain anymore? And yet there they are, grinding grain when the Rapture arrives. Oops: maybe they are historical reenactors?

  7. Jim Says:

    So, what are your travel plans? California on the list?

  8. Marlo Rocci Says:

    come visit Oregon, the state that’s hoping for global warming.

  9. GR0ND Says:

    Thunderf00t your level of awesomeness is unmatched. Love your work!

  10. DataJack Says:

    Nicely done. Look forward to seeing you at TAM.

  11. Swirly Squigglyface Says:

    you could add your answers that she wouldnt let you express in this video, I’d love to hear all your wisdom

  12. Joseph Gagné Says:

    Can anyone say “Religious Tourette’s syndrome”? Wow am I exasperated listening to these folks… Hey Thunderf00t, I have no clue what your travel plans are, but if ever you’re by the west coast and feel like coming to Canada, Québec city is awesome to visit. I’ll even drop the thesis for a day and give you a tour if you want 🙂
    Cheers,
    -Joe

  13. PoisonUrMnd Says:

    I just want to say great job on your videos. I always look forward to your next. Thank you for your knowledge, incite, and rationality that your have always given to us.

  14. DepressionTube Says:

    “The great thing was though that Meg the Eldar acknowledged that women should be grinding mill with rocks when the rapture happens.”

    What is the significance of this?

  15. Marc Lange Says:

    I’m so deeply impressed, you set up an interview with those Westboro .. people .. and managed too sit through it in a very stubborn (positively!) fashion. Thank you so very much!

  16. Anonymous Says:

    Louis Theroux is the only one who is able to angle these people correctly, trough naive observation in order for them to expose themselves.

    Keith Allen tried too in his “Keith Allen Vs Westboro Baptist Church” but failed.

    Your approach here fails too TF, sadly.

  17. Marlo Rocci Says:

    Just saw the full video. You were more patient than they deserved.

  18. Cbus Queer Says:

    Love it! Gotta use it! Where’s the verse?

  19. Sam Vittighed Says:

    It was only in the second viewing I understood that the “grinding” part is completely separate from the “2 men in bed”. The “grinding” part is about the timing of the rapture: The rapture will happen while two women use grinding mills. So if we make just make sure no women will ever use griding mills (which has basically already the case in the developed world) then the rapture will never happen.

  20. Enenennx@gmail.com Says:

    It’s fascinating watching someone who is calm and rational speak with someone belligerent.

    I feel a good video series might be you speaking with the young Phellps in this video, if you can get her to agree to have a discussion without the elder Phellps in the room. She seemed willing to have a rational discussion.

    Great work on this and your other endeavors.

  21. Martin Says:

    I admire your steely determination to not retaliate to the constant, nasty insults. Well done for that, but you didn’t honestly think you’d be able to penetrate the walls of angry ignorance, surely? That woman is surely bitter and frothingly angry.

    All the same, you’re a tougher man than I am. I would have broken down after five minutes and started hurling abuse back at ‘Meg the elder.’

  22. Nico Says:

    That women’s entire self-concept is completely dependent on her interpretation of the bible being right. Her ego is so irreversibly emotionally invested down that path that no amount of facts or reason will steer her off course. If she is aware of at least one reality ; it is that she cannot exist as is in another reality than her own.

    Whats really sad is the daughter. What a drab and uninteresting existence she must have.

    Say hi if you’re ever in Montreal, Canada.

  23. Cindy Says:

    What a horrible, horrible woman, and what an amazing guy you are. Great job.

  24. Mathew Lehmann Says:

    Looking forward to your global planetary timelapse project with Jupiter. I myself am into the field of astronomy more than any other, even though supporting atheism has been the main focus of my time on the internet over the last few years. If you are looking for another partner in the project I will love to lend a hand. I’m located near some of the darkest skies in the lower peninsula of Michigan and was a part of the now disbanded group known as the Huron Amateur Astronomers who planned to build an observatory near where M65 and M72 meet in Alcona county. Although I do not have a camera designed for a telescope nor the kind of scope that would comfortably mount a cam, there is a camera I may be able to borrow for ‘the project’ at the local planetarium where I worked for 9 years. I can’t promise anything without double checking. The man running the place now tells the audience “Isn’t it nice how god put a cross (Cygnus) in the sky for us to see? Hmm, makes you wonder?” He also distrusts any figures in astronomy who don’t/didn’t proclaim to be christian… including Stephen Hawking. Ultimately I would like to get my job there back as I don’t feel he is the best person suited for the job in this community but aside from his religious preference, his interest in fox news and his lack of a real background in science hes not such a bad guy, to some people. Anyhow, good luck with everything you have going for you. Science and Education FTW!

  25. Ibis3 Says:

    Let’s see…in this blog post, you managed to objectify these women, instantly categorising them as either young & pretty [enough to fuck] or [too] ugly [to fuck]. You decided one was likely only there as “eye-candy”. You want to gloat so the first thing you have to say is “PWND BITCH”. Thanks for showing us your commitment to correcting the harm done to women by religion. I should point out though, that you neglected to call them twats and cunts.

  26. Christopher Peruzzi Says:

    Dude, you certainly have more patience that I would’ve.

    Religion should bring solice. To these people it’s just brought insanity and intolerance. They have proved a point that I’ve been making for a very long time about Christianity which is – “It can be completely true… so long as you eliminate facts, logic, and reason.”

    These people are nuts and deserve every bit of hatred they incite.

    I leave with one point. If the Westboro Baptist Church is the “true way”, was it God’s intention to make these people so consistently hateful and bitter?

    Just food for thought.

  27. Rebecca H. Says:

    I admire your patience. I watched about ten minutes of the interview before I couldn’t take the hostility and wrong-headedness anymore.

    It almost makes Joel Osteen look civilized.

  28. igmrlm Says:

    Thunderf00t… you are casting your pearls before “swine”

    These type of people are the very hardest to have a reasonable conversation with.. they are so set in their ways that they refuse to hear any contrary idea just for the fact that they “know” they are right, making everything else a waste of time.

    The elder woman obviously had no intention of converting you, only wished to do as her god demands for “the reprobate soul” — be a savor unto death, the final nails in your spiritual coffin.. sad.. she truly believes that she is upholding the truth of an almighty righteous creator that will personally ask you at the end of time “Why did you not heed the words of blunt warning from my faithful servant”

    A person such as the elder woman probably has spent her life believing everyone around her as obliviously falling headlong into a literal lake of eternal fire.. She definitely has many friends and family that have passed on, and in her tormented mind she believes them to be forever without hope at the wrath of her precious god. The sad part is, the same beliefs that tell her of the fires of hell demand that she accept this as the secret righteous will of almighty god, and when combined with her own failed evangelism, puts the blood of their eternal souls on her hands.

    Try believing that with all your heart, and you will see why they are taking every possible method they can think up to spread their ideology and why they see you and the principals you represent as the most direct threat to the continued well being of the souls of humanity

    I firmly believe that the ideals and principals of persons such as these have a stranglehold on the quality of life and advancement of our human society as a whole…

  29. Paul Says:

    This video of yours desturbed me on a very DEEP level. I’m an american soldier, so I was sure to watch this when a friend posted it on FaceBook. The level of hatred these people have just makes me feel sick that I and other like and befor me deffend there rights to be like this.
    I must give you some serious props. for your extensive amount of PATIENTS. If I was in your place I would have been put in jail for some violent act.

  30. Grand Lunar Says:

    I can not imagine what it must have been like to deal with such a hateful person. The younger of the two ladies seemed a better person to converse with. If only she was the only person you could have had a discussion with.
    At least there wasn’t a guy there. He’d probably would’ve resorted to physical violence to make his point, imo.

    Indeed, this is yet another example of how much of an embarassment to humanity the Westboro Baptist church people really are.

  31. Kol Says:

    Here are my compressed thoughts:

    1. Lion’s den
    2. Males ALWAYS lose the argument
    3. Two WBC women at once?!!!!
    4. Fool’s Errand
    5. I loved that game on the Amiga!
    6. A brain fortified with a shell of la-la-la-not-listening composite is impervious to Gigantic metaphorical balls
    7. The WBC should be studied as they interbreed. Stop interfering with their natural habitat.
    8. Intelligence and comprehension should not be assumed to be equivalent
    9. Extreme social interaction is no different than recalling the location of your tribe’s watering hole
    10. I am a bit more atheist than I was before viewing this filth

    YAY!

    I like this edumucashun shit!

  32. Ron Goetz Says:

    I call Luke 17:23-37 “Luke’s Gay Apocalypse.” Not only do you have two men in one bed and two women grinding together, but you also have the chief symbols of man-on-man sex from Jewish culture and Gentile culture: 1) the story of Sodom, and 2) the symbols of Zeus and Ganymede (lightning and eagles).

    The main message of this passage: Gay and lesbian celibacy is a non-issue for God. In Luke’s Gay Apocalypse, half the sexually active gays and lesbians are acceptable to God, and half are not.

    I’ve blogged on this extensively.

  33. pwnd Says:

    you were pwnd TF, stop lying to yourself

  34. Simon Says:

    Hey Thunderf00t, did you know that the younger Megan Phelps recently left the Westboro Baptist Church?

    A follow up Google+ chat with her or similar would be really, really interesting- please please make it happen if you can! One for the list eh?

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