Hillbilly Hermit, is a regular contributor to Weird Wally’s Worldview. In his latest rage against the hate machine, Hillbilly takes on Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, and, oddly enough, ends up thanking Fred Phelps. Ya gotta read it to believe it.

Hillbilly Hermit's take on Christian Hatred

When the Baptist Minister, the right reverend Fred Phelps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps first put up his website:
http://www.godhatesfags.com there was a mix of outrage from the minority
Gay population, laughter among the general population, and silent
support from the religious right.

When Fred Phelps picketed the funerals of AIDS Patients and taunted the
mourners, there was a mix of outrage from the Gay community, laughter
from the general population, and silent support from the religious
right.

When Fred Phelps and company picketed the Matthew Shepard funeral,
mourners quietly ignored him, and the rest of the world looked the other
way.

But when Fred Phelps started picketing military funerals, everyone was
pissed.

In May, 2007, Fred Phelps called himself "the most hated person in
America", largely due to his picketing of funerals for soldier-victims
of the Iraq war.

But for Hillbilly Hermit, Fred Phelps has done more for me and my
beloved Gay community than anyone since Anita Bryant.

In the seventies, Anita took hatred of Gay people to new heights-- to
its logical absurdity.

Now, Phelps is doing the same thing she did, only this time, he is
showing the Baptists for what they really are. For decades, notables
such as Jerry Falwell have grown fat and rich peddling anti-gay hatred
under the banner of the Baptist Church, but Phelps has taken Falwells'
venomous attacks to their logical absurdity.

Falwell tried, when he declared that "Tinky Winky" was gay, and when he
blamed hurricane Katrina on the Gay Community, but even Falwell,
Robertson and company remained silent when Phelps made national
headlines picketing military funerals.

I think I know why Falwell, Robertson, Dobson ad nauseum spew their
anti-gay hatred. It has made them all very rich.

But why has Phelps joined the throngs of hate mongers? Perhaps he took
Jesus' words that the world will revile and hate His followers
seriously. He has indeed gained monetary support for his fanatic
position, but compared to Falwell, not much. But that doesn't explain
why he beat his children, abused his wife, or why he remains affiliated
with the Baptist Church. I really don't know why.

What I do know is that for me and the Gay Community, Phelps has made us
more friends than enemies. Simply put. It is easy to hate Jews,
Blacks, Gays, and other minority groups when it's just words of venom.
But when you drag James Byrd to death behind a texas bubba pickup truck,
or police fire 43 bullets into a Black college student when he tries to
show you his identification card, or Phelps pickets the funeral of a 22
year-old gay man who was tortured to death and hung on a Wyoming fence
to die, even America's hating majority has trouble with it.

So Thank You, phred phelps. By making yourself "the most hated man in
America", you have taken some of the heat off of me.

Hillbilly Hermit