Fred Phelps is dead, so why are there people rejoicing?

Fred Phelps the founder of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church has died of natural causes at the age of 84.  I have seen a few friends, acquaintances, news agencies and online writers begin to revel in the death of this man and I have to ask why. Why are we rejoicing in the death of any man, no matter their behavior or actions in their lives? Why would we hold a grudge against someone in their death? Quite a few people have even talked of replicating this man’s behavior by picketing his own funeral. So my question to them would be; for what end? What would be the point of continuing the behavior and hate of this man and his “church”? What purpose does it serve to continue the vitriol of the ilk of Westboro Baptist Church?

My thoughts on this topic began well before the passing of Mr. Phelps and could best be traced to the killing of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. 

Many people rejoiced in the news that these two notorious people had been killed, but I sat wondering why? What joy did they get from the death of a man? What had been gained or lost? What does it say about the mindset of those individuals? Some call themselves strong pro-life believers yet here they are rejoicing in death. It is a strange paradox to me. how can one hold the thought that all life is precious and in the same breath say that a man should die for his actions? 

Mr. Phelps spent some years protesting military service member’s funerals, causing great anguish for the families. So what does it say about those that would do the same for this man. Even the father of a fallen US soldier whose funeral was used in the attacks on gays and military members has said do not give him that satisfaction, do not honor him or his message by falling to his level.

A writer for the Washington Post who had been on the receiving end of the Westboro protests years earlier has left this same message, “Instead, what if those on the receiving end of Phelps’s ideology did the opposite, which is to say, let him go quietly — and without protest — into that good night? Imagine the karma lesson that would be to all those who have supported Westboro Baptist.”

I couldn’t have said it better