Foes, soldier's mother counter protesters at funeral
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/13947821.htm
Fringe Kansas church singles out Iraq dead
Associated Press
Six members of a fringe church in Kansas picketed Thursday outside the funeral of a Minnesota soldier who was killed in Iraq, leading to a heated exchange with the grieving mother.
The six men and women, standing outside the Anoka funeral for Cpl. Andrew Kemple, 23, who died Feb. 12 after his vehicle came under fire, are members of a church in Topeka, Kan., that espouses the belief that God is killing American soldiers because they fought for a country that tolerates homosexuality.
They were countered by a group of 20 affiliated with the Patriot Guard Riders, a rapidly growing nationwide movement organized to offset the fringe group's message.
"We're just trying to show honor and respect for families," said John Lutsch, a St. Cloud resident who heads the Minnesota branch of the Patriot Guard. "I was appalled when I read about these protests, that they'd use a solemn occasion like this as a forum for their views."
He was interrupted by Steve Drain, who bellowed that God hates gays and their enablers and "so, therefore, God hates the U.S. military."
According to an account reported by the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune, about a half-hour before the service, Deirdre Ostlund, Kemple's mother, approached the six Kansans and told them in a cold fury: "I'm Andrew's mother and I want you to know you are truly hateful people."
As Ostlund turned away to enter Zion Lutheran Church, Shirley Phelps-Roper taunted her: "Adulterer! You can't admit you sent your own child to hell! If she does not heed this warning, she will look up from hell with him."
Phelps-Roper is the daughter of Fred Phelps, the pastor of the nondenominational Westboro Baptist Church. During the 1990s, church members were known mostly for picketing funerals of AIDS victims.
Minnesota is one of at least 14 states considering laws that would make funeral protests illegal.
The Patriot Guard got its start in Kansas last October when motorcycle-riding veterans became fed up with the Westboro church's picketing and decided to show up and place themselves between the demonstrators and mourners. The organization has grown quickly with chapters in nearly every state and more than 8,700 members, about 100 of them so far in Minnesota, Lutsch said.
Just as the funeral service was starting Thursday, the six Kansans got into their van and drove away as the Patriot Guard mockingly serenaded them, "Hit the road, Jack, and don't you come back no more...."
A few minutes later, Deirdre Ostlund stood before a packed church sanctuary, just to the right of her son's flag-draped coffin.
"Nothing can separate us from the love of God, and Andrew knew that," said Ostlund, of Forest Lake. No matter what he did, God loved him. And now, nothing will ever separate me, or any of us, from Andrew."
Kemple was a 2001 graduate of Cambridge-Isanti High School. Inspired by the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he joined the Army in 2003.
The member of the 101st Airborne Division was the 30th military member from Minnesota to die in Iraq.
If one so called "church" should be burnt with all the members inside, it's the nondenominational Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka Kansas.
That's my rant and I'm stickin' to it.
And may God, Allah, Buddah, etc, etc, bless the Patriot Guard Riders!!
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/13947821.htm
Fringe Kansas church singles out Iraq dead
Associated Press
Six members of a fringe church in Kansas picketed Thursday outside the funeral of a Minnesota soldier who was killed in Iraq, leading to a heated exchange with the grieving mother.
The six men and women, standing outside the Anoka funeral for Cpl. Andrew Kemple, 23, who died Feb. 12 after his vehicle came under fire, are members of a church in Topeka, Kan., that espouses the belief that God is killing American soldiers because they fought for a country that tolerates homosexuality.
They were countered by a group of 20 affiliated with the Patriot Guard Riders, a rapidly growing nationwide movement organized to offset the fringe group's message.
"We're just trying to show honor and respect for families," said John Lutsch, a St. Cloud resident who heads the Minnesota branch of the Patriot Guard. "I was appalled when I read about these protests, that they'd use a solemn occasion like this as a forum for their views."
He was interrupted by Steve Drain, who bellowed that God hates gays and their enablers and "so, therefore, God hates the U.S. military."
According to an account reported by the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune, about a half-hour before the service, Deirdre Ostlund, Kemple's mother, approached the six Kansans and told them in a cold fury: "I'm Andrew's mother and I want you to know you are truly hateful people."
As Ostlund turned away to enter Zion Lutheran Church, Shirley Phelps-Roper taunted her: "Adulterer! You can't admit you sent your own child to hell! If she does not heed this warning, she will look up from hell with him."
Phelps-Roper is the daughter of Fred Phelps, the pastor of the nondenominational Westboro Baptist Church. During the 1990s, church members were known mostly for picketing funerals of AIDS victims.
Minnesota is one of at least 14 states considering laws that would make funeral protests illegal.
The Patriot Guard got its start in Kansas last October when motorcycle-riding veterans became fed up with the Westboro church's picketing and decided to show up and place themselves between the demonstrators and mourners. The organization has grown quickly with chapters in nearly every state and more than 8,700 members, about 100 of them so far in Minnesota, Lutsch said.
Just as the funeral service was starting Thursday, the six Kansans got into their van and drove away as the Patriot Guard mockingly serenaded them, "Hit the road, Jack, and don't you come back no more...."
A few minutes later, Deirdre Ostlund stood before a packed church sanctuary, just to the right of her son's flag-draped coffin.
"Nothing can separate us from the love of God, and Andrew knew that," said Ostlund, of Forest Lake. No matter what he did, God loved him. And now, nothing will ever separate me, or any of us, from Andrew."
Kemple was a 2001 graduate of Cambridge-Isanti High School. Inspired by the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he joined the Army in 2003.
The member of the 101st Airborne Division was the 30th military member from Minnesota to die in Iraq.
If one so called "church" should be burnt with all the members inside, it's the nondenominational Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka Kansas.
That's my rant and I'm stickin' to it.
And may God, Allah, Buddah, etc, etc, bless the Patriot Guard Riders!!
