social injustice outrage

I'm having a moment of rage right now and need to vent. A post on another board directed me to the following article:
http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/02/020204phelpsPA.htm

And it just brought out that fight and anger in me. My dilema is how to cope with my own feelings of rage so they don't develop into the reverse side of the hatred coin. Hate begets hate. Part of me wants to be noble and say that I pity the hate-mongers, but I'm not sure that's the truth. I do know it's not up to me to read what's in their hearts, or to judge their lives...but DAMN!

Global humanity is a noble concept, but unrealistic in the short-term. And perhaps not the best solution. Perhaps it is the struggle that makes us better people. There is so much confusion and anger in the world. I try to remember that in the day-to-day it's how we live our individual lives that makes a difference. How we interact with others on a daily basis and how we treat those around us is the best reflection of who we are as people.

I'm sitting here praying for strength, understanding and hope...all of which are difficult to maintain at times. Thanks for sharing that struggle and making it a little easier for me to maintain my sense of humanity and my hope for the world.

Hey Jason...

as far as anger do some exercising.. go for a jog, lift weights or something. Exercising releases positive hormones that will help you calm down about whatever angers you. It also helps you keep fit. It has been proven that if your upset you release negative hormones which make you more angry and upset, whereas even smiling will start to release positive hormones. The the more you smile and are positive, the happier you'll feel.

As far as the monument. That is crap. We all know it's crap. Obviously it was because of ignorant people like the Anti-gay preacher Fred Phelps that the kid commited suicide. What I think is stupid is they should focus more on kids bullying the other kid vs. why. It's the church trying to take over again I guess.

Jim Wheeler is probably up in heaven, looking down and praying for his brothers and sisters in the gay comunity... I just wish I could be there to see the look on Fred's face when Jesus/God asks, "Why did you try and mock my sons who are different?"

my thought anyway

I feel it too, Jason. While I have a very difficult time getting passed the anger and fury that these people incite in me, I try to hold onto two thoughts:

First, I see Phelps and his followers for what they are doing. They are marketing themselves. The ONLY time this group has received national headlines is when the attempted to erect a similar statue to Matthew Shepard. They were insignificant hate mongers who found a voice in the media by doing this.

Second, I hold onto the fact that it hasn’t worked. In fact, they have received a lot more resistance than is being reported. Even the type of person who I would have thought would be against us “older straight white politician” are saying that not only are these attempts futile, but they will not perpetuate the hate.

Now this is what works for me. It helps me try to get passed some of the shear rage that rises in me when I see people like this work so hard against not only us, against humanity.

And at the same time, it does give me more energy in my protesting of their actions.

Now, at times this will not work for me. My anger level can get far too high. And in those instances I tend to think on an image of 1mil members of the GLBT community pulling that statue down like the scenes from Baghdad when they yanked Saddam off his pedestals.

I know I’m a cock-eyed optimist and some will think me unrealistic. But I have to hold on to some hope that the more these people do this, the more they will open other people’s eyes to how ridiculous, harmful and wrong it all really is.

Gary-Alan

Thanks...

I'm wondering if Phelps knows that what he's doing is having the opposite effect of what he hopes to accomplish. By turning into such a blatant asshole, he's turning marginal people against him and what he stands for. Yay!

Quote:

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Originally posted by 123Jason
Thanks...

I'm wondering if Phelps knows that what he's doing is having the opposite effect of what he hopes to accomplish. By turning into such a blatant asshole, he's turning marginal people against him and what he stands for. Yay!

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IMHO I hope he DOESN'T... the more he does this the more it works against him.

;)

GA

Jason,

One thing that could really help diffuse your anger would be to actually meet (I know how repugnant that idea is) and talk to him. (Or find the old 60 mins interview they did with him).

HE *IS* AN IDIOT! And when he talks, he makes that point quite clear. And as for his church? I hate to be mean to people that are already suffering from "half-wit" syndrome, but we are talking PURE trailer trash here. LOSERS! They are basically welfare cases themselves with nothing much to do in life (how neo-nazis and klu klux klan get their members..find people on the low end of societies totem pole). So, they find go after homosexuals a sport. Phelps SEEKS the spotlight. He does things just to GET A RISE (no pun intended) out of the gay community.

But when you finally realize this is a pathetic old man with NO LIFE, then you realize, and if you believe in the Christian ethic, you have to actually FEEL SORRY FOR HIM..and seriously..PRAY FOR HIM! Because he is one fucked up dude (as well as his handful of followers).

And most of all, Phelps would be tickled to death to know he got you pissed off. That's his aim. The way to dis-arm this man is to frankly, IGNORE HIM and not let it get under your skin. I know it's hard to do at time..but truly, you're dealing with a certifiable looney tune here.

Oh..and how do I know this? As the girl in the movie/play "Hair" said to the main character "I understand..I used to be from Kansas." grin

:-)

Good points thanks. However, it's not Phelps per-se that makes me angry. What he thinks, says and does is of little consequence compared to what happens on a global scale. How many kids each day do you think are beaten, raped, humiliated, disowned and de-humanized because of their sexual orientation? 1 is too many. It's people like Phelps that bring to his much coveted spotlight the fact that this is a real problem and ignoring it won't make it go away. I'm mad that the world is this way more-so than anything else.

And actually, this whole thread has been very theraputic. I'm not raging anymore. Been very wordy and sentimental today though. Perhaps it's that time of the month. My cycle is very irregular.