Reader: Let Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church lie

Our post on the death of notorious Westboro Baptist Church leader and funeral protester Fred Phelps stirred up a lot of emotions in readers -- no surprise there. But among all the voices bidding him good riddance, more than a few people argued that the best way to bury the...

By Adam Roy

March 24, 2014

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Our post on the death of notorious Westboro Baptist Church leader and funeral protester Fred Phelps stirred up a lot of emotions in readers -- no surprise there.

But among all the voices bidding him good riddance, more than a few people argued that the best way to bury the memory of Fred Phelps was to rise above his hatemongering.

Writes Latifah Abdul'laah:

You should have kept it classy...if you wanted to really stick it to them, you'd have wished him a peaceful journey and left it alone.

KEEP WESTWORD FREE... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.

Adam Roy is a contributor of Westword, a former editor at Outside and Matador Network, his writing has also appeared in Paste, High Country News and other online and print publications nationally and abroad.

Contact: Adam Roy

Follow:

Twitter: @adnroy