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Edited on Sat Jan-07-06 01:12 PM by BerryBush
Robertson actually bothers to put on the cloak of a man who is simply interpreting the Bible and who has divined that God is punishing people because of what the Bible says (whether you believe in his nonsensical interpretation of the Bible or not).
Phelps doesn't even bother with that. In the world according to Phelps, the whole world except for Phelps and his church has offended God (failing to condemn and kill gay people is but the chiefest amongst our many sins) and therefore we are all going to hell. And, in his eyes, the faster we all die and go there, the better. This is why Phelps and his minions rejoice at tragedies that cause mass deaths of other people.
Robertson doesn't rejoice at tragedy. He shakes his head sorrowfully as he blames the terrible misfortune on people's failure to do God's will as Robertson interprets it. He implies that if only people would turn around and stop doing what he believes offends God, the tragedies would not happen. (I'm not saying he's right, I'm just saying, that's his logic, convoluted though it is.)
Phelps doesn't even use that much logic or have that much compassion. He doesn't even try to cry crocodile tears for the sins of the world as he sees them. Quite the opposite: He WANTS you to to know that tragedies like the mine disaster, Katrina, the London bombings, the tsunami, and, yes, 9/11 make him and his followers DELIRIOUS with joy. He wants you to know exactly how happy they are and how much they're partying. In fact, he makes a point of letting you know that his only sadness is that MORE people didn't die.
Now, you can commend him for the honesty and candidness of his hatred, vs. the way Robertson cloaks his with a shroud of self-righteousness and mock compassion. Or, you can do what I do: just say to yourself "This is one pathologically sick bunch of people."
I guess I think to myself that Robertson, as awful as he is, is the lesser of the two evils because maybe if he were persuaded as to the illogic and hate behind what he does, he could actually change his ways. Especially if the empire that made him rich for believing and spreading this kind of nonsense came crashing down around him.
I don't think Phelps is redeemable. I think he's a sickie who actually gets off on, NEEDS, other people to be miserable in order to be happy. And if that's so, there's just nothing you can do to cure that.
On edit: I am willing to avow that the mere fact that Robertson APPEARS more logical, at least to conservatives, may actually make him more dangerous...because it's easy for them to dismiss Phelps as a wacko who "goes too far" while thinking Robertson makes some sense. Yes, that is a bit frightening. But I still fear pure evil more than I fear mistaken thinking. And I believe Phelps is pure evil.
It's like, if I was cornered in a secluded place by a man who looked as if he might hurt me, would I rather it be a man who was angry at his girlfriend for dumping him, or would I rather it be a guy who had no reason for cornering me other than that he liked to torture, rape and kill? With Guy #1, I have maybe half a chance of talking him out of projecting his anger at his girlfriend onto me. I can maybe talk him down, make him see reason. But with Guy #2...unless I can somehow escape him...I'm a goner. He picked me because I was there and he's going to destroy me because it gives him pleasure. Ain't nothing you can do about that.
It's the same with Phelps and his gang. They do what they do not because it has helped them gain riches and political power. They just do it because it gets them off.
Sick.
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