Westboro

21 March 2014

Westboro

 

With the passing of Rev Fred Phelps Sr today, it seemed fitting to dig up this very old cartoon of mine, drawn at some point back in the 1990s around the time I first heard about the Westboro Baptist Church. Looking back on the cartoon now, I note that I couldn't bring myself to depict that most memorable and hateful of signs that this "church" always waved at their protests. 

Quite appropriately however, I've added some colour to what was, until now, just a black and white picture. It's reflective of the two points of view at odds here, funnily enough. That is, black and white thinking, as opposed to an acceptance that the world is a rainbow spectrum of different people with different beliefs and different sexual identities. 

It's comforting to know that while the memory of the hate inflicted by this man and his "church" - which they would describe as "Christian love" - may live on, the hate itself is slowly dying a bit more every day in this world. If nothing else it has turned more people away from such hate, and toward a greater acceptance of all humanity, so that's something - strangely - to be grateful for. 

Rest in peace, Fred Phelps. May your hate rest in pieces.