The Grace of Judy Shepard
Judy Shepard suffered the most horrendous loss imaginable…the death of her son. Children are supposed to out-live their parents. That is the natural order of things, and when the unthinkable happens; we need to gather all the strength we can manage to survive such an ordeal. For Judy, the loss was even more devastating since her son, Matthew, was murdered.
Two monsters decided one day that her son deserved to die because he was gay. Back in October 1998, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, as they were leaving a bar in Laramie, Wyoming, offered Matthew a ride home. Instead of taking him home, they drove to a remote location and tied Matthew to a fence, robbed him, pistol-whipped him, and tortured him. When they finished, they left Matthew for dead. Eighteen hours later a cyclist, initially mistaking Matthew for a scarecrow tied to a fence, found him alive, but in a coma.
The horror directed Mrs. Shepard’s way didn’t end with Matthew’s death a few days later. Add Fred Phelps, pastor of Westboro Baptist Church, to the list of Matthew’s tormentors. Good old Fred felt that Judy Sheppard hadn’t suffered enough. No, Fred, knowing exactly what God would want, took his flock of morons to picket and disrupt Matthew Sheppard’s funeral. Fred knew that Matthew’s earthly send-off wouldn’t be complete without some “God Hates Fags” signs along the funeral route.
Fred, after perfecting his circus act from hell at Matthew’s funeral, decided again that he knew better than anyone else what God would want, and started picketing American soldier’s funerals. Fred was convinced that American soldier’s deaths were divine retribution for our country’s increasing acceptance of homosexuality. Freddie and his band of monsters carried signs like, “Thank God for Dead Soldiers”, and “God Hates the USA”, and Thank God for 9/11”.
Other than actually killing the person whose funeral Fred protested, I can’t think of a more unspeakable act than to harass a parent’s burial of their child.
This poor excuse of a minister, and worse yet…poor excuse of a man, recently died. Who would have blamed Judy Shepard if she had used the opportunity to give Fred and his family a dose of their own hatred? Instead, through her website, she said the following…
“Regarding the passing of Fred Phelps, [husband] Dennis and I know how solemn these moments are for anyone who loses a loved one. Out of respect for all people and our desire to erase hate, we’ve decided not to comment further.”
Pope Francis when asked his position on gays and gay priests was quoted as saying, “Who am I to judge?” With those words he didn’t change the church’s position…he was simply saying he would show love and kindness, and leave the judging to God. Too bad Fred hadn’t had the same rational thought process.
I will end with the following…"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." —
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