The Philosofer

Fred Phelps

Sometimes the death of a prominent evil person is a victory, other times it is not. When Hitler killed himself it was the nail in the coffin that was already pressing down on him. An Allied victory was close at hand but the loss of his leadership was an event that probably saved many lives (on both sides) and brought WWII to a close a bit faster.

On the other hand you have people like Osama Bin Laden and Fred Phelps, the latter of which died today. Both men carried an evil in their bones that is hard for us normal people to comprehend. And yet I didn’t rejoice at the death of UBL as many of the people around me did. I also don’t celebrate the death of Mr. Phelps. I’ve given up the puritanical and unrealistic worldview that passivity is always the way to go and that every life is worth saving. That is nonsense and deep down we all know that some people need to die to make the world a better place. There are some people so evil that they will never, no matter what opportunity is presented, recant their wickedness. Considering the death and suffering, those misguided individuals purport upon the world need to die, there is no real two ways about it. Do not mistake I am referring to a very small percentage of people who have ever lived. The Hitlers, Mengeles, Stalins, bin Ladens, Pol Pots, and Caligulas, not your average murderers. Of course this is my personal, subjective, and unsubstantiated opinion.

Granted it may be a little extreme to throw Phelps in the mix with Stalin and I admit it’s a bit an overreaction. But here’s my point; the power Fred Phelps wielded will not abate because of his death. If it did we would have cause to celebrate. The power of people like bin Laden and Phelps is in their message that has already infected the system of their culture. Their death is a martyrdom that fuels future generations of ignorant, uneducated, and dangerous young people to take their place with even more venom and violence. If it was as easy as cutting off the head of the snake that is fundamentalist Islam & Christianity we wouldn’t still be in Afghanistan fighting insurgents 11 years later.

So what’s the solution? I don’t know. All I know is just because one evil man stopped breathing today I don’t see it as a victory. His message of hate will be carried by his daughters and congregation for the considerable future. Personally, I approve of the Supreme Court decision allowing them to continue. I don’t want any form of government telling me what I can and can’t say and the price of that freedom comes along with the territory. We’re gonna have a few bad bananas but we don’t need to let them ruin the bunch.

One possible strategy for dealing with the zombie-villains, those bad guys who just won’t die even when they’re dead, lies perhaps in a more elusive and unconventional way. It’s clear that jihadists and WBC thrive on confrontation, they need it to survive. That may be the chink in the armor. A patient siege may be more effective than direct action. I find it hard to imagine that WBC would be as motivated to continue if not a single news outlet covered their stories. If they showed up and no one counter-picketed them, no one interviewed them, they were flat out ignored, starved from the very attention they subsist on. I think they would either ratchet up their efforts and cross into something illegal for which they could be prosecuted, or they would fade into oblivion. Either option seems better than what we are doing now.

As for radical Islam I think the strategy could be the same although on a much longer time frame. Stem the flow of insurgents where they start and they don’t start when they pick up an AK-47. They start when they stop going to school and start attending madrassas. That is the critical moment of direction that needs to be captured. Of course, nothing is ever that easy and it takes real people willing to dedicate their lives to build schools in the most dangerous parts of the world and slug through a life of sacrifice and discomfort to make a lasting difference. It also takes military might to keep those schools and teachers safe as well as to bleed the remaining poison from the system. Dollar for dollar, education trumps bombs hands down. It takes longer, is less flashy, and a hell of a lot more complicated but I feel it’s the only way out.

Today Fred Phelps is dead making one less evil person in the world. He is a prime example of the kind of legacy we can leave after we die, I want my legacy to be one of life, peace, and hope. As is often the case with things in life, the problem is not the problem, the problem is our approach to the problem. If we face violence with violence with no other supplementary strategy we will only beget more violence. If we meet hate with hate and don’t acknowledge the root of the problem we will reap a harvest of malice.

“The way we win matters”
- Ender Wiggin