PopeWatch 2013: Blowing Black Smoke

VATICAN CITY -- A plume of black smoke issuing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel signaled that the first day of the College of Cardinals' papal conclave had ended and that, predictably, its members had not yet selected a replacement for retired Pope Benedict XVI. The princes of the Catholic Church, however, are not the only ones blowing smoke, and over the past month there has been an abundance of idle, often whimsical, and sometimes even feel-good chatter about who the next pope will be. With an ever-canny sense of how things are rather than how people want them to be, the editors of Religion, Politics, and Sex decided to look at the presumed frontrunners in the papal race and make our predictions not just on who the next pope will be but also on who it definitely will not be.

The members of the conclave are, of course, literally sworn to secrecy in this regard, so public speculation falls to lower-ranking clergy, the media, and bookmakers. Some of their top choices, however, are so absolutely unlikely that they have presumably been proposed merely as red herrings to boost the payoff for bets on candidates they think actually have a chance or to jolly along various special interest groups.

There has also been quite a bit of discussion about the moral characteristics of various candidates and factors such as the presumable impact of things like their roles in either covering up or exposing the Church's child sex abuse scandals. But these factors have no bearing on whether a candidate would make what is considered to be a good pope and are therefore irrelevant and will have no impact whatsoever on the decision reached by the conclave. If the new pope is a genuinely good person, wants to make protecting children from predatory priests his cause celebre, etc., that is all great, but it has nothing to do with his viability as a candidate.

Following are some of the top choices whose names are being bandied about on the news. We are presenting them here in reverse order, from least to most likely to be elected.



* Cardinal Peter Turkson (Ghana). Really? No, really? Anyone suggesting that Turkson has any chance at all of being elected pope is doing so for purposes of misdirection, to lead Africans in particular and blacks in general to feel more important within the Church than they really are, or as a joke. His qualities as a Church leader are, in fact, completely meaningless simply because he is black. This may seem like an extreme contention, but consider what we learned when Obama got elected, e.g., that a certain proportion of the population will become mentally unhinged when a black is elected to a particular high office for the first time. A global sex abuse scandal is one thing and something the Church can obviously survive just fine, but a black man in a miter would be the death of Catholicism as we know it. Just as Americans who were admittedly almost illiterate before Obama was elected suddenly affected expert knowledge of Constitutional law to justify their irrational hatred for the first black U.S. president, closet racists throughout the Catholic Church would suddenly start spouting references to obscure canon laws disseminated by the plethora of hatemongering schismatic websites that would pop up. Catholicism would experience a literal decimation, with one in 10 of its members abandoning the Church immediately, and there is a reasonable chance that any number of pretender popes would be elected within particular geographical areas. The cardinals are more likely to drink a vat of poisoned Kool-Aid than propagate such a monumental disaster.

* Cardinal Timothy Dolan (United States). Almost no chance. Americans are notoriously bad at seeing themselves as others see them and do not realize that the United States is perceived by many people throughout the world as militaristic, imperialistic, hypocritical, and a busy-body. Election of an American would lead to widespread perception that the Vatican had been suborned by the United States and this is something that the conclave is going to be sensitive to.

* Marc Oullet (Canada). Slightly better chance than Dolan, but he is still a Norde Americano and from a nation that is often seen as a client state of the United States, so the fear of appearance of undue political influence on the Vatican remains a consideration.

* Peter Erdo (Hungary). OK, now we're getting on track, and this guy dodges all the bullets of the afore-mentioned candidates, making him a viable contender. But the Vatican has already had its "Eastern European" ticket punched in recent memory so there is no strategic advantage associated with electing him.

* Odilo Scherer (Brazil). This one might actually have a reasonable chance. Sure, he is a South American, but is just about as white as most Italians, and the sense is that the powerbrokers in the Church could use him as a tool (e.g., much the way George W. Bush was puppeted by rightwing business interests). This would also be a sop to Third Worlders and give them an inflated sense of their place in the Church.

* Angelo Scola. This is the one! Or, someone who is so much like him as to be almost indistinguishable. One can almost sense a zeitgeist, if not a heilig geist, among the Italian cardinals, a palpable desire to "take back the papacy." Germans and Poles have had their time in the sun and they are as exotic as this bunch is ever going to want to deal with, so it is time for the pendulum to swing back toward what the papacy has been for the majority of its history.



So, those are our predictions! If this were like a U.S. presidential election you would be able to see the candidates at the top of our list dropping off one by one, but with this contest we won't know until it is done. In the meantime, go ahead and keep giggling about the black guy, sagely speculating about the Brazilian, etc., and tell us that we're wrong now -- because in a couple of days it will be too late and we will have an Italian pope again.

What Would YOU ask Jodi Arias?

Week after week, the Jodi Arias murder trial drags on, replete with sordid details that were shocking the first time we heard them but which have become increasingly prosaic as we become progressively more desensitized to them. Anybody who has actually read a book by the Marquis de Sade knows what I mean.

For anyone who has not been keeping up, the now demure femme fatale is charged with butchering boyfriend Travis "T Dog" Alexander like a hog, cutting his throat and stabbing him 29 times, after suffering years of increasingly degrading sexual abuse at his hands. It should all be more fun to listen to than it is.

Today, however, CNN finally posed an interesting question: What would you ask Jodi Arias? Wow! A thought provoking query indeed, and one I did not immediately have an answer for. "Why should we believe you now?" was the predictable and boring question that seemed most pressing to the news networks talking heads but did not seem very satisfactory. So, after convening the best legal consultation team we could put together on short notice, Religion, Politics, and Sex compiled the following short list of better questions that we would be inclined to ask the murderous minx.

* What took you so long?

* Hey, baby. You from around here?

* Now wait ... Why did you date someone named "T Dog"?

* So, when you were blonde, did cuffs and collars match?

* Do you practice witchcraft? (Hahaha! We saw this idiotic question posted online and it just seemed to good to not include!)

That's all we've got for now! We will certainly add more questions as our dream interview evolves. In the meantime, please tell us what YOU would ask Jodi Arias and we will add it to our list!

Documentary Commentary: 'Mea Maxima Culpa'

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God is a compelling 2012 documentary by director Gibney that explores the issue of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. A not altogether illegitimate response to yet another documentary on child sex abuse in the Catholic church might be "Yeah, yeah, we've heard all that before!" It is in itself unfortunate, of course, that people should become inured to horror because it has become commonplace. Mea Maxima Culpa, however, includes a great deal of newly revealed material, and explores the subject in some ways that have not been widely done previously.

Mea Maxima Culpa explores its subject matter through the eyes of four deaf adult men who as children were molested by priest Father Lawrence Murphy at the church boarding school in Wisconsin where they each lived for a number of years. It then goes into a broader examination of the worldwide phenomena of pedophile priests; how this has manifested in other countries, such as Ireland; and the complicity of the Catholic Church in covering up the problem and its monumental efforts to suppress public knowledge of it.

One focus of the documentary I found fascinating was the number of priests and church officials who heroically struggled to expose and combat the problem of pedophile priests but who were suppressed and silenced by the institution of which they were part. This aspect of the film, however, points out the importance of acknowledging the efforts of these clergy and remembering that the issue of child sexual molestation was not universally approved of or covered up even within the church.

An obstacle faced by victims faced by such abuse, the documentary points out, was that even people outside the church were not interested in helping them and were thus at least passively complicit in the problem. Parents told their children how terrible it was to say such horrible things about priests, police dismissed victims as troublemakers, newspaper editors suppressed relevant details from published articles. Some of this resonated with me personally, because my parents taught me when I was growing up to never criticize people in authority, no matter who they were or what they had done. This, they said, would reflect badly on me, not on the people in question. I was never molested by a priest and, despite being raised Catholic never even knowingly met a pedophile priest, but it is profoundly disturbing to consider that I was told in advance that I simply needed to keep things like that to myself. This was not because my parents wanted me to be molested, of course, but simply because they were products of a Rust Belt factory town culture where everyone was part of a strict hierarchy and "knew their place"; in that world, there was nothing worse than being the outsider or the person who stood out, and so they were trying to protect me from the threat they perceived as being most palpable.

Mea Maxima Culpa will likely also resonate with other viewers for any number of reasons. It began showing on HBO in 2013 and will likely become available through other venues as well over the coming months, and I would encourage anyone who is interested to check it out.

The Right to Bare Arms

If there is one thing conservatives are good at it is observing appropriate gender roles. But, while the boys are all posting pictures of AR-15s, asserting their 2nd Amendment rights to be able to slaughter entire classrooms of children, and ranting about "tyrants" and "despots," what are the girls supposed to do? Complain about Michelle Obama's sleeveless dresses, of course! Yes, ladies, that's what the guys have been going on about when you hear them talking about "bare arms." So, while they are showing off their guns, you can complain about Mrs. Obama showing hers.

This particular line of complaint did, of course, catch me off guard the first time I saw someone post about it, but after that it was not surprising to see it again and again. What could be more conservatively responsible, after all, than to simply reiterate someone else's already existing thoughts? Leave it to the liberals, hippies, communists, homosexuals, etc., to profligately reinvent the wheel and needlessly waste all those words on original composition every time they need to say something. With that in mind, following are some stock responses you can feel free to use anytime you see a conservative lady complaining on Facebook or other social media about the First Lady's fashion sense (and it had better be a lady doing it, because only a man who was gay would care enough to complain about this, and his very existence would anger God and make baby Jesus cry).

* "They obviously have a different fashion sense in Washington, D.C, than we do here in Texas!" (Note: Feel free to swap out "Texas" for Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, or whatever center of haute couture you happen to be from.)

* "I guess I kind of agree with you, but I don't actually think black people look good in anything."

* "Yeah, if the First Lady had lunch lady arms she probably wouldn't be showing them off, either."

* "You're right! If she is going to be everybody's First Lady then she is going to need to appeal to the Walmart crowd, too."

* "Yes, she really is stupid if she hasn't figured out that people are watching her like vultures and waiting to criticize everything she does!"

Enjoy! And you can easily customize any of those responses by preceding them with "LOL!", following them with a winky face emoticon -- ;) -- or some other minor addition. And have you got some of your own? If so, please post them as a comment here so that we can all appreciate and share them!

A 21st-Century 'Devil's Dictionary'

This being the 100-year anniversary of Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary, I thought it would be appropriate to begin creating a 21st century counterpart to it. I began doing so about this time last year but got drawn off onto two major book projects and ended up pushing this project and any number of other ones to the back burner. Coincidentally, one of those books, my true crime compendium Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State, contains a chapter about Bierce. While doing research on the book, I stumbled across a compelling new theory about the final days of the popular author and explore it in the aptly-named chapter "The Death of Ambrose Bierce."

Bierce's satirical book had its roots in writings he did in the 1850s and ensuing decades and is an incisive critique of language and the way people use/misuse it. Some initial entries appear below, more will follow, and people are encouraged to reply with their own! Other terms soon to be posted will include "Accusation," "Weirdo-American," "Communist," "Freedom," "Patriotism," "Big Government," and "Second Amendment."

Liberal: Term used by rightwingers to characterize anyone who disagrees with them, regardless of those people's political leanings, beliefs, or motivations.

Asshole-American: An increasingly significant demographic group characterized by individuals who typically can only make their points by shouting down their detractors, advocate violence against their fellow citizens, and suffer from extreme paranoia. Prominent Asshole-Americans include rightwing radio hosts Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones and psychopath Ted Nugent.

I Support the Troops: A phrase used to indicate that the speaker will not oppose any ongoing military conflict. No actual support for anyone is required beyond periodically uttering the phrase, "I support the troops," which is generally intended to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy and signal that commentary on the war is not welcome.

Values (noun): Any system of beliefs that can be forced upon other people. Sometimes also ideas adopted by individuals as a means of justifying the dismal situations they have created for themselves, particularly with regard to spouses and offspring.

War (noun): A word used to characterize any major venture that has no end in sight; cannot be "won" in any foreseeable way, even if that was the intent in the first place; and is generally intended to prop up one or more sectors of the economy. It is intended to signal the indefinite nature of the supposed conflict and warn people against opposing it. Examples include "the War on Drugs" and "the War on Terror." Note: This word had a significantly different meaning up to c. 1945.

Westboro Baptist Church Membership List

The hackivist group Anonymous has been so kind as to leak the personal contact information of Westboro Church members.

#OPWestboro Membership List. updated October 22, 2012. Westboro Baptist Church 3701 SW 12th St Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0325 Email: wbclist@speakfree.net Email: info@phelpschartered.com Email: chockenbarger@cox.net http://www.godhatesfags.com/ Phelps Law Firm Phelps Chartered 1414 SW Topeka Boulevard Topeka, KS 66612 PO Box 1886 Topeka, KS 66601 Phone: 785-233-4162 Fax: 785-233-0766 Fax: 785-969-9017 Email: info@phelpschartered.com Email: slpr@cox.net Email: kjhoffice@speakfree.net http://www.phelpschartered.com/

— Abigail Phelps Lawyer Employee at SRS – Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority Born 1968 Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr 3636 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 Email: bgail@speakfree.net Home: 785-273-7262 work: 785-296-7709 — Barak Phelps-Davis Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Rebekah Phelps-Davis — Benaiah Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Benjamin C. Phelps Born 1976 Son of Fred W. Phelps, Jr Wife of Mara Jones-Phelps 3632 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 3636 SW Huntoon St Topeka, KS 66604 Email: idontreadthisemail@godhatesamerica.com Phone: 785-228-9239 Home: 785-233-4162 Phone: 785-228-9239 Phone: 785-273-0277 Phone: 785-273-1080 — Betty Joan Schurle-Phelps Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Born 1952 Wife of Fred W. Phelps, Jr 3600 SW Holly Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0438 Home: 785-272-4135 Work: 785-296-3195 — Brent D. Roper-Phelps Human Resources Lawyer for NAIC Employee at Foot Locker Born 1963 Husband of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper 3640 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 3636 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0277 Phone: 785-273-7262 Phone: 785-273-1080 Phone: 785-273-3726 Home: 785-273-1445 Home: 785-273-0277 Home: 785-272-1619 Home: 785-273-0325 Home: 785-273-0325 Work: 785-233-4162 Work: 785-273-0068 — Carmen A Phelps Relative of Daniel F. Phelps 2621 SE Granger St Topeka, KS 66605 Phone: 785-267-5157 — Caleb Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Charles F. Hockenbarger Born 1974 Son of Karl D. Hockenbarger Husband of Rachel I. Phelps-Hockenbarger 1284 SW Hillsdale Topeka, KS 66604 3220 SW 17th St Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-232-1570 Phone: 785-232-2485 Home: 785-271-1619 Work: 785-273-0325 — Charles William “Bill” Hockenbarger Member of Christian Identity Born 1953 Husband of Mary Hockenbarger 711 NW Page Topeka, KS 66617 3600 SW Holly Ln Topeka, KS 66604 Email: chockenbarger@cox.net Phone: 785-272-8569 Phone: 785-232-2485 Home: 785-246-1567 Work: 785-273-0325 Fax: 785-233-4162 — Chris Davis-Phelps Born 1955 Husband of Rebekah Phelps-Davis 1216 SW Cambridge Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-272-7035 Home: 785-272-7741 — Daniel F. Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps 2621 SE Granger St Topeka, KS 66605 Phone: 785-267-5157 — Danielle Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps 3119 SW Randolph Ave #204 Topeka, KS 66611 Phone: 785-267-3253 — David Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Karl D. Hockenbarger — Davis R. Phelps Relative of Chris Davis-Phelps 1216 SW Cambridge Ave Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-272-7741 Phone: 785-272-7035 — Deborah Kay Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Wife of Karl D. Hockenbarger 1929 SW Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Home: 913-233-1848 Work: 785-296-3959 — Deborah Phelps-Davis Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Rebekah Phelps-Davis — Elisha Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Elizabeth “Libby” Phelps Born ~ 1982-3-4 Daughter of Fred W. Phelps, Jr 2001 SW 2nd Street Topeka, KS 66606 Home: 785-234-9694 Work: 785-233-0822 — Elizabeth Marie Phelps Born 1962 Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Manager at Sheltered Living, Inc Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr 2001 SW 2nd Street Topeka, KS 66606 Home: 785-234-9694 Work: 785-233-0822 — Fred W. Phelps, Jr Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Staff Attorney for Kansas Department of Corrections Born 1953 Son of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Wife of Betty Joan Schurle-Phelps 3600 SW Holly Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Email: fredjr@godhatesfags.com Phone: 785-273-0438 Home: 785-273-0529 Work: 785-296-3195 — Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Founder of Westboro Baptist Church Pastor of Westboro Baptist Church Born 1929 Husband of Margerie “Margie” M. Simms Westboro Baptist Church 3791 SW 12th Street Topeka, KS 66604 Po Box 1886 Topeka, KS 66601 Email: wbclist@speakfree.net Email: info@phelpschartered.com Phone: 785-272-4135 Phone: 785-273-0325 Phone: 785-273-0338 Fax: 785-273-9228 — Gabriel Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — George Stutzman Born ~ 1950′s/1960′s Fiance of Taylor Drain — Gideon Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Charles F. Hockenbarger Son of Rachel I. Phelps Hockenbarger — Grace Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Hezekiah Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Isaiah Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Jack Wu Born ~ 1982-83-84 Westboro Baptist Member 12400 W 161st St Olathe, KS 66062 Home: 913-897-0607 — Jacob M. Phelps Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Jonathan Baxter Phelps — Jacob Z. Phelps Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Fred W. Phelps, Jr — Jael Phelps Nursing Student Born ~ 1984-5-6 Daughter of Jonathan Baxter Phelps — James Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Karl D. Hockenbarger 1929 SW Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Home: 913-233-1848 Work: 785-296-3959 — Jennifer Hockenbarger Born 1977 Daughter of Karl D. Hockenbarger Wife of Samuel Phelps-Roper 1929 SW Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Home: 913-233-1848 Work: 785-296-3959 — Jonah Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Jonathan Baxter Phelps Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Son of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Husband of Paulette Phelps-Ossiander Born 1959 840 SW Watson Topeka, KS 66606 Work: 785-233-4162 — Joseph Phelps Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Jonathan Baxter Phelps — Joshua F. Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Joshua M. Phelps Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Jonathan Baxter Phelps — Josaiah Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Charles F. Hockenbarger Son of Rachel I. Phelps Hockenbarger — Karl D. Hockenbarger Member of Christian Identity Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Charles William “Bill” Hockenbarger Husband of Deborah Kay Hockenbarger 1929 SW Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Home: 913-233-1848 Work: 785-296-3959 — Katherine Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Daughter of Karl D. Hockenbarger 3642 SW Huntoon St Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-783-7217 — Lauren Drain Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Stephen “Steve” Drain — LeAnn Phelps-Brown Lawyer Employee of Shawnee County Sheriff’s Department Born 1966 Wife of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps 3743 SW 12th Street Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0365 Home: 785-273-4780 Work: 785-291-5100 Work: 785-233-4162 — Luci Drain Born ~ 1950′s Daughter of Stephen “Steve” Drain — Luke Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Lydia Phelps-Davis Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Rebekah Phelps-Davis — Malachai Phelps Born 2005 Great-Grandson of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr — Mara Jones-Phelps Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Wife of Fred W. Phelps, Jr 3120 SW Westover Rd Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-235-6999 — Margerie “Margie” Marie Simms-Phelps Born ~ 1930′s Wife of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Westboro Baptist Church 3701 SW 12th Street Topeka, KS 66604 Email: wbclist@speakfree.net Email: info@phelpschartered.com Phone: 785-273-0325 Phone: 785-273-0338 Fax: 785-273-9228 — Margie Jean Phelps Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Employee of Kansas Department of Corrections Born 1956 Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr 3734 SW 12th Topeka, KS 66604 Landon State Office Building 900 Topeka, KS 66612 Email: margiep77@cox.net Phone: 785-273-0365 Home: 785-273-7380 Work: 785-296-3128 Work: 785-296-3317 — Margy “Margie”/”Megan” Phelps-Roper Born ~ 1985-6-7 Daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Mary Hockenbarger Child Care Provider Born ~ 1950′s Wife of Charles William “Bill” Hockenbarger 711 NW Page Topeka, KS 66617 Email: chockenbarger@cox.net Home: 785-246-1567 — Micaiah Phelps-Davis Born ~ 1991-2-3 Son of Rebekah Phelps-Davis — Noah Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Paulette Phelps-Ossiander Office Assistant at Phelps Chartered Born 1960 Wife of Jonathan Baxter Phelps 840 SW Watson Topeka, KS 66606 Work: 785-233-4162 — Rachel Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Charles F. Hockenbarger Daughter of Rachel I. Phelps Hockenbarger 3600 SW Holly Ln Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-272-8569 Phone: 785-272-8559 — Rachel I. Phelps-Hockenbarger Lawyer at Phelps Chartered YMCA Fitness Instructor Born 1965 Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Wife of Charles F. Hockenbarger 1284 SW Hillsdale Topeka, KS 66604 3734 SW 12th St Topeka, KS 66604 1216 SW Cambridge Ave Topeka, KS 66604 3220 SW 17th St Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-232-1570 Phone: 785-273-0365 Phone: 785-272-7035 Home: 785-271-1619 — Rebekah Phelps-Davis Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Born 1961 Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Wife of Chris Davis 1216 SW Cambridge Topeka, KS 66604 Home: 785-272-7741 — Rebekah Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper 1205 SW Polk St #5B Topeka, KS 66612 Phone: 785-783-3722 — Samuel Phelps-Roper Born 1979 Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper Husband of Jennifer Hockenbarger 3640 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 3708 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-228-9287 Phone: 785-273-1080 Home: 785-273-1445 Home: 785-273-0277 Home: 785-272-1619 Home: 785-273-0325 Home: 785-273-0277 Home: 785-273-0325 Work: 785-233-4162 Work: 785-273-0068 — Sara Phelps Born ~ 1980-1-2 Daughter of Fred W. Phelps, Jr 3600 SW Holly Ln Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-0273-0438 — Seth Phelps Born ~ 2003-4-5 Great-Grandson of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr — Sharon M. Phelps Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Grand-Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr 4128 SW 6th Ave #308 Topeka, KS 66606 Phone: 785-228-9323 — Shirley Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Born Oct. 10, 1957 Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Wife of Brent D. Roper 3640 SW Churchilll Topeka, KS 66604 Email: slpr@cox.net Email: kjhoffice@speakfree.net Email: th8asluf@godhatesamerica.com Email: brid1611kjv@bellsouth.net Email: info@phelpschartered.com Phone: 785-273-1080 Phone: 785-272-8559 Home: 785-273-1445 Home: 785-273-0277 Home: 785-272-1619 Home: 785-273-0325 Home: 785-273-0277 Home: 785-273-0325 Work: 785-233-4162 Work: 785-273-0068 — Stephen “Steve” Drain Born ~ 1950′s Husband of Luci Drain 3801 SW 12th St Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-228-1623 — Stephen Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Charles F. Hockenbarger Son of Rachel I. Phelps Hockenbarger — Taylor Drain Born ~ 1991-2-3 Daughter of Stephen “Steve” Drain Fiance of George Stutzman — Theresa Davis Born ~ 1950′s/1960′s Family Member of Chris Davis 3632 SW 12th Street Topeka, KS 66604 Work: 785-291-7000 — Timothy “Tim”/”Timmy” B. Phelps Lawyer Employee of Shawnee County Department of Corrections Born 1963 Son of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Husband of LeAnn Phelps-Brown 3743 SW 12th Street Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0365 Home: 785-273-4780 Work: 785-291-5100 Work: 785-233-4162 — Timothy Phelps Jr Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Victoria Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Zacharias Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper

Domain WhoIs Information: — godhatesfags.com westborobaptistchurch.com beastobama.com godhatestheworld.com godhatesamerica.com priestsrapeboys.com blogs.sparenot.com jewskilledjesus.com signmovies.com godhatesislam.com godhatesthemedia.com Registrant: Westboro Baptist Church PO BOX 1886 Topeka, KS 66601-1886 US 785-233-4162 Domain Name: GODHATESFAGS.COM Administrative Contact: Phelps, Benjamin idontreadthisemail@godhatesamerica.com PO BOX 1886 Topeka, KS 66601-1886 US 785-233-4162 Technical Contact: Phelps, Benjamin idontreadthisemail@godhatesamerica.com PO BOX 1886 Topeka, KS 66601-1886 US 785-233-4162 Record last updated 09-16-2011 08:01:38 AM Record expires on 11-06-2017 Record created on 01-22-1997 Domain servers in listed order: NS1.ENTERPRISE.BLACKLOTUS.NET 204.69.234.1 NS2.ENTERPRISE.BLACKLOTUS.NET 204.74.101.1

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Last Updated on: 16-Jul-11
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Phelps-Chartered
1414 S. Topeka Blvd.
Topeka, Kansas 66612 United States Administrative Contact:
Phelps-Roper, Shirley kjhoffice@speakfree.net
Phelps-Chartered
1414 S. Topeka Blvd.
Topeka, Kansas 66612
United States
7852334162 Technical Contact:
Phelps-Roper, Shirley kjhoffice@speakfree.net
Phelps-Chartered
1414 S. Topeka Blvd.
Topeka, Kansas 66612
United States
7852334162
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.ZONOMI.COM
NS2.ZONOMI.COM
NS1.SPEAKFREE.NET
NS2.SPEAKFREE.NET
Registry Status: clientDeleteProhibited
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Registry Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Port 80/Port 23 vulnerability
@JackHerer20

Thoughts on the Gun Control Debate

In the wake of the school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, the ongoing national debate on gun control has flared up with a vengeance, everywhere from the 24-hour news networks to late night talk shows. Where I have noticed it most poignantly is on the social networking sites I frequent, where the discussion has quickly become vehement and personal. I am not going to come down on one side or the other of the debate here, except to note that I do believe a non-absolute right to own weapons has an important place in a free society. I have, however, been struck by what I consider to be very disturbing behavior from some other people in favor of gun ownership, and do want to share some observations about it.

* People posting in favor of gun ownership tend to be much less articulate than those posting against it. This is somewhat ironic, in that many of them explicitly or implicitly express a fear of minorities as their motivation for owning guns, because based only on their writing most people would assume many of them were members of the most illiterate, uneducated, and despised inner city minority populations. People who can only express themselves in broken pidgin English are products of some sort of cultural or intellectual degeneration and, whatever battle they are trying to win, they have already lost through their inability to clearly and fluently express themselves.

* The vast majority of people posting in favor of gun ownership identify themselves as conservative or Republican, and complain about the "liberals" that want to take their guns away from them. In point of fact, however, some of the most heavily armed people I personally know are liberals, Democrats, or even Greens, and in favor of laws that permit gun ownership -- but, for whatever reasons, they choose not to rant about it publicly.

* People posting in favor of gun ownership are much quicker than others to engage in emotional violence, profanity, incoherent rants, explicit or implicit threats, WRITING IN ALL CAPS TO SIMULATE YELLING, and other forms of intimidation. Plus, they have guns, too, right? Hahaha! What a way to come off as a complete, dangerous nut and end any kind of meaningful discussion.

* Individuals posting in favor of gun ownership seem to have an unhealthy fixation on firearms. Why is it no one posts pictures of their hammer collections, raves about their new socket wrench sets, or viciously attacks others who might dislike a particular brand of pliers? Guns are tools like any other and mentally stable people treat them as such, making sure they know how to use them, pulling them out when required, and not making big play of using them as needed.

* People posting about gun ownership tend to have a very poor sense of what we used to call OPSEC, or "operational security," when I was in the military, and publicly disclose a lot of information about their personal arsenals. In that almost all of them express fear of something as a reason for owning guns -- blacks, liberals, the federal government, the President of the United States, "Mexicans," Russians, U.N. black helicopters, whatever -- this is all the more baffling, because they are giving all those enemy peoples great intelligence that could presumably be used against them. And, in that many have collections that are not altogether legal, they have presumably put themselves on the radar of the governmental agencies they least want to be known to.

Comments are welcome from anyone who is a follower of this site and who posted under a real name! Anonymity and cowardice are not acceptable here, whether you own a gun or not.