Aside from all the religious / spiritual / ethical debate, I just want to say that I’m really impressed with you for interviewing her the way you did, and for interviewing her AT ALL. Had I been in your shoes (i.e. prolific LGBT activists) I would have been fearful that she would have just constantly attacked me. As it was, that wasn’t the case and she even spoke to you decently MOST of the time. Which shows that perhaps it is not her who is hateful, but the God she thinks exists. If anything, she is loving in her efforts to save us from the fate she thinks exists for us. It’s bizarre to me that her God has so much less love in his heart for us than she does. If humans are made in God’s image, then God would be a loving and forgiving being, as the vast majority of humans are.

Anyway, so I think you are brave for interviewing her. And also, the way you interviewed her was really intelligent and effective. I watched a YouTube video someone posted in the thread, where she was interviewed on FOX news and the whole thing just disintegrated into a slanging match where you didn’t hear what either person had to say! What’s the point of that? You let her speak, which made for an entertaining and interesting show. It would have been so easy to get riled up.

I definitely learned alot about how to interview someone with whom you are at odds with from this show, which may come in handy in my own life, so thank you guys.

Shirley Phelps is a good guest because she defies the idea of what a religious fundamentalist is. Her church seems bizarrely against the entire world and yet in some odd way, like Josh Kilmer Purcell says, she becomes an accidental champion of gay rights.

I loved this show and i think you guys should interview more conservative right wingers.

I agree with all the other listeners in that it is good to put this woman on your show and let her speak her views, rather than attacking her and disrespecting her. She did come across as someone that truly wants to save people but the fact that she is so grossly misinterpreting the Bible, and using her religion to spread a message of hate just fills me with such deep fury, I hardly have the words. This show is a little personal for me because my entire family is Jehovah’s Witnesses and although they definitely don’t picket people and they generally don’t harrass me about being different, a lot of their messages are the same.

I will never forget after my cousin died of AIDS, all my mom said was, “Well you know he was a sinner and did bad things.” It’s just this ignorance and willingness to interpret God in whatever hateful way you want that has caused great tragedies in the world. And it pisses me off that they use this idea of hell to scare everyone into living a “pure” lifestyle and Fausto, come on, you know one of them kids is going to turn out gay or be into drugs or be a whore or something.

No one is perfect and didn’t God create us as imperfect creatures? And FYI to you Ms Phelps, the word “hell” that you keep using is FIGURATIVE!!!! In the Old Testament, they refer to “gehena” as the place were wicked souls go.

The literal translation of “gehena” is Valley of Himnon which was where trash and dead animals were burned. It’s a metaphor!!!! Ugh well leave to the kick-ass hosts of FOF to bring us such a challenging, thought-provoking interview. The only thing I wished was that Fausto yelled “JESUS WAS FUCKING GAY!”. That would’ve made my day.

I love you guys and please keep up the great work.

In the UK we know of the Phelps. Louis Theroux did a show on them about a year or so ago. Interestingly, your show did a better job of putting them across than that show ever did.

I can understand where she is coming from in some areas, notably the sitting on the fence, it should be all or nothing thing.

Before I came out, I wrestled with the whole “gay Christian” thing, and came to the conclusion it was impossible. The logic side of my brain kicked in, Richard Dawkins prevailed, and I decided it was impossible to ‘pick and choose’ which parts of Christianity won, and choose a branch of christianity that twisted the bible to fit in with my lifestyle. Logically that made no sense at all. Once logic kicks in…

Yes, I’d much rather laws be totally gay friendly rather than Gay Rights Light, but given a choice of that or no rights at all, I have to choose the compromise.

You guys did a great job of keeping everything on the up and up and not giving in to their need for silly dispute. She did a great job of preaching about not preaching all on her own. Cheers to you and the best podcast out there!

Love
Paul (in Ireland)

i myself am also in shock at how much i agree with her on so many things (except of course the burning in hell & the imprisonment and then being put to death parts). i know that there are some out there who didn’t like this interview but i really enjoyed it. it was interesting that i found her to be so NON hypocritical as i find most of these so call fanatical “Christians” who are actually so un-Christian like. usually my response to these people is that while they are damning me for my sin they are also sinning by judging me/us. funny, i don’t believe she ever said SHE hated gays or that she really put her opinion in other than her interpretation of the bible. in fact, she seemed very nice and that almost disturbs me. just the fact that Josh Kilmer-Purcell and she write back and forth and share these stories with one another (i loved that part about BOTH your husbands have the same first name) and have developed a friendship shows such a bizarre twist. that is the part that I found so surreal.

keep this kind of work up gentlemen and you will really make names for yourself. your podcast is already great but you just took a leap forward with that interview. i’m hoping this interview will get you a bunch of sponsors; it was truly a work of art.

Just goes to show if you the old adage. Don’t focus on our differences, focus on our similarities since there are so many more of those.

It has been so easy for me to dismiss this family as mentally-ill or perhaps a more educated version of the Klan. Allowing this woman to share the back story of how they transitioned from a zealously conservative congregation to a group that felt that extremism was their only hope, reminds us that nothing is as simple as we think it is. (Alas for Shirley, it is quite a simple issue.)

Years ago I remember seeing Michelangelo Signorile on The Ricky Lake show… he was “our” representative against a conservative Christian woman who looked and carried herself like she lived in Mayberry. Mr. Signorile on the other hand was angry, venomous, and spoke so rabidly that spittle hit the woman’s face.

Here in DC there’s a park by the Pentagon where the police have caught people of all persuasions getting their freak on. Yes, a big chunk of em are the gays. However, even though George Michael says “this is my culture,” I just don’t see a Constitutional right for American’s to fuck in public spaces. Yes it can be sexy and hot and furtive. But civic spaces designed for everyone, should not be the number one place you go to every time you need to pop a load. (BTW – I just met a guy at a party who said to me, “Larry Craig gave me the best blow jobs I have ever had.”

Anyhow, so… I can only imagine the shock felt by a gaggle of ineloquent Baptists when their attempt at blunt civic-mindedness was countered with Act Up’s version of “blunt.” Gay men were dying, and Gay men were angry. So while the gay movement has since tempered, I think its too late for this family. And that’s the key stone of true conviction and faith; you can’t reason someone away from it.

I would recommend Josh (and anyone else who is interested) read “What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality” by Daniel Helminiak (relax, it’s pretty short). As someone who was raised as a good Methodist boy, I had a hard time reconciling ME with what I’d heard in church. I’ve learned it’s okay to take the Bible literally. So I vow never to work in the Temple as a male prostitute, and if Angels ever come to my city (even if they look like mortal men), I vow never to attempt to gang rape them.

A Letter to Dr. Laura: Why Can’t I Own a Canadian?

The point being made here is that God says a lot of things… but unless you’re going to follow them all, you have no right to cast judgement upon others.

While I don’t think that either side is going to sway the other, it is great to see an open and civil conversation. They demonize us, say we have a disease, etc, but before this, how many of us in the gay community hold the same feelings for them? I think once people can see that the ones they hate are also people, the hatred will subside.

One thing I noticed about this, though, is that compared with other interviews I’ve seen of her, she seemed to have toned down the rhetoric… I was expecting a very hostile interview with the only thing out of her is that we’re going to hell and we need to repent and that God hates us. I was very pleasantly surprised with the interview, but have a nagging suspicion that she played to the audience. Of course, again, this might be because I have the mindset that they’re hateful…

Anyway, thanks again for the great show guys. I think you guys (including Josh) should be nominated for a Nobel peace prize for bringing the Phelps’ and the gays together (:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=G6n5Oi4714o

Additionally, as I said before, the issue isn’t black and white. Some people just haven’t formed a view about homosexuality nor do they really care or have any reason to. If people aren’t experiencing homosexuals first hand then they won’t have a frame of reference to form any sort of opinion. It’s people like this that are most susceptible to the nonsense preached by the religious right or any other bigoted organization. That’s why exposing the Phelps’ to the spotlight and (apparently) supporting her would be more detrimental than good considering the vast majority of people don’t experience homosexuals first hand.

Again, great job guys!

A lot of the things she said were agreeable, and she was amazingly well spoken and intelligent. It was also nice to see the human side of her when you could hear her talking to the kids that were near her.

However, it was truly disturbing and frightening that she said she would want us all dead for being who we are. I could not have been any more terrified or scared by anything else than that. I would, though, much rather find someone like her who was honest about her stance on the issue, instead of pussyfooting around the subject like most “hypocritical” neo-fundamentalists do. She sticks with her beliefs no matter what the consequence, which although I disagree with it, it commendable.

My boyfriend is currently in a little bit of shock, and in the “I have a few questions for her” phase… but who wasn’t, really?

I’m probably never going to forget this interview. Much like the Bill O’reilly interview of Marylin Manson, this is an interview for the ages.

I have pretty much always thought the same way as Josh, that the group actually does more harm then good. However, nothing makes me more sick to my stomach then seeing their children amongst the protesters holding up signs of hate.

I enjoyed how the interview did showcase Shirley’s humanity, and I do have to give her props for sticking to her beliefs regardless of how popular they might be perceived.

As for Shirley – she may be educated, but she’s still ignorant as all get-out. She’s just another one of those whackos who thinks that their God is our God – and we should follow their God’s rules. Please – can’t the hard core Baptists just hunker down on a commune somewhere and leave the rest of us alone? Maybe we could annex Texas to them. Who’d miss it?

She’s funny and a little charming, and might make a nice lunch date, but at the end of the day she’s our enemy. Hitler had friends who loved eating lunch with him too. I do tend to agree that her bat shit weirdness and the immensely inappropriate funeral picketing helps us at the end of the day, especially since they haven’t used it as a fund raising platform. I do have to wonder though – if they did do fund raising and recruiting how much more seriously dangerous they would be to us? I guess we’re lucky they have such limited aspirations.

Bravo!

I’d never thought I’d say this. We have a lot to learn from Shirley. She has integrity. She truly lives what she believes. DC gay man says it best…she advocates against hypocrisy…

Now for the rest of her message. I guess it doesn’t bother me. You have to fundamentally believe in hell to be bothered by being told you are going to be burning in hell. As Fausto said, it beats watching American Idol reruns. (Plus, for people who get buried instead of cremated, your bodies will be eaten by worms. Unlike Shirley, I don’t believe we’ll be concious of it).

Hats off to you three! You treated her with the respect we all deserve, even though she didn’t always do the same for you (insulting faustos’s parents to me was the only thing that was way out of line).