Source: (consider it)
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Thread: The Phelps sisters.
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
I guess this counts as official business...
We have been spending years-- literally--- discussing the Phelps clan, in a dedicated Hell thread, and for some reason this latest news about two Phelps sisters bravely and publicly divorcing the church really moves me. Enough to want to make a gesture. And given the communal nature of our interest in them, I further thought that the gesture would extra cool if it were corporate.
I think it would be great to sent them a couple mugs. No kidding, I mean it. Think we can make it happen?
(My choice would be the Heaven mugs, as their family keeps sneering that they are going to Hell.)
-------------------- I cannot expect people to believe “ Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.” Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
Good idea! I think this news is extraordinary, and they are incredibly brave for making this move. I hope they can find a new life.
-------------------- Blog Music for your enjoyment Lord may all my hard times be healing times take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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Horatio Harumph
Shipmate
# 10855
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Posted
That'd be awesome! Great idea.
Any ideas on how we make it happen? Not sure finding them will be overly easy, will it, although they are obviously communicating etc.
-------------------- www.helenblogs.com @helen_a13
Chocolate is proof that God wants us to be happy.
Posts: 2857 | Registered: Jan 2006
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
I had one idea, but would rather not share it here, as I want to head off the possibility of overenthusiastic expression of encouragement.
I guess all I really wanted to know was if it would be OK with everyone. If so, I of course would not do a thing without Simon's OK.
-------------------- I cannot expect people to believe “ Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.” Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Nicolemr
Shipmate
# 28
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Posted
I think it's a cool idea!
-------------------- On pilgrimage in the endless realms of Cyberia, currently traveling by ship. Now with live journal!
Posts: 11803 | From: New York City "The City Carries On" | Registered: May 2001
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Siegfried
Ship's ferret
# 29
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Posted
Absolutely!
-------------------- Siegfried Life is just a bowl of cherries!
Posts: 5592 | From: Tallahassee, FL USA | Registered: May 2001
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Great idea!
One caveat, though:
Don't make a fuss about it beyond this one Styx thread. No publicity. No putting it on the article page. The girls have gone through enough.
Not that I *expect* that we'd do those things...but, sometimes, people-in-general get enthusiastic, and don't think about fallout.
-------------------- Blessed Gator, pray for us! --"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon") --"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
Oh, God, of course not!
-------------------- I cannot expect people to believe “ Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.” Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
Have you considered that the sisters might just go "Eh?" and dump them in the unwanted mail bin?
I know that most people blink hard when they see my collection. Although my housekeeper snags the Hell mug for herself when she is working...
-------------------- Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Quite true, Pete.
Also, are we expecting them to join the Ship? And would having the mugs out them, if a Ship visitor happens to know a couple of mysterious sisters who suddenly have Ship mugs???
That may be way overblown. But I'm a "think first" person. IME, saves a lot of trouble.
YMMV.
-------------------- Blessed Gator, pray for us! --"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon") --"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
Which was why I started the thread first.
-------------------- I cannot expect people to believe “ Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.” Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Kelly--
And yes, it was great for you to start it.
I'm just putting my two cents in, 'cause I've seen many well-meant ideas go very, very wrong, both in real life and online.
FWIW.
-------------------- Blessed Gator, pray for us! --"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon") --"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Golden Key:
I'm just putting my two cents in,
Again, purpose of the thread.
I dunno, I see you're point. I was just overcome with the moment, and-- well, we have been "covering" this family for a while, if you read me-- and not just to gripe about the, there has been much concern for and prayer expressed for the family on that angry little thread and its predecessors. I was just grasping for a way to synthesize that.
Perhaps a SOF front page article about our Phelps watch threads would be more appropriate, if anything at all.
[ETA: I do appreciate the phrase "well-meant", though. ) [ 08. February 2013, 04:41: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
-------------------- I cannot expect people to believe “ Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.” Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Gill H
Shipmate
# 68
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Posted
I love the idea of an article, perhaps with a photo of some hands raising 'Heaven' mugs to them?
-------------------- *sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.
- Lyda Rose
Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
From what I've read (mainly from 'Twitter' links) they've chosen the quiet route, at least at first, while they acclimatise. If the Ship does anything - and it's a lovely sentiment - it must be done with their consent and in a way which will not cause them any problems.
If sending, eg. mugs, an enclosed letter to explain that they are much admired for their actions, and wished well for the future, would help avoid misunderstandings.
However, if I'd left an extreme organisation, I'd probably feel rather nervous if a large, bulky, unexpected parcel suddenly arrived in the post....
-------------------- Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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passer
Indigo
# 13329
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Gill H: I love the idea of an article, perhaps with a photo of some hands raising 'Heaven' mugs to them?
Something of that ilk is an idea. Something supportive and positive but not intrusive. They're articulate and media-canny in the extreme, and will undoubtedly be following their own news on the internet, so something that attracts search-engine attention.
Posts: 1289 | From: Sheffield | Registered: Jan 2008
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Robert Armin
All licens'd fool
# 182
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Posted
I'm all in favour of doing something to encourage them. What exactly we do, I'm happy to leave to those with functioning brains.
-------------------- Keeping fit was an obsession with Fr Moity .... He did chin ups in the vestry, calisthenics in the pulpit, and had developed a series of Tai-Chi exercises to correspond with ritual movements of the Mass. The Antipope Robert Rankin
Posts: 8927 | From: In the pack | Registered: May 2001
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Hawk
Semi-social raptor
# 14289
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Chorister: From what I've read (mainly from 'Twitter' links) they've chosen the quiet route, at least at first, while they acclimatise. If the Ship does anything - and it's a lovely sentiment - it must be done with their consent and in a way which will not cause them any problems.
If sending, eg. mugs, an enclosed letter to explain that they are much admired for their actions, and wished well for the future, would help avoid misunderstandings.
However, if I'd left an extreme organisation, I'd probably feel rather nervous if a large, bulky, unexpected parcel suddenly arrived in the post....
My two penn'orth would be a suggestion that the parcel is sent care of Rev. Dr. Daniel Meeter, at the Old Reformed Church in Brooklyn, where they are apparently in attendance at the moment. I am sure he would be happy to pass them on quietly and responsibly.
-------------------- “We are to find God in what we know, not in what we don't know." Dietrich Bonhoeffer
See my blog for 'interesting' thoughts
Posts: 1739 | From: Oxford, UK | Registered: Nov 2008
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Chorister: From what I've read (mainly from 'Twitter' links) they've chosen the quiet route, at least at first, while they acclimatise. If the Ship does anything - and it's a lovely sentiment - it must be done with their consent and in a way which will not cause them any problems.
If sending, eg. mugs, an enclosed letter to explain that they are much admired for their actions, and wished well for the future, would help avoid misunderstandings.
Completely agree. Keep it discreet and private - to be honest, I wouldn't send mugs, I'd just send a letter and not an official one. Sending branded merchandise could look like a promotional gimmick if not carefully handled.
I also wouldn't flag up the Phelps's threads. Whatever we may think, these people are the girls' family, and although the girls do know what the world thinks, they don't need to have their attention drawn to the Ship's excoriation of their relatives. They need time to adjust and settle into what must be a bewildering new world.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
I'm with Ariel there.
-------------------- I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. Fancy a break in South India? Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
With Ariel - no plugging or pushing. This is not about us, it is about a little gift to them to say "well done - you have supporters here". It is for them, to offer them a message of support, at a very difficult time for them.
Chocolate might be a better idea. But contacting the church they are at (as someone suggested) to see what they would most appreciate might be a good idea.
We must remember it is not "Aren't we wonderful, doing something for these people". It is "These people have made a brave decision, and we support them for it".
-------------------- Blog Music for your enjoyment Lord may all my hard times be healing times take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Chorister: From what I've read (mainly from 'Twitter' links) they've chosen the quiet route, at least at first, while they acclimatize. If the Ship does anything - and it's a lovely sentiment - it must be done with their consent and in a way which will not cause them any problems.
Good to know, and absolutely agreed.
I dunno, I am feeling kinda sheepish about my gooshiness at the moment, but maybe once I get a couple pressing school essays out of the way, I can bestir my self to write something (y'all keep talking about the front page, anyway. )
Like I said, the provocative thing for me was the fact that we have been so deeply involved in discussing the issue,and that prayers for the family seems to have always figured into it along the line. I like the hands raising image, and perhaps if I do manage to find the words simply printing it out and sending a note would be best.
-------------------- I cannot expect people to believe “ Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.” Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
CHOCOLATE! Untraceable and it is the ultimate gift. Seriously cool of you to think of offering support, KA.
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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St. Gwladys
Shipmate
# 14504
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Posted
It's a lovely idea to send a gift, but I think I agree that sending a letter would be better - admiring their courage and offering our prayers as a praying community.
-------------------- "I say - are you a matelot?" "Careful what you say sir, we're on board ship here" From "New York Girls", Steeleye Span, Commoners Crown (Voiced by Peter Sellers)
Posts: 3333 | From: Rhymney Valley, South Wales | Registered: Jan 2009
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QLib
Bad Example
# 43
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Posted
My vote (if this were a democracy) would be a letter and a gift, but happy either way. Good job, KellyA.
Posts: 8913 | From: Page 28 | Registered: May 2001
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Welease Woderwick: I'm with Ariel there.
Me three. This is probably a fairly devastating time for them - more a time of grief than celebration perhaps, or a grim triumph of determination at any rate. I'd go with a supportive letter with the assurance of upholding in prayer.
-------------------- All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
I think even chocolate can be messed with by fundies who object to their change of opinion. I vote no gifts, but a quiet supportive letter.
Or a thread in AS with a good supportive OP to which all who feel inclined could add a prayer or a votive. This would be printed out (printer friendly version) and mailed to them a/s the church. The AS thread should have a 72 hour life.
-------------------- Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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Porridge
Shipmate
# 15405
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by Doublethink: quote: Originally posted by Welease Woderwick: I'm with Ariel there.
Me three. This is probably a fairly devastating time for them - more a time of grief than celebration perhaps, or a grim triumph of determination at any rate. I'd go with a supportive letter with the assurance of upholding in prayer.
Not a pray-er myself, I certainly could go along with a supportive letter.
-------------------- Spiggott: Everything I've ever told you is a lie, including that. Moon: Including what? Spiggott: That everything I've ever told you is a lie. Moon: That's not true!
Posts: 3925 | From: Upper right corner | Registered: Jan 2010
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Starbug
Shipmate
# 15917
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Posted
quote: Originally posted by PeteC: Or a thread in AS with a good supportive OP to which all who feel inclined could add a prayer or a votive. This would be printed out (printer friendly version) and mailed to them a/s the church. The AS thread should have a 72 hour life.
I like this idea. We could all add our messages of support.
-------------------- “Oh the pointing again. They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them?” ― The Day of the Doctor
Posts: 1189 | From: West of the New Forest | Registered: Sep 2010
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
Sounds like a good idea. It's past my bedtime right now, but I can put together an OP in the morning...
-------------------- I cannot expect people to believe “ Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.” Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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marzipan
Shipmate
# 9442
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Posted
any more movement on this? or did it get lost amid H&A madness?
-------------------- formerly cheesymarzipan. Now containing 50% less cheese
Posts: 917 | From: nowhere in particular | Registered: May 2005
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fletcher christian
Mutinous Seadog
# 13919
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Posted
I'd add my tuppenceworth; even if it's unwelcome - I think it's a really bad idea. The Phelps thread has some pretty vicious comments on it (not that I am in any way defending them) and the two girls have just left their family behind and are likely a little raw. Think for a moment about how you might feel, or how it might effect you to receive a letter and/or gift from a site that has mocked you and your family for years, and will in all likelihood continue to mock and ridicule your family members for a good few years to come. I might be very wrong, but it doesn't feel like the right thing to do, or a good thing to do.
-------------------- 'God is love insaturable, love impossible to describe' Staretz Silouan
Posts: 5235 | From: a prefecture | Registered: Jul 2008
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
H&A day intervened enough for me to think it over, and I am going to agree. Mostly because any thing we would do would only direct the women to our Phelps threads--- which is a bad idea.
So, yeah, you are right, fletcher. I'm over it. We can rejoice and pray without fussing over them.
And I will seal the deal by closing this thread. [ 19. February 2013, 04:11: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
-------------------- I cannot expect people to believe “ Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.” Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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