Badge of honor

Kristen Hotham Carroll wrote an essay just before Fred Phelps died for Huffington Post Gay Voices. She is lesbian and was just beginning to heal from a Fundie upbringing when she joined Soulforce. Her first protest with them was of Jerry Falwell. And Westboro Baptist Church showed up to protest Soulforce. That was painful.

But as Phelps began to broaden his protests to include soldiers and, well, everybody, Carroll began to see his uses. The WBC protests were backfiring and acceptance was turning in our direction. And now…

Not too long ago, I had the thought that I could only hope I lived a life that would warrant a funeral picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church. I posted a Facebook status to that effect, and not long after, I noticed several others shared that sentiment, independent of my post. For quite some time, it became a pretty widespread sentiment that I saw throughout many different unique corners within social media. What a shift from the horror and hurt they caused not so many years before! A WBC picket had evolved into the badge of honor for a life well lived.