Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church

There seems to be an attempt on YKTTW to put up some form of page about Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church. As the previously existing page was, I believe, cut twice, this seems to be an action which implies some controversy. Is there any consensus among the moderators as to whether such a page is, or is not, to be allowed, and if so, in what form? Thank you.

Why should this page even exist? Is Phelps a creator of fiction? Is the Westboro Baptist Church a work? So why do we need a page on them?

At best, it would be a Useful Notes page. However, I don't see any good coming of putting it up, especially since it's been nuked before.

Without checking history, I'm pretty sure it was cut because it became an excuse for Complaining About Religions You Don't Like, like the Useful Notes page on Scientology  ^*

Yeah, there is a trope — activist fundamentalist antics — in there, but all the real world stuff is just bitching.

And the stuff that isn't real-life complaining would be ... what, Author Filibuster?

^^In other words, Windmill Political.

Until Mr Phelps becomes a work or a public domain character, I think having a page on him is more trouble than it's worth. All the bile will make the old Sonichu page look tame by comparison.

edited 26th Nov '10 9:56:47 AM by MetaFour

That's the history.

I'm sure whoever made that YKTTW likes, say, ice cream and doesn't like driving around road work.

We don't have pages on ice cream or road work because they in themselves aren't tropes and we're not here to ascribe to everyone's likes and dislikes.

I think the YKTTW should be moved to and / or brought up in On Topic. I'll do the latter.

Not a work or creator, not notable enough for a Useful Notes page.

^To be fair, There Is No Such Thing As Notability.

However, I'm firmly against having a page for Phelps or Westboro on This Wiki. He/They has/have contributed nothing to media or fiction that is of any value for us to discuss, and creating a page for him/them would not show any purpose here other than Creator Bashing if Phelps actually did have an influence on fiction.

edited 26th Nov '10 9:10:30 PM by SeanMurrayI

There are Fred Phelps stand-ins and Westboro-like organizations in fiction, but those are best covered by Take That!.

We don't need it, as much as I hate Phelps and friends.

Neither the church or it's pastor is common enough in fiction ot deserve any pages here.

Their websites (Godhatessweden.com and others) could get their own works pages as Web Original, and I considered starting such a page. However, almost all the arguments made here against trope pages works against a works page as well, so I dropped. Glad I started it, however: The discussion got creative and made me start three new trope drafts. One of them was originally called "Your Life Offends My Religion". However...

>>"Yeah, there is a trope — activist fundamentalist antics — in there, but all the real world stuff is just bitching."

That's a much better title for the trope. And thus, I just changed Your Life Offends My Religion to Activist Fundamentalist Antics, keeping the old title as a redirect.

I have a definite recollection of cutlisting Fred Phelps or something similar as a subpage of The Fundamentalist on the grounds of cautious editing judgment. I haven't changed my opinion about that.

Didn't we put this one in the Permanent Red Link Club. Why do people keep trying?

Because having something to pothole to with a list of tropes applying to Fred Phelps and/or the WBC would be convenient?

That said, I'd suggest just linking to the On-Topic board thread myself. o.o

edited 30th Nov '10 7:57:17 AM by neoYTPism

Considering the dearth of fans of the WBC both in the world and on the wiki, it would almost instantaneously become Complaining About People And Churches We Don't Like.

^^Convenient for what, exactly?