I've been warned over starting this thread -- that it was one about the prohibited topic of religion. Please DO NOT GO THERE! I wrote back a long response that this is not about religion to me.
It was intended to be about irony, dark humor even, and my belief that the Phelpses' significance was most about the First Amendment's limitations when it comes to precluding offensive content of speech in public places. And it's all very much about the way some people treat others. There are a number of Patriot Guard Riders here, and I suspect they're grinning just a bit at the irony of Phelps being the corpse subject to such mourning as he once rode roughshod over.
Seemed like the place for a conversation and a little ironic laughter to me. I've been away from this site for several months now, and I apologize for my slacking in reverence for the rules.