Charity stall at Mauer Park flea market

Nah, he prefers cigars mate.

Cuban of course.

Well, considering the 11 million dollar lawsuit against the Westboro baptist church (for protesting at military funerals and harassing the families of fallen soldiers...which the church lost and the family suing won)

I'd say they need some charity. Charity of my love for them, and my hope that one day their kids will grow up in the real world of non-religious zealots... Oh, and that maybe the department of family and children services in the US will do them a huge favor - taking them out of the home that - being they owe some 11 million dollars - surely can't support them anymore?

Oh - and for the record, I'm done feeding the Troll. I really hate big feet and toe jam.

Exactly what I was talking about...

Being that they now owe 11 million dollars, surely they can no longer support all their kids?

seems like all they do support radical groups last time it was against stem cell research now this whats going on? isnt there a more socialy acceptable needy cause that needs help?

Not when you're a troll.

The Westboro Baptist Church picket the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and applaud the September 11, 2001 attacks in America and the July 2005 bombings in London.

MargaretYates, you are entitled to your own religious views, but you have a responsibility to distribute the proceeds of your sales in a reasonable manner. If people knew where their money was going, you wouldn't sell a single coaster. To donate other people's money to these hatemongers is completely outrageous.

Surely this is a joke: there is no other reasonable explanation.

To collect money for a highly unpopular, nay, ludicrous cause would be one thing; to openly declare oneself to be doing so seems to me quite another. In the latter case, one effectively shoot oneself in the foot. In a city like this one, simple logic dictates that many more people will be repelled then attracted, and as a consequence takings will fall. Surely, nobody is so deluded as not to realize this.

Furthermore, Frau Yates says that she has a stall in Mauer park selling DDR tat. But there are surely a hundred such stalls, and she provides no real way of locating hers amongst them. I wonder if anybody can confirm that it even exists? Or indeed, that the group she claims to represent exists?

Ultimately, this post is an anti-advertisement for a product that cannot be identified. It is beyond simple objectionability: it is mad in the extreme.

All in all, I strongly suspect that Frau Yates is not the Christian fanatic she claims to be, but rather some kind of performance artist. Either this, or else (the hardcore paranoia take) I am actually Frau Yates and this is simply the next stage in the plan.

The problem is that a lot of people won't realise where their money is going. They see the name "Westboro Baptist Church" next to the home-baked muffins and think "ah, a Christian church, they probably help poor children or flood victims" – as one would expect a Christian church to do. It wouldn't occur to them that the "Church" is in fact a cult and that the only people its members are helping are themselves.

I think that's the case. In fact I can find no mention on the web of the "Nikolai Kirchgruppe" existing, outside of this board.

I wonder if this is ECB reincarnate...

The church itself certainly exists; it even gets its own Wikipedia article.

I'm convinced that this is a joke. Just look at her other posts under "Pet Hates" of Berlin. http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t81189.html

I'm going to go check it out to see if there is a real Margaret Yates, and if she is indeed, a 50 something year old woman and not a Chinese transsexual.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. People forget that when they shout "troll".

Oh, I know that there's a Nikolaikirche; I can see it from my balcony.

Ah, well then go and have a look at their noticeboard!

Yeah but that Nikolaikirche would be in Mitte - why have a stall in P-berg when you can have one down by where all the tourists are. Surely, if you have enough "kitchy" and "touristy" items you could make more money there than in Mauer park.

Well the stall is part of a flea market and the flea market happens to be in Mauer Park. Setting up a stall in the street is a whole different ball game in terms of permits, cost etc.

Flohmarkt am Mauerpark

It's official. After walking through Mauer Park today with a friend, we have scientifically proven that there is no charity stall and this is indeed a joke.

good detective work monchick!

There is indeed a Nikolaikirche, but - get this - it's not a church per se any more. It belongs to the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin and is used for exhibitions. Highly unlikely that any community activity will be emanating from its gothic brick walls.

God Hates the World new Christmas single from the God Hates Fags crew.