Westboro Baptist church is at it again

[Gunny2862]

Apparently the same folks who are protesting at military funerals are choosing to express their free speech rights at the funerals of the Scouts who died at the Little Sioux Scout camp during it's recent storm.

 

http://tinyurl.com/3vhfyh

 

 

[John-in-KC]

I was physically sickened by that

 

"Will no one rid us of those meddlesome Topekans?"

 

That will be great fodder for the local drivetime talkradio.

 

ETA: If Kathleen Sebelius gets the Democratic nod for VP, Republicans should remind folks that she could not keep folks in her own city quiet.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

[Gold Winger]

Hmmmm . . . interesting. Let's look at the logic here.

 

If God indeed hates homosexuals, why would he kill some Boy Scouts? Members of an organization that won't accept homosexuals. Wouldn't he go after GSUSA or the YMCA?

 

Personally, I think that God is too busy keeping the gravity sprites in line to worry about smiting homosexuals.

[Eamonn]

I'm not going to post the words I used when I read this.

I'm not in any way an expert on what should be allowed under the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and religion.

But to me this is just wrong.

In fact I see it as blasphemous.

I am not a violent person, but I do think were I to bump into this group before the funeral my right to freedom of speech might well result in a few blackened eyes.

My big hope is that before the funeral someone rounds this rabble up and places them in safe keeping until they come up with the cash to pay all the court ordered monies they owe.

There are a number of inmates I know that could give them several more reasons to dislike homosexuals.

Stuff like this makes me very upset, talk about taking the word of the Lord in vain.

Of course where this lot are going they will never get to see the Lord.

Eamonn.

 

[John-in-KC]

GW,

 

I work on Forth Leavenworth. Melissa Etheridge is a graduate of Leavenworth High School. In fact, one of my co-workers is her parents across the street neighbor.

 

She gave a freebie for friends a few years back. Westboro picketed that.

 

Patriot Riders was formed because Westboro pickets our fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines funerals.

 

If you're thinking Westboro Baptist operates on logic, sorry. They operate on vitriol and invective.

[CalicoPenn]

I find it interesting that people get riled up about this group depending on whose ox is getting gored.

 

The WBC has been picketing at funerals of gay men who have died of AIDS since the 90's. It wasn't until the Matthew Shephard funeral that the media actually started to take notice - mainly because the Matthew Shepard murder was a big national news story.

 

Once the hoopla over the Matthew Shepard story died down, no one seemed to care when the WBC started picketing funerals of gay men again.

 

When they started protesting the funerals of our soldiers killed in Iraq, it started getting notice again when the Patriot Guard "rode in to the rescue". People started praising the Patriot Guard for their solution to the problem - apparently having forgotten the Angel Action put together by college students who created large angel wing costumes, marched together and stood silently in front of the WBC while they were protesting the Matthew Shepard funeral, and raised their wings, blocking the view of the protestors from the mourners.

 

Now, the WBC decides to boycott the BSA Tornado Victims funerals and we get outrage again - up to the point of blaming the Governor of Kansas for not trampling on WBC's first amendment rights.

 

As despicable as WBC's actions are, and as much as I deplore their picketing, they have the first amendment right to do so - and I will defend that right.

 

BUT - there is a very simple way to stop this madness, that doesn't require violence, and the solution comes right from Chicago.

 

The modus operandi of the WBC is to let the local authorities know they are going to be picketing a funeral in their town - they do this because they know they are a lightning rod for counter demonstrators - and possibly people who will do them physical harm. In typical fashion, the police usually respond by beefing up security at these events - this gives WBC a safe space in which to do their picketing.

 

If WBC doesn't get that beefed up security response, they don't show up. A few years back, when a Methodist Church in the Boystown area of Chicago was caught up in a flap over their openly gay pastor presiding over same sex committment ceremonies in defiance of the denomination governing board, WBC informed the City of Chicago that it was going to protest at the church on a busy Saturday morning and that they would need beefed up protection. The City's response was simple: Feel free to protest, but we are under no constitutional obligation to provide security for any expression of free speech and will not provide security for you. If you want security, you can hire a private security firm on your own dime to provide it, and we will be glad to give you a list of firms that work in the city. If there is an incident that happens on that street corner while you're protesting - we will respond in the same manner we respond to any 911 call.

 

Westboro's response? They left town without protesting.

 

The small towns in Iowa, facing these threats of protest, can - and should - respond in the same way. Feel free to protest, don't hesitate to contact 911 if there is an incident, but we are way to busy to provide you with any beefed up presence just because you want to protest.

 

Let's be rational about how to deal with this group, and stop blaming the current governor of Kansas who was not in office when the WBC started this type of nonsense in the first place.

 

Calico

[John-in-KC]

Oh, I also blame Governor Graves, and Governor Finney, and Governor Hayden, and...

 

I remember the first time I saw them picketing a Walgreens drugstore in Topeka. That was the 80s. They were sick then, they were sick now.

[frank10]

Gunny,

I wish you would have let us know where that link lead. I'd rather not have visited their site, I assumed it was a link to a news site.

 

 

[Gunny2862]

Sorry.

I found it here, http://tinyurl.com/6mea9n and just posted their link to the press release link rather than sending you to the third party site, after hearing it on the local shock jock radio station on the way to work.

[Scouting Mom]

I saw that press release yesterday, but it wasn't from a reliable source. I checked into it and found it is, in fact, true and the stuff they posted on their website is worse. However it occurred to me that are probably counting hits on their site and salivating over the attention they are getting.

 

There is no other reason for them to protest these Scout funerals. A high profile death (they are protesting Tim Russert's funeral too) draws them out of the woodwork so that everyone knows who they are. Those of you who say they were protesting back in the 80's just prove that...who cares if they protest the death of some unknown AIDS victim, but when they got sued for protesting a soldier's funeral and that lawsuit got national attention, suddenly they are a household name and the only way to keep in the spotlight is to continue to protest anywhere they will get on camera.

 

It draws attention to them and in a sense, legitimizes them. Ignore them and they'll go away.

[SR540Beaver]

As a life long Baptist, I just want to set the record straight......there is absolutely nothing whatsoever that is Baptist about WBC other than the name.

[John-in-KC]

SR540Beaver is right; I just went to Westboro's FAQ section. They call themselves an "Old School" or "Primitive" Baptist church...

[Rooster7]

No matter where you come down on the "issue" of homosexuality, I think most would agree that this group is very deluded. So much so, their faith appears to be motivated solely by hate.

 

 

[Trevorum]

To me, it seems to be merely a matter of degree. These people are more obnoxious in getting their beliefs publicized, but those beliefs are essentially the same as those held by many others in this country: homosexuality is a sin and should be punished/eliminated.

[GernBlansten]

Yeah, Trev,

Seems most of the outrage is over the venues and tactics, but not the message.