The anti-gay hate group known as the Westboro Baptist Church plans to protest at East Lansing High School this Thursday for some unknown reason, but at lest one real church is working to deny the hatemongers the attention and publicity they crave.
All Saints Episcopal Church in East Lansing is sponsoring a counter protest from 2-4 p.m. Thursday at the church parking lot at 800 Abbot Rd. in East Lansing. These counter protests for other publicity seeking hate groups, like the Klan and Nazis, have been very successful because the groups thrive on the free publicity and the confrontation.
As you know, the Westboro Baptist Church is headed by Fred Phelps of Topeka, Kan., and they are notorious for their "God Hates Fags" website and protests. They gained infamy with vulgar and disgusting protests at the funerals of AIDS victims, but they really entered the mainstream when they began protesting at the funerals of servicemen and women killed in action in Iraq.
They claim their deaths are God's punishment for America's "fag-enabling" ways. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), that tracks hate groups like the Westboro Baptist Church, said they have picketed events ranging from theater performances to children murdered or killed in traffic accidents. “These protests share a simple theme: Attacking America's perceived tolerance of homosexuality and celebrating God's perceived wrath as just rewards for "fags" and "fag-enablers."”
The 100 or so followers of the so-called church are primarily members of the Phelps family, and they seek and love violent confrontation with some very personal and vile attacks that they hope will provoke you and will land you in court.
According to the SPLC, “Phelps himself is a disbarred attorney who was long known for massive litigation; at one point, he personally had almost 200 lawsuits pending in federal court. Although his congregation includes only about 22 adults, at least 14 of those have law degrees. In fact, “the church has its own law firm, Phelps Chartered, which is staffed by church members and which has repeatedly filed suit against its perceived enemies.”
Obviously people want to express their distaste for these disgusting tactics, but the best thing to do is to not give them the attention they crave. The good people at All Saints Episcopal Church are expecting up to 500 people at the counter protest, and they are asking for food donations for the protest. They are asking for things like doughnuts, apples, granola bars and other snack type food, and beverages like cider, water tea and coffee. Call the church at (517) 351-7160 to offer help.
2 comments:
Finally, we agree on something. Although you back off abit.
These people from the Westboro Baptist church seem to be a waste of skin. I like to think that everyone has something about them that makes them worthwhile, but I have yet to find it in this group.
You advocate ignoring them, but then give a number to join the counter protest and ask for donations.
I wonder if the MSU football team is home this weekend. If so, I'd like to see if they are capable of breaking Westboro's lines.
That is correct, anonymous coward, I gave the phone number of the All Saints Episcopal Church, and asked for donations for them. When the WBC protests at ELH, no one will be there to react to them; most people will be at a real church supporting inclusion not hate.
A confrontation, whether from the MSU football team or a regular citizen, is what they want and crave.
Once again, anonymous wimp, I am still waiting for you to back up your outrageous lie that we were “nearly shoulder to shoulder once.”
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