Petition Concerning Westboro Baptist Church

Lately, it seems that there has been a morbid and rabid fascination for Westboro Baptist Church, that bunch of obnoxious Christians from Topeka, Kansas, who think that God hates minorities, and think that they should drive to funerals of soldiers and famous people and let us all know how the Christian god of antiquity feels about all of us. There is even a petition asking that they be "identitifed", somehow, as an hate group, to which I will link you here. I did not link to the church's official website above, but rather the Wikipedia description of them, as the church already garners enough attention.

It's well and good to sign a petition concerning this matter, as a "feel good" measure, but all of us who have been within earshot of any active member of Westboro Baptist Church are already quite aware that they are hateful. Law enforcement, everywhere the church goes, has them pegged as hateful and unkind as well. England has even taken the unusual step of banning a couple of the church's members from visiting their country. The FBI is also aware of them, and regards them as problematic, not only because of what they do, but because of the potential for adverse reactions of others. Speaking of adverse reactions of others, this is one of the two things that the members of Westboro Baptist Church want the most. They not only desire adverse reactions on the parts of bystanders and nearby property owners; they want to be arrested, assaulted, and harrassed. Their whole game revolves around gaining negative attention and reactions from others, escalating the same into unlawful or combative reactions, then litigating against those who became offended and reacted. They generally do not bother to file suit unless they know, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that they can win in court. This is how they pay the bills at their church, everyone.

The other thing this merry band of attention whoring Christians want is publicity. That's why the funerals of soldiers are used as the church's platform, and also the funerals of others who are well known or famous, or the funerals of people who died in events that have been heavily publicized, such as the school shooting in Connecticut on December 14. The petition counts as publicity, too. The more Westboro Baptist Church interviews, press coverage items, facebook pages, and petitions for or against their silly-assed rhetoric find their way into our reading material, the more infamous Westboro Baptist Church becomes. It's a fact. That's why I did not bother to sign the petition concerning their behaviors. Had the press never picked up on the church's story  and run with it in 1998, most of us probably never would have heard of Westboro Baptist Church. While all of the media coverage cannot be undone, fewer pixels and less ink for this bunch is certainly worth considering.

 

Shirley Phelps, daughter of the paster of Westboro Baptist Church, and other female family members. Notice how they all look like carbon copies of each other. Inbreeding is a terrible thing.