It's probably a mistake to give the Westboro Baptist Church any attention at all; but, I am moved by an email I received from a friend in Las Vegas.
Fred Phelps, the most unchristian person in these United States, gathers up his extended family and a bunch of others from the shallow end of the gene pool and travels around the country spreading a message of hate, murder and intolerance. They even have a website that explains why God hates fags!
Las Vegas Academy is a magnet high school in Clark County, Nevada, that specializes in theater and the arts. Mr. Phelps is angry that the theater department produced a play about the murder of Matthew Shepard and he is having a demonstration in front of the school this Wednesday morning, May 12, 2004, from 6:30 A.M. to 7:00 A.M.
The only reply that has come from anyone at the school is to point-out that Phelps' organization uses biblical tracts to condemn those with whom they disagree. Of course, a public school staff cannot publicly condemn anybody for their political or religious beliefs, so the children attending LVA will be subjected to the lowest form of attack (hate) on their way to school.
So, what will happen on Wednesday morning? The Las Vegas media will be there to get entertainment footage for the evening "news," and it will show Phelps' well-organized posse staging a very convincing attack against a public school and its students.
Who will be there to defend the school, to defend the arts, to defend the children who attend this school, to defend the school's freedom of speech?
Will the police defend these children or the public school they are sworn to defend? Unlikely!
Will the state or federal government step to the plate and tell Phelps he is a whacko and he is to leave our children alone? Unlikely?
Will there be a large group of citizens there to shout-down Phelps' group and send a message of hope to the children at LVA? Yes! Political and church leaders from Las Vegas have joined together to work with students and school officials to plan a counter-protest!
Will you be there to fight against Phelps in Las Vegas?
Will you be there to fight against Phelps when he comes to your town to spread his message of hate to children?
If you don't speak-out against Phelps and the other fundamentalists assuming control of our nation, who will?
We need to speak out against these people. It is important to talk about them all the time, to point out how unAmerican and unchristian they are.
Peace.
The rantings of an unrepentant old leftist, and his friends.
1 comment:
Hi Mr. Mac,
I realize that this post is a few years old now, but I was a freshman at LVA when this happened, and I just want you to know that the police were there, along with quite the swarm of community supporters. We, the student body, stayed silent, but almost the entire school came wearing white shirts that day to show our solidarity.
It was actually an incredibly moving experience and I think that the fact that 1500 high-school students are not only tolerant but accepting and protective of so-called "alternative lifestyles" far outweighs the hate-filled words of a very small group of people who have been vilified by every walk of life besides their own.
I came across this blog in searching for pictures of the protest for a project I'm doing for a college class and it was quite a blast from the past, but I'm glad to see that so many people are concerned about the effect that Phelps and his cronies have on the well-being of those that they protest.
Thank you for caring.
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