As evidenced by the rather extensive list of issues covered on this site, we follow a variety of movements and campaigns. One that we often overlook, however, is the growing trend of people counter-protesting the Westboro Baptist Church—a hate group known for picketing at public events and funerals, usually in relation to gay people, Jews and soldiers killed in battle (the latter of which they consider “God’s punishment” for the moral decay of America).
While this group deserves opposition and resistance, the typical response has been somewhat counter-productive. A distinct attitude of snarkiness and irony pervade the counter-protests, which usually consist of signs mocking the language of the Westboro Baptist Church. For instance, parodies of the sick “God hates fags” signs present at most WBC gatherings range from the sarcastic “God hates signs” to the absurd “God hates fuzzy tiny kittens.”
That’s not to say there isn’t power in humor. One admittedly funny photo from a counter-protest shows a WBC woman holding a sign that reads “Homosexuality is a sin”, while a young man stands next her holding a sign mocking her attire: “Corduroy skirts are a sin.” By playing on the stereotypical keen fashion sense of gay people, this comment is in its own way incisive. Yet, by also being insulting, it can only serve as a further divide between two people that ultiamtely must come together for hatred to be extinguished.
I have yet to see much effort to reach out to the WBC, perhaps because people think they are insane, irrational and unchangeable. Unfortunately, this attitude toward their fellow human is something they share with the WBC. If both sides are belittling the humanity of the other as irredeemable than no progress will ever be made. Since the basic ideology of WBC is based on hate, the burden is therefore on the counter-protesters to bring the WBC folks back from the edge.
But if counter-protesters aren’t ready to make this gesture, they can at least improve the effectiveness of their campaign in other ways. Perhaps the best tactic being employed (or about to employed) is by an LGBT support group in Dallas. According to The Advocate:
Plans by the notorious Westboro Baptist Church to protest the Resource Center Dallas, a northern Texas nonprofit that offers a variety of programs to LGBT and HIV-positive people, on July 9 have been turned into a fund-raiser. The center has launched an initiative called “Hell Freezes Over” and is asking local residents to donate an amount of money for each minute the protesters plan to picket both the center and Beth El Binah, a mainstream Jewish congregation with a longtime LGBT outreach that meets at the center. The center plans to use funds raised to buy a new ice machine for its meals program, which serves lunches to HIV-positive clients every weekday.
“The protesters have been known to abandon their protests when they’re turned into a fund-raiser,” says Bret Camp, associate executive director for the center’s health and medical services. “Whether the church shows up or not, this is a way for the North Texas community to stand with us against hate and help us with a timely need.”
While this strategy doesn’t get at the root of the hatred, it does weaken WBC’s efforts. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction.
Thanks, Bryan, for finding such a meaningful and instructive angle on an otherwise hopelessly silly phenomena. Though humor may be worth the making of a cheap sign. Perhaps a mild amount of social embarrassment might inspire private reflection among the misguided WBC activists. For this to work, however, coverage and the dissemination of these photos is crucial.
The Resource Center’s reaction to WBC’s protest is especially interesting and clever. What a great and broadly applicable lesson in nonviolence.
There’s more than one way to contribute. The humor is a great counter measure but the fund raiser is also good. There doesn’t just need to be one tactic.
And yes Corduroy skirts are a sin but they will come back 🙂
If you want to counter protest, I suggest a counter argument, not an audition to Last Comic Standing.
When the protesters are absurd (as is the WBC) with messages like “Thank God for 9/11” “God loves IEDs” “God hates Jews” and protest at military funerals, they discredit themselves. It’s a waste of time to counter protest them. Save the signs for issues less black and white.
When they’ve come to protest our Jewish community, we always tell people to ignore them. The most (only) effective counterprotest I have seen was at Shawnee Mission East High School last year, when a lot of colorfully dressed teens stood with positive messages like, “God is love” and “God loves everyone.” It was an affirmation, rather than a belittling. I could also imagine it being an effective solidarity-building tool, as in, “They’re protesting us, won’t you stand with us?” But again, that’s more about what _we_ are doing (whoever “we” is) than with what WBC is doing.
Reaching out to the WBC to try to “understand and bridge the problem” will not work. Ms. Phelps (the one that always talks for the church) has been on the local radio station, and when met with polite questions, (nothing snarky, a shock for the local station), she always twists it around to their way or the highway. When confronted with Biblical scripture, they turn to legal wrangling, and threats to sue the radio station. These people are nut jobs, but they tend to leave if the press is not about them, and is geared to the counter protest.
While the leadership may be a lost cause (or may not be), counter-protest is effective in sparking reflection and self-conscious thought among the followers or impressionable future recruits, which in turn have a psychological influence on leaders. Without followers, horrible leaders are most often relatively harmless. And if you can get a new cooler, that’s awesome.
At the protest we attended (Congregation Beth El Binah, Dallas), we noticed that the children of the WBC cult were laughing at the counterprotest signs, and were shushed by the adults. I don’t think we can reach the adults, but maybe we might reach some of the children by refusing to take the WBC seriously.
L Marshall,
That’s a key observation and gives me some hope, thanks! To a certain extent, children are still immune to solidified ideology, and they’re relatively rebellious. Adding to that is the self-consciousness of a developing child or teen. If protestors can use humor to rise above biggotry, that may make a lasting memory, and might even startle adults among the WBC.
I love the humor. It deflates everyone’s sense of confrontation and appeals to everyone to lighten up from the hatred and counterhatred. FWIW, if Westboro comes to your community, you might consider keeping in contact with vets, since they are often the ones who are about an inch from clobbering them, due to the military funeral insanity. Our victory at Portland State University when they came was that they came because we have a Queer Resource Center and few on campus knew about it, and the QRC folk always assumed they were the weirdos. But we came out by the hundreds to support people who didn’t know they had been cared for and we had enough vibeswatchers on hand to keep it all mellow. It drew us together like never before and there was no hate directed toward them. We interposed when tensions showed any sign and the whole morning was quite positive, revealing a community we didn’t even know we had.
Really great comments, everyone! It’s so helpful to hear from folks who have direct experience at these types of protests. Clearly they aren’t futile or a waste of time, when they bring different segments of a community together and foster positivity, creativity and humor against a common ill.
I just spoke with a reporter friend who is covering the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case that’ll decide if WBC protests are protected by the First Amendment. He offered me a few insightful points, which some of you may already know if you’ve been following WBC for a while. Those who don’t, however, might be surprised to learn that the WBC congregation is very small—some 70 members, most of whom are related to founder Fred Phelps.
There’s also a very small network of fringe churches that support them, but for the most part WBC is an independent entity. They have made a good portion of their money from lawsuits stemming from their protests, as Phelps and two of his daughters are savvy lawyers. (Phelps was actually an NAACP recognized civil rights attorney back in the 1980s.)
While these facts certainly make counter-protesting seem pointless—given they have no real influence and their only interest is self-serving—I still think my last comment about the way a community can come together is an important one. Any time, as Tom Hastings, pointed out, that physical violence against WBC can be prevented (aka a potential lawsuit) and bonds between typically disparate groups of a community form, WBC loses.
I’m still not sure this gets at the heart of the hatred, which was the original thought behind my post. But given these facts I just learned about the make-up of WBC, I am no longer convinced that their hatred is an entirely genuine emotion. While I’m sure many WBCers believe what they say, it is also a gimmick for money, power, and attention.
As my reporter friend confided, the media is mostly responsible for their “success.” After all, is it really newsworthy when a a few dozen people show up for 10 minutes of protest (or not at all)? They certainly don’t give that kind of attention to peaceful protesters who show up in the hundreds, sometimes thousands, for days of protest (e.g. the US Social Forum).
But if the media is going to cover the sensationalist WBC events, it’s our job to make sure they also take note of the community effort to oppose them and the good that comes out of that.
The Dallas Observer did a bit of that in it’s photo essay from last week’s WBC gathering. It’s a start…