Westboro Baptist Coming to my Town. Looking for ideas.
Offline Fred Phelps's Westboro Baptist Church says they're coming to Little Rock, Arkansas to protest the National Conference of Editorial Writers' conference here. They'll be picketing at the Peabody Hotel (famous for ducks walking through the lobby, maybe there's something about ducks being an abomination before the Lord).
I'm looking for ideas. My thought is: 1) I certainly don't want to limit their free speech rights in any way. I want them to get their hateful message out. The offensiveness of their ideas helps reasonable people. 2) I want to humiliate them and make them a laughing stock. 3) I don't want to take them TOO seriously (though I'll probably take the day off work to counter-protest them). 4) Under no circumstances do I want them to be able to play "victim." They're real good at that.
I know about "God Hates Shrimp." I have heard of "Not Today, Fred" signs. These are just a start. I'm also thinking about "Anonymous" type tactics.
I suspect they're going to try to make Bill Clinton one of the objects of their hate, because the Peabody is within walking distance of the Bill Clinton Presidential library.
Thoughts?
Thandarr
- Login to post comments
Get some pieces of cardboard, wooden dowels and a sharpie. Mix ingredients into a one-quart sauce pan, simmer for 15-20 minutes. Arrive at the Westboro protest and serve up your "God Hates Phelps" signs. Serves as many friends as you can <strike>bribe</strike> persuade to come with you.
Religion is a virus.
Fight the infection.
Ignore them. They want all the attention they can get. They are already a laughingstock and pretty much hated by everyone - liberals hate them for their anti-gay and extremist Bible shit, while conservatives hate them for their anti-Americanism and disrespect for soldiers. Even Pat Robertson ones said of Fred Phelps "I think this guy's kind of nuts."
Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team
Rickroll 'em.
"Anyone can repress a woman, but you need 'dictated' scriptures to feel you're really right in repressing her. In the same way, homophobes thrive everywhere. But you must feel you've got scripture on your side to come up with the tedious 'Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve' style arguments instead of just recognising that some people are different." - Douglas Murray
Make a sign that says, If god loves the phelps so much, why did he make them all fugly! Seriously, I hate them.
When once asked in the library if I believed in Jesus Christ, I pointed out that zombie novels are in the fiction section.
Unless you can come up with a really close Freddie Phelps look-alike (or clone) who would be willing to stand across the way from the real one and act out a parody or satirize, well, best to ignore them altogether.
Ideas? Hmm...
1 Foot long PVC pipe
1 Spool of Duct tape
1 Box of nail
1 Remote car door controller
-
7.5 parts potassium nitrate
1.5 parts soft wood charcoal
1 part sulfur
-
Mix intelligently
-
Give to special some one
-
Press Red button on Remote
-
???
-
RUN!!!!
There... im all out of ideas
What Would Kharn Do?
...I'm with the folks who say "Ignore them."
These media sluts have gotten far too much free press already.
Conor
Local theatre people here in Toronto staged a play called "The Paster Phelps Project."
http://www.torontosun.com/News/TrontoAndGTA/2008/08/08/6382226-sun.html
"Anti-gay protesters fail to show in T.O. "
On a stranger note. This same group plans to protest at the funeral of a man murdered on a bus (beheaded) in Winnepeg Manitoba. Perhaps Kevin R.Brown can find the article in a Western Canada newspapper.
The young victom was doing nothing more then sleeping on a bus when he was murdered and dismembered, I don't see what connection that has with Phelps and his nuts but they are not opperating with a full deck anyways.
Edit: found this. http:/www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2008/08/08/6382221-sun.html
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
...and so is his daughter.
Too bad you exercising your freedom of speech by lighting their protest signs on fire is a violation of their freedom of speech.
Get some leather garment (the typical SM look) and then get to the Phelps demonstration and let those people feel how much it turns you on to be called sinful and depraved.
Preferably you could ask them to call you even tougher words and to describe the torements of hell to you in more detail.
-----------------------------------------------------
Who asks me inappropiate questions also has to live with the answers I may give.
In all seriousness, you should consider contacting the Patriot Guard. They've dealt with Phelps before, usually at their displays at the funerals of fallen soldiers. They know how to handle Phelps' stupidity without infringing upon his "free speech" "rights" and without garnering lawsuits (Phelps and half his damned family are lawyers).
You may not agree with all the Patriot Guard stands for, and they may not be interested in helping, but "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", sometimes.
They'll be protesting the Mathbox theatre, in Red Deer, Alberta. Some of them were denied entry at the border, though. I had heard that they were going to protest a play in Toronto satirizing them as well as the funeral of Tim McLean, who was murdered aboard a bus in Manitoba. I won't be disappointed if they can't/didn't make it to any of the protests. Frankly, none of them should be allowed in Canada or at least should be arrested when they begin protesting as they're almost sure to break our laws.
BigUniverse wrote,
"Well the things that happen less often are more likely to be the result of the supper natural. A thing like loosing my keys in the morning is not likely supper natural, but finding a thousand dollars or meeting a celebrity might be."
I know that very few nations know "Free Speech" as a fundamental right as the United States do. What you have in most western nations should be better called the "Right to have and to disseminate your opinion".
That normally precluds the rights to disseminate insults or hate speech. I am from Germany and therefor know the situation over here. If the Phelps would do what they do in the USA over here they would get arrested quicker than they could say "Volksverhetzung (§130 Criminal Code)" or "Verunglimpfung des Andenkens Verstorbener (§189 Criminal Code)". ["Agitation of the People" or "Disparagement of the Memory of Deceased Persons"]
-----------------------------------------------------
Who asks me inappropiate questions also has to live with the answers I may give.
BigUniverse wrote,
"Well the things that happen less often are more likely to be the result of the supper natural. A thing like loosing my keys in the morning is not likely supper natural, but finding a thousand dollars or meeting a celebrity might be."
The German equivalent to the 'Freedom of Speech' that is guaranteed in the US-Constitution is Article 5 of the German Basic Law:
Article 5
[Freedom of expression]
(1) Every person shall have the right freely to express and disseminate his
opinions in speech, writing, and pictures and to inform himself without hindrance
from generally accessible sources. Freedom of the press and freedom
of reporting by means of broadcasts and films shall be guaranteed.
There shall be no censorship.
(2) These rights shall find their limits in the provisions of general laws, in
provisions for the protection of young persons, and in the right to personal
honor.
(3) Art and scholarship, research, and teaching shall be free. The freedom
of teaching shall not release any person from allegiance to the constitution.
The Freedoms of Conscience is guaranteed in Article 4 together with the Freedom of faith.
Article 4
[Freedom of faith, conscience, and creed]
(1) Freedom of faith and of conscience, and freedom to profess a religious
or philosophical creed, shall be inviolable.
(2) The undisturbed practice of religion shall be guaranteed.
(3) No person shall be compelled against his conscience to render military
service involving the use of arms. Details shall be regulated by a federal
law.
-----------------------------------------------------
Who asks me inappropiate questions also has to live with the answers I may give.
Good evening, I hope you are well.
If you could find a Barney suit, I suspect it would make for some fun singing and dancing, and of course, smiling.
And I of course forgot the maybe most effective anti-WBC law over here:
Section 167a Disturbing a Funeral Service
Whoever intentionally or knowingly disturbs a funeral service shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than three years or a fine.
-----------------------------------------------------
Who asks me inappropiate questions also has to live with the answers I may give.
I'd love to see a few of those fucktards in jail. If they got assraped would they get kicked out for being a "fag?"
Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team
I think we have a law here prohibiting hate speech, but if this guy is a lawyer then I would think he knows how to bend this law without breaking it.
Canadian laws are very clear about hate speech towards any identifiable ethnic or group members, be it whites (yes they are protected), blacks, jews, homosexuals, transexuals, etc, etc, etc. So any mentioning of gays having to die, gets them arrested, and the border officials have orders not to let them in Canada, which has already happened, a few got in, but there is a planned counter protest that will shield the family from the westboro nut cases, supposedly over 200 people are showing up to form a human wall....hopefully more. As such the Westboro church is considered a hate group in Canada, which if officials in Winnipeg play their cards right could have them arrested for hate crimes...if done correctly.
You could mockingly join them with a sign that lists EVERYTHING that Yahweh hates according to the Buybull.
"I've yet to witness circumstance successfully manipulated through the babbling of ritualistic nonsense to an imaginary deity." -- me (josh)
If god can do anything, can he make a hot dog so big even he can't eat all of it?
I'm not advocating anything but have to admit I enjoyed this:
Phelps chased out of town (short video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9IbtD7Kzrg
And this....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GK7O0XmZn0
That would require either a big-ass sign, or tiny-ass print on the sign.
I love the idea of doing a satiracle (sp?) counter protest. No need to list everything, make big signs about wearing clothing from multiple kinds of fabric, or the no eating shrimp.
"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
Perhaps a big ass rainbow "Zeus hates Yahweh because he's a FAG!!" sign would be fun to throw into the mix.?
"I've yet to witness circumstance successfully manipulated through the babbling of ritualistic nonsense to an imaginary deity." -- me (josh)
If god can do anything, can he make a hot dog so big even he can't eat all of it?
It turns out that the Westboro Baptist protest took place on Talk Like a Pirate Day. So we local pastafarians took that ball and ran with it. We showed up across the street from their chosen location (after acquiring the appropriate permits, of course) and promoted Talk Like a Pirate Day. We actually showed up first. Before they showed, we just promoted the Pastafarian holiday. After they showed, we took out the anti-Westboro signs.
Our leader, Pasta Pontius Pirate, took the lead at getting people to honk in approval of our side of the street. He was joined by Queen Lucinda, Captain Mac, Boatswain Tubby, and several others whose pirate names I do not now recall.
The response was mostly positive. A few failed to read the signs and thought we were with Westboro, I guess. There were many who looked on and recognized what we were doing and liked it.
It was fun. We drew attention away from Westboro Baptist. This may be a new tactic to deal with these clowns.
Thandarr
Thandarr
[email protected]
http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/2008/09/way_to_go_matie.aspx
That is so cool. You guys PWNED Phelps and Co. The FSM is pleased with you.
http://digg.com/arts_culture/Way_to_go_matie
Here's the digg link in case anyone wants to digg it. (It only has 4 diggs right now.)
Good job Thandarr! Very creative and neat to see.
"I am that I am." - Proof that the writers of the bible were beyond stoned.
does fred himself usually come out these days? i thought he was pretty reclusive now; gettin' up in years and all. i usually see his batshit daughter shirley and her two daughters on tv.
you know, i actually considered writing a short story or even a novel where a character very *ahem* similar to shirley phelps-roper gets kidnapped and systematically has her faith (which we find out is not much like faith at all) and all her eschatological certainty broken down by a psychopath through verbal and physical torture: a sort of exposition on how a psychopathic religious faith is swallowed up by an even stronger negative faith: a sort of psychopathic nihilism. of course, behind all the psychobabble would be the guilty pleasure of writing about a hateful, smug bitch like shirley phelps-roper being subdued and psychologically dismantled. in the end, i wanted to have her driven insane by a paradoxical double certainty that 1, there is no god, and 2, there is a god, he is displeased with her, and she is either going to or already in hell--also a simultaneous belief that her captor is both god and the devil, or that nothing exists at all.
basically the point was that her completely irrational certainty is nothing more than a crude bulwark to hold in the last threads of her dwindling sanity. the psychopath merely kicks it over, in a way that no rational person ever could.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson