Photo Series of the Protest

The following is a series of photos that I took during the Westboro Baptist Church on October 25,2011 on the campus of Miami University.

Hundreds of students line the sidewalks on the corner of Spring and Maple Street anxiously awaiting the arrival of the church.

Dozens of towns people also came out to the protest to show their disapproval of the churches views. A group of motorcyclists and people riding in the back of trucks circled the block as they waited for the protesters.

By 3:25 students began to get suspicious that the members of the church wouldn’t show up, but they finally made an appearance and the crowd quickly turned into chaos.

Once the church showed up, however, many students were surprised they only brought four members. They were gated off and guarded by the Miami and Oxford Police. Although many students chose to retaliate with hateful words the protesters remained silent the entire time they were on campus.

Many people held signs to show they reject the churches opinions on the U.S military. The WBC believes that gays should not be allowed in the military and that God is punishing our people by sending home dead soldiers.

The townspeople show their pride by waving the American flag and revving their truck engines.

Students joined in by counter protesting. Many of the signs displayed hateful words aimed at the protestors. These are just a few examples of the array of different posters.

Students showed their disgust by turning their back to the protestors as they left campus. Attending the protest was a great experience and although I was disappointed by the way many students chose to react it was eye opening to see people with such radical views.

“We’ve Got Your Back” Campaign Pledge

This afternoon many of us received an email from the President of Diversity Affairs regarding the new ” We’ve Got Your Back Pledge”. In case you haven’t had the chance to read the pledge, or you didn’t get an email (there is a link below) the “We’ve Got Your Back Pledge” is a campaign that is committed to welcoming and supporting all people into the community of Miami University. The campaign is sponsored by the Miami University Associated Student Government and the goal is to get 100% student participation. It is their hope that the campaign will create a community in which everyone feels free to stand up for what they believe in and celebrate individuality.

I think that this pledge is an excellent non violent way to approach the upcoming visit from the Westboro Baptist Church. Many people suggest that we interact with the protestors but I think the easiest and most painless way to react to their picket is for all students to pledge that they will not participate in the protest in any way. I believe that they have every right to be here however I also think that they picket to get media attention and by boycotting them we will  show that we do not support the values and morals they stand for.

Here is the pledge which will be printed out and posted before the Westboro Baptist Church arrives on campus October 25. “Therefore, I pledge, out of respect for the Miami and Oxford community, and to show my support for the “We’ve Got Your Back” campaign, to avoid directly engaging with the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) during their planned protest on campus. While I fully support their First Amendment rights, I do not support hatred or oppression aimed at members of our community.”

Click here to sign the pledge

We Aren’t Doing Anything Wrong

Every day we have soldiers putting their lives on the line so that America can keep it’s freedom and the people of Westboro Baptist not only show hatred toward these peopel but abuse the freedom those soldiers provide them with.  Don’t get me wrong I think they have the right to do it, but it sickens me that they find enjoyment from it. This video is a segment of a program called the Hannity & Colmes show on Fox. The main issue they are talking about is the most recent protest of the church after new legislation was passed in the state of Iowa.

The Westboro Baptist Church was protesting as over 1,000 people gathered for the funeral of National Guard Sargent Daniel Sussner who was killed while on duty in Iraq.The day before the protest the state of Iowa passed new legislation that prohibited disorderly conduct from being closer than 500 feet from a military funeral or memorial service. Mrs. Phelps-Roper is claiming that the church is not doing anything but bringing awareness to the fact that God is punishing us because we will not obey his law. According to the church, one of the many ways he is doing this is by sending home dead soldiers from Iraq.

She continues to talk about how the wrath of God is coming down on America because we will not obey his law. She gets one thing right when she informs Hannity & Colmes that her church is hated by America. Yes these people have the right to protest but I think its sick that they can do it at such a sensitive time in a families life. I thought it was really interesting that Mr. Hannity points out that the fact that they use “religion to justify hatred” is disgusting. For someone who speaks so much about how there are no innocent people Mrs. Phelps-Roper gets very defensive when Mr. Hannity tries to ask her what her sins are. I cannot say that I don’t hate these people and everything they believe in, but if we are going to sit here and say that they need to tolerate gays, Jews, Catholics, etc. we must tolerate them in turn.

Westboro Baptist Church Infamous Signs

“America is doomed”, ” Blame God for 9/11″, “God hates fags”. The Westboro Church of Topeka, KS has long been recognized for their controversial signs filled with discriminatory  and anti- gay language. These signs are widely displayed at their weekly pickets of various organizations across the naiton. Usually the signs are directed at homosexuals, however they also blame God for many of the recent disasters such as 9/11 and hurricane Katrina.

Personally it doesn’t bother me to see these people protesting but when I was researching and found images of their kids standing on the side of the road I got really irritated.   Little kids, no older than six or seven holding up signs that say ” you hate your children” and “fag” is somewhat of a disgusting image. I find it ridiculous that this church is already brainwashing the next generation before they can even understand what is happening.

I don’t know about you but this is not the childhood I would want my kids to remember. These kids will never get to experience the world for themselves because they are tied down to these ideas. Some of my and my parents homosexual friends are the most genuine and caring people I know. These kids will miss out on all sorts of opportunities because of the way their lives have already been shut off from this contact. It’s disheartening to know that these people will sacrifice their own kids childhood just to make a religious statement.

 

 

image from godhatesfags.com

Miami Student Article about the Westboro Baptist Church

“Miami to host Westboro Baptist Church”. in a matter of days these six words plastered the front page of the September twentieth edition of the Miami Student turned campus upside down. The article stated that the comparative religions department was moving forward with plans to host Shirley Phelps-Roper, the spokesperson for the controversial church, in late October. The department had originally planned to host a luncheon with student and faculty but the fear of an up-roar caused them to withdraw these plans. The Dean of the College of Arts and Science, Phyllis Callahan, approved the proposal early Monday, but in the midst of mayhem would no longer comment on the situation . Mrs. Phelps-Roper was scheduled to speak in a one hundred level class on religious extremism.

However, just hours after the article was released chaos struck campus. The department was forced to withdraw the plans and President Hodge issued a statement saying this was not a University sponsored event.

Personally I don’t understand all of the commotion this article caused. If the teacher feels that hosting Mrs. Phelps-Roper will give her class new insight which they could not gain through other methods of learning then she should have every right to invite her. The article said that the University was not affiliated with the visit therefore there is no reason for alumni and students to get upset.

I completely understand that the churches beliefs are ridiculous and I in no way support their hatred toward specific groups of people. However, they provide an example of religious extremism at its finest. It doesn’t get more extreme than people shouting that God killed their soldier while a family mourns the death of a loved one. They have just as much of a right to speak to the class as anyone else in America and I think that its unfair that people who aren’t even members of the class are so opposed to this visit.

Click here to read the original column and the updated article.

Westboro church says Miami teaches ‘rebellion against God’, plans picket

Just days after the article was released in the Miami Student about plans to host the Westboro Baptist Church the news story had gone viral. Text messages, Facebook statuses, Tweets, newspaper articles and even video segments were spread all across Ohio. An article was featured in the Oxford Press, The Dayton Daily News, and video footage was all over news stations in Cincinnati. The Miami Student, along with the Oxford Press, released a new article saying that the Westboro Baptist Church was now planning to picket on Miami’s campus on October 25. Ironically, the church had already agreed that if they were to visit they would not picket Miami or the city of Oxford.The church’s website reports they have scheduled to picket our campus calling us ” First Amendment hating cowards who have no courage of their convictions regarding academic freedom and worse”.

Honestly I can’t help but think these people are crazy, and I find the whole situation somewhat comical. They really think that by standing in the street waving some colorful signs covered with spiteful words they are going to change our opinions? These people are attention seekers. They take joy in harassing people just to piss them off. I think they have every right to be on our campus and to protest whatever it is they think we are doing wrong, but why do we feel the need to retaliate. Why not just ignore them and their dumb signs. They have the freedom of the first amendment but just because they are talking doesn’t mean we have to listen. I think that if it really bothers people that much then they should avoid the area for the mere thirty minutes they will be on campus. Yes everyone has the freedom to state their opinions and stand up for what they believe in, and that’s what makes this country so unique. But just because they open their mouths doesn’t mean we should have to open our ears.

Article from the Oxford Press