“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.
Freedom of the First Amendment 