On October 25, 2011 members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas will be protesting at Miami University. The controversy surrounding this visit began a few weeks ago through The Miami Student. An article was published stating that a member of the WBC would be coming to speak to a 100 level comparative religions class on religious extremism. The church, which was founded in 1955 by Pastor Fred Phelps has caused much debate in the past couple years for their extremist beliefs. They are known for picketing military funerals and funerals of people who have died from AIDS. They have taken a strong stance against homosexuality and the anti-gay movement since 1991 when they first started picketing organizations. They not only picket at funerals, but also at other churches, schools, and places that receive widespread media attention. Miami University will be just one of the 46,623 pickets to date, however the event is bringing lots of attention to campus.
Although the article claimed plans were finalized, as soon as it was released the Dean of the Comparative Religions Department stated it was just being considered as a possibility. Within a few days the Comparative Religions Department had pulled the plans but controversy was already brewing all around campus. It was apparently misunderstood that the proposal was by a professor and had yet to receive the approval of the University. Professors have the ability to invite guests to speak to individual classes however if any funds are used it must be approved by the University first. The University distanced itself from the proposal and President Hodge issued a statement saying, “I want to make it perfectly clear, that this is a group whose focus on hatred and personal destruction is aberrant to the values we strive to instill at Miami. The attempt to study their actions in the classroom should not be misunderstood as condoning or accepting their hate-filled rhetoric.” The WBC now plans to picket Miami calling us “the home of the First Amendment hating cowards who have no courage of their convictions regarding academic freedom and worse and more”. The picket will take place the same day a faculty member plans to give a lecture about his research on the group. Many students and alumni are outraged and the argument has certainly caused a stir on campus.
Freedom of the First Amendment 