The Westboro Baptist Church -- whose motto is "God hates fags" -- has decided to protest Kevin Smith's upcoming horror film, Red State. Kevin Smith has decided to fight fire with fire and organize a counter-protest.
The singular ruling against the First Amendment with which I have agreed is the Arizona law passed specifically to ban the Westboro Baptist Church from protesting at the funeral of the nine-year old girl who was killed during Jared Lee Loughner's shooting rampage. The law actually only prevents protests for an hour before and after the services, as well as during, and disallows protesters from assembling within 300' of the funeral services. This is more than reasonable, and doesn't actually "ban" anything, as funerals are pretty much the worst place for anyone to make a political or religious point.
I decided not to link to anything directly run by, or supporting, the Westboro Baptist Church, as this is obviously yet another publicity stunt for the deranged fundamentalists, but make no mistake about it:
Though the Westboro Baptist Church may be more "extreme" than most, they absolutely embody the true "spirit" of the Baptist denomination, which demonizes everything from dancing to Halloween to astronomy.
Baptists are an extremist organization made all the more frightening because they are untaxed. Legally speaking, they should not be allowed to attempt to influence politics in any way, yet Baptist preachers frequently flaunt this law, using their sermons to preach hatred for Muslims, Jews, and members of other denominations, and frequently call for censorship of mainstream TV and movies. They are also known as "The Religious Right," and are nationally-recognized as a "political force" due to the voting power their demagogue preachers openly "influence."
As churches pay no taxes, they have no legal protection nor recourse. However, the church has well over $5 billion stockpiled -- which is helping no one but the church, not even their congregations -- and routinely buys the law.
© C Harris Lynn, 2011
A rambling melange of pop-culture.
2 comments:
Here's footage of the counter-protest.
I include this article because, as I say above, all Baptists believe the same things -- that's what makes them a denomination, that's what makes them "Baptists" -- just as Mormons and Catholics have their own mythos and practices.
Land leads a "congregation" of 16.2 million. That is an army.
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