In case you\u2019ve been living under a rock:\u00a0 members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas are notorious for traveling around the country and delivering hate-filled diatribes against those they feel are causing this country to go to hell. Most of their ire is directed toward homosexuals, but they also take out after Jews and Muslims. Church members are best known for their protests staged at funeral services for U.S. soldiers.\u00a0 They\u2019ve also protested at the White House, the U. S. Supreme Court, and Arlington National Cemetery.\u00a0 On Monday, Feb. 6, they showed up at Clayton High School in suburban St. Louis.<\/p>\n

Their visit was not a surprise. The church posts its protest schedule in advance on its web site, www.godhatesfags.com<\/a>\u00a0 (I am not making this up).\u00a0 An administrator at Clayton High School told me that school officials had engaged in \u201ccourteous correspondence\u201d with church members prior to their visit.\u00a0 The Clayton Police Department was alerted. To the credit of everyone involved, the protest went off without a hitch.\u00a0 And it was one of the weirdest things I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

At 7:45 on this cold, foggy Monday morning, five church members gathered on one side of the lawn in front of the school.\u00a0 Led by one woman, they brandished their signs (\u201cGod Hates Fags!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cGod Hates America!\u201d \u201cSoldiers Die 4 Fag Marriage!\u201d).\u00a0 The woman who seemed to be in charge stomped on an American flag and pretended to use it as toilet paper.\u00a0 She led her small crew in several choruses of \u201cGod Hates America.\u201d\u00a0 An older man was interviewed by TV news crews.<\/p>\n

[cincopa AgEAs1qwoUvs]<\/p>\n

On the other side of the lawn, separated from the protesters by orange barrels and fencing and a number of serious-looking Clayton police officers, approximately 500 students, faculty, and other members of the community gathered.\u00a0 They also had signs (\u201cLove Conquers Hate!\u201d \u201cTeach Tolerance!\u201d \u201cGod Hates The New Facebook Timeline!\u201d).\u00a0 They had a rainbow flag, which they held proudly aloft.\u00a0 They also gave media interviews.<\/p>\n

At 8:15 am, it was all over.\u00a0 The church members packed their signs in their van and headed off to the next protest site.\u00a0 The students went to class.\u00a0 Everyone else went for coffee.<\/p>\n

What is one to make of such an event?\u00a0 To their great credit, teachers at Clayton High School used it as a teachable moment.\u00a0 They reminded the students that, in this country, people have a right to speak out, even if their words are hateful.\u00a0 They have a right to demonstrate, even if it costs a community thousands of dollars to make preparations to keep everyone safe.<\/p>\n

Among those who just showed up, there was ambivalence.\u00a0 Many said they were there not to protest the protesters, but to show their support for the school and the students.\u00a0 Some felt it would have been better to ignore the whole thing; that if nobody paid attention to the protesters they would eventually go away.\u00a0 Others felt that they were \u201csick\u201d\u2014mentally ill\u2014and might benefit from psychiatric care.<\/p>\n

After spending a few minutes on the Westboro Baptist Church web site, I\u2019ve come to a different conclusion.\u00a0 I think these people are smart and sophisticated.\u00a0 I also think they are full of hate, fixated on homosexuality, and completely sure that their worldview is correct.\u00a0 They are not crazy or stupid, they are not going to go away, and they don\u2019t give a damn about anyone else.\u00a0 (Their web site has a column titled \u201cNumbers.\u201d\u00a0 One of the entries reads:\u00a0 \u201c0 nanoseconds of sleep that WBC members lose over your opinions and feeeellllliiiiiings.\u201d)<\/p>\n

History should have taught us that it can be dangerous to ignore people like this. On the other hand, maybe they are just a bunch of kooks from Kansas.<\/p>\n

[Images courtesy of Bobbi Clemons]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In case you\u2019ve been living under a rock:\u00a0 members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas are notorious for traveling around the country<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":14509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[255,119],"tags":[2505,1440,82,1439],"yoast_head":"\n