How to Deal with Westboro Baptist Church
This is the best example of positive organized action against religious hatred. Take notes for when Fred Phelps and family visit your town.
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About the author
Rebecca leads a team of skeptical female activists at Skepchick.org and appears on the weekly Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast. She travels around the world delivering entertaining talks on science, atheism, feminism, and skepticism. There is currently an asteroid orbiting the sun with her name on it. You can follow her every fascinating move on Twitter: @rebeccawatson.
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Sunioc
03.26.2010
Absolute genius.
Summer Seale
03.26.2010
That was a simply awesome idea. =) Good for that guy! I hope it happens everywhere they show up and sticks in Old Man Phelps’ craw.
NewEnglandBob
03.26.2010
A complaint:
The “Upcoming Events” Agenda to the right of this video covers up part of the video even in full screen mode using Firefox browser and it is quite annoying.
Masala Skeptic
03.26.2010
I really love this.
mikerattlesnake
03.26.2010
can’t watch youtube at work, can someone summarize?
Nicole
03.26.2010
FTW! The thank you cards are a nice touch.
At the WBC counter-protest I went to, there were big jars being passed around by the organizers for the Human Rights Campaign as well. WBC didn’t even show up and money was raised!
brdavis
03.26.2010
Fantastic. A wonderful idea of feedback applied to a good cause. For those who can’t view it, the basic idea is to not protest, but solicit donations at WBC protests – donations to go toward the groups WBC is protesting against, with said donations made “in honor of” WBC, and a thank you card sent back to WBC for each one.
A terrific turnaround of the “there is no bad publicity” motif.
CobaltG
03.26.2010
He’s cute too he just needs to shave!
fenderplayer96
03.26.2010
It’s a great idea, but not quite original. I remember reading about the WBC protesting outside a gay bar and restaurant in Ann Arbor back in 2001. The owners organised a fundraiser where people donated so much per minute of the Phelps protest, raising $7500 for a local LGBT community centre.
Good on Jason, though. The world needs more of this, at least till the likes of WBC is a distant, fading memory.
Sam Ogden
03.26.2010
Very cool.
jeffreyellis
03.26.2010
Jason is my hero. Brilliant.
mikerattlesnake
03.26.2010
I think the “thank you” cards really makes it.
rasmur
03.26.2010
I think that’s a really good idea because he’s turning a negative into a positive. This is not the main reason for doing it, but it will help the image of nonbelievers and skeptics.
Skulleigh
03.26.2010
Excellent!
Gabrielbrawley
03.26.2010
Wonderful. I love it. The thank you cards are the perfect comment.
Elyse
03.26.2010
Where can I find Jason? How can I get him to come out to Skepchick events in Chicago? Where do I send my thank you card to him?
Amy
03.26.2010
I love it! The thank you cards are the icing on the cake! Well done indeed.
Tina
03.26.2010
Sweet snark. The perfect kind of “thank you” card.
jennnicole
03.26.2010
This is awesome. I wish I had thought of this back when the WBC came to my college.
xenu
03.26.2010
That is a great f##kin idea!
devianttouch
03.26.2010
Back in 2001 in Madison Wisconsin we had a fundraiser when they came and protested here – People pledged a certain amount for each MINUTE that the WBC protested. We called it Every Minute Counts, and it meant that we actually cheered for them to stay longer.
I was one of the small group of people that organized the fundraiser, and we raised $4000 for a scholarship fund. It ended up giving $1000 to each of 4 queer youth to attend college.
Sunny Ng
03.27.2010
Blam! Suck on that WBC!
ZenMonkey
03.27.2010
By far the best response. I hope what he suggests does happen and this technique catches on (or like fenderplayer96′s and devianttouch’s versions).
The best thing about the thank-you cards is I can only imagine what kind of mailing lists the WBC is going to get on. If they aren’t already, they’re going to get metric buttloads of solicitations from the ACLU, Jewish Anti-Defamation League, ILGA, GLAAD, amFAR, and — oh sweet ghost of my grandma, I can only hope — Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Someone has to sort through that mail, and after seeing enough of those logos eventually his or her head will explode.
MonTemplar
03.27.2010
@ZenMonkey:
Sadly, I fear that the heads of Mr Phelps and his family are so calcified internally with hatred and dogma that even a stick of dynamite gaffer-taped to their bonces wouldn’t even make a dent.
MonTemplar
03.27.2010
What everyone else has said… brilliant idea! I just hope they didn’t get harangued by the WBC mob whilst collection donations.
BonnieBeth
03.27.2010
@Elyse: I can have a looksee around UIC if you’d like to find him.
How on earth did I miss this?
MoltenHotMagma
03.28.2010
This man is awesome. This is exactly the way to deal with people like the WBC.
TimesnLatte
03.28.2010
Our local Planned Parenthood does the same thing with pledges for pickets. People donate to the free care fund (which, being private money, can be used to provide abortion services to those who can’t afford to pay the fee.) I don’t know that it stops them, but it does raise a lot of money for the cause.
autotroph
03.30.2010
Is anyone else bothered that such a self-righteous organization is dragging the US flag around on the ground?
I mean, it’s their right and all, but it seems needlessly disrespectful. I mean, they apparently want to alienate both people who understand gay-rights issues AND anyone who actually, you know, respects the symbols of our country.
Clintsc9
03.30.2010
AND the flag of Israel. Or did you miss that?
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