Via Dawkins' site, I come upon this post at Laughing Squid reporting on a recent protest by — oh great, them again — Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church at San Francisco's Twitter offices, and the counter-protest by locals. Note the tone is one of glorious, effusive mockery, as seen in the example below.
More where that came from, kidrocks. Take a moment to note that this is absolutely the right approach to take with idiots like Westboro: "point and laugh" should always be the default response to utter troglodyte stupidity. And yes, we have gotten emails from viewers saying, "ZOMG, I heard Fred Phelps coming to my town, and I want to counter-protest! What should I do?" Well, here you go.
I'd personally go with "GOD HATES HASHTAGS," but that's just me.
Letting people as hopelessly pathetic as Westboro make you angry simply validates their hate, which is what they want. True, there are times when it's perfectly fitting to respond angrily to such stupidity. But that would be times when, say, homophobia takes on the sort of political character that can lead to legislation that harms and discriminates, like Prop. 8. Phelps, on the other hand, is a mere clown. And we laugh at clowns. At least, the ones that aren't frackin' scary.
Brilliant.
ReplyDelete"God loves the kinky stuff"
ReplyDeleteThat is delightful! Some creative spirit shown in the ancient art of mocking!
ReplyDeleteIs Rick Astley God?
ReplyDeleteI love this!
I think this new strategy re:Phelps was established last March at the University of Chicago.
ReplyDeletePZ Myers really liked the "Cthulhu Hates Chordates" sign.
The video of fratboys mocking the Westboro idiots was a minor Youtube sensation.
I'm especially fond of "I HAVE A SIGN." It's just so meta.
ReplyDelete@ Martin
ReplyDeleteI made but was unable to use my "IMPEACH TAFT" sign for the Phelps at my college...it was a real shame, it was a nice engraving of Taft on it in the ghost busters cross and everything :(
WOW.
ReplyDeleteWestboro Baptist just got Rick Roll'd.
That's.....utterly poetic.
I don't know if this would apply to a phelp's counter-protest, but i always wanted to do this since I read this:
ReplyDeletehttp://xkcd.com/285/
@ Leah Elliot Hauge
ReplyDeleteI would not be surprised to find out that Rick Astley was, in fact, Hod.
Interesting. I just Googled "Hod" and got this. Certainly does put the guy's music in a new context, I must say.
ReplyDeleteI love the Don Hertzfeldt - Sill Hats Only sign
ReplyDeleteLooks like a perfect way to do a counter protest. Of course, I'd want to mix in some signs about Christian extremism, but that might just be me.
ReplyDelete@ Martin
ReplyDeleteHa! Love it when typos open new windows of knowledge.
I loved the "I HAVE A SIGN" one. My favourite by far =P
ReplyDeleteIf you check the photo Stream, you'll see that guy in a couple more shots accompanied by similarly meta friends, holding up "This Is My Sign!" and, of course, "ubıs uʍop ǝpısdn".
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of "I have a sign," but if I ever attend a counter-protest mine will surely say, "This is not a sign." Or properly, "Ceci n'est pas une pancarte."
ReplyDeleteI love the "Impeach Taft" sign idea...especially with that graphic!
ReplyDeleteI'd bring a sign that says "FREE HAT"
The blogger New Atheist is going to have an interview with Megan Phelps (i heard Megan Fox at first so I am now the sadness). He's taking suggestions for questions to ask if anyone's interested.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a waste of time though, 0% chance of meaningful conversation. To quote someone more successful than I "It's like talking to a horse's vagina"
Anyone know what the Whisky Foxtrot Tango the Church has against Lady Gaga now? I mean....that's random
ReplyDelete