Fred Phelps crowd to protest at Emory

The notorious and despicable Westboro Baptist Church crowd, made up mainly of Fred Phelps' extended family, will be staging a protest tomorrow before the Emory student production of "The Laramie Project." This is a terrific piece of theater, created by Moises Kaufman as an interactive writing project with the actual townspeople of Laramie, WY. It depicts the after-effects of the hate-crime murder of gay college student Matthew Sheppard on the people of Laramie.

The Rev. Fred Phelps is obsessed with denouncing not only homosexuals but the entire United States as a God-doomed country for its increasingly tolerant attitude toward gay people. Thus he protests at funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq, saying that God is punishing the U.S. by killing our soldiers. Phelps sees himself as a prophet in the Old Testament style, trying to warn us to turn away from wickedness.

Here's their message, released by the Westboro Church, printed in the student newspaper, The Emory Wheel:

"God hates homosexuals and homosexual enablers. Ergo, God hates f-g infested & f-g enabling Atlanta, GA and all having to do with spreading sodomite lies via The Laramie Project -- a tacky piece of cheap, lying, f-g propaganda masquerading as legitimate theater."

Students plan to stage a counter-protest.

I have seen a previous Atlanta production of this deeply moving play. It is full of sadness, loss, and anger but also filled with the heart-warming, redemptive experiences of people coming to terms with tragedy and ignorance, and leading to changed attitudes and actions.

Sadly, the faux-Christians from Topeka are mired in hatred and willful ignorance. There are several smart lawyers among this family, so the ignorance has to be willful and selective and manipulative. An appeals court has upheld their constitutional right to spread their message of hate as constitutionally protected speech, even at funerals. The case is headed for the Supreme Court. (see my blog, "It just ain't right," 04/13).

Ralph