10/27/2009 Reminder:

Will God Rain on Extremists’ Parade?

As a friendly reminder – The Westboro Baptists plan some nonsensical demonstrations in Hoboken later this afternoon and evening.

If you don’t want to get sucked into the media frenzy – then avoid City Hall and United Synagogue entirely. But if you’re the type the loves watching car wrecks – feel free to check it out! Personally, I have no real desire to watch buffoons and their signs – so if you’re an amateur photographer – you’re more than welcome to send some pics in.

Oh – God is contemplating raining on them – so you might want to bring an umbrella…

10/20/2009:

Westboro Baptists will picket City Hall and Synagogue

As if Hoboken didn’t have enough of it’s own nutty political sideshows, an extremist group from Kansas is coming for a visit. I hesitate to even write about these wackos because that’s just what they want. Still, it’s an event that can’t be ignored, and one that the people of Hoboken need to decide exactly how they will respond.

westboro-baptists-go-nuts-with-signs

They hate gays, Jews, other Christians, America and YOU

The Westboro Baptist Church is driven by hate. They like to carry signs like “Thank God for 9/11” and “God Hates Fags”. As part of what they are calling their “Just Say No to Goyum/Hebrew Criminal Enterprises Tour,” the Westboros will picket City Hall next Tuesday, October 27th from 4:45 to 5:15 pm before moving on to the United Synagogue of Hoboken to spread more hate from 7 to 7:30 pm. Here’s a sample of their work from Wikipedia:

The group came into the national spotlight in 1998, when they were featured on CNN for picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a young man from Wyoming who was beaten to death by two men because of his homosexuality. Westboro has protested at the funerals of people ranging from Fred Rogers to Coretta Scott King to Jerry Falwell.

In August 2005, a group from the church protested at the funeral of Edward Myers, a soldier from St. Joseph, Missouri, who died in Iraq. Shirley Phelps-Roper told a television reporter that Myers was “burning in Hell.”

On April 10, 2008, Westboro picketed the funerals of three students who were killed in a house fire at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Around 1,000 students showed up and drove off the protesters after fifteen minutes.

westboro-baptists-go-nuts-with-signs-in-hoboken-nj

Westboro Baptists often face counter-protests

The Westboro Baptists have launched such objectionable efforts that they are often met by swarms of counter-protestors. Some people suggest the group be ignored, but you can bet the farm that the NYC media will be standing in front of City Hall doing live shots for the 5 o’clock local newscasts (ratings, baby).

The question is, how does Hoboken react? Here’s a story of a similar protest last Friday in San Diego, where the report says “Hundreds turned out to try to silence Westboro’s members, who wore shirts with the church’s URL — GodHatesFags.com — on them.”

To see how truly out of the mainstream these people are, check out this music video they put together following the death of Michael Jackson:

Truly misguided people spewing hatred

The choice of venue for this protest is ridiculous. The United Synagogue of Hoboken has no connection to Solomon Dwek or the Rabbis from Deal and Brooklyn who were arrested as part of the same FBI sting that scooped up Peter Cammarano. In fact, two Synagogue members – Beth Mason and Dawn Zimmer – were also contacted by Dwek during the sting but did not succumb to his dirty advances. This is nothing more than a chance for these people to be anti-semitic in front of the cameras.

Personally, I would think the best way to counter them is with their own medicine – SIGNS, such as:

  • “Westboro Baptists are bitter ex-boyfriends – God broke up with them a long time ago!”
  • “God wanted you to be here so we can laugh at you!”

Will Hoboken choose to just ignore them or turn out a big – but PEACEFUL – counter-protest to drown out their message of hate?

Share your thoughts about what should be done below in our comments section.

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