Yellow Journalism

I don't know anything about the blog "SwashZone", but they wrote a great, well-documented piece about yellow journalism both past and present.

Check it out.

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God Hates Figs!

We here in Lansing, Michigan are so fortunate that we will soon be visited by the loony bin commonly known as The Westboro Baptist Church! On November 18, they plan to visit East Lansing High School. From their lovely, completely rational website God Hates Fags:

East Lansing High School in East Lansing, MI November 18, 2010 2:50 PM - 3:20 PM
WBC to picket the worthless brats who attend East Lansing High School, as well as their teachers and parents who have taught them from the cradle that God is a liar. You reprobates will hear some truth for the first time in your lives, to wit: God does NOT love everyone and it IS NOT okay to be gay or to fornicate with anyone or thing you please. Instead, you are to flee youthful lusts that war against your soul and seek to live sober, righteous and godly while on this earth. Now that you are old enough to read for yourselves, check this out:

Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul (1 Pet. 2:11); Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22).

Your parents, teachers, preachers and leaders - including Anti-Christ Beast Obama - lied to you because they hate you and they hope to justify their own sins by refusing to teach you what God requires of you. Well, WBC will teach you; here it is from King Solomon, the wisest man who EVER lived:

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (Ec. 12:13.)

How blessedly simple. Now, just DO IT -- TODAY! This nation's destruction is imminent!!

I see that the Westboro goons also protested yet another soldier's funeral in McAlester, OK. From the article in Tulsa World:

Members of a Kansas church who protest at military funerals may have found themselves in the wrong town Saturday.

Shortly after finishing their protest at the funeral of Army Sgt. Jason James McCluskey of McAlester, a half-dozen protesters from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., headed to their minivan, only to discover that its front and rear passenger-side tires had been slashed.

To make matters worse, as their minivan slowly hobbled away on two flat tires, with a McAlester police car following behind, the protesters were unable to find anyone in town who would repair their vehicle, according to police.

click on the photo...it's large enough to read the text...classic!

I personally haven't decided if I will go to East Lansing High and counter-protest. I'm caught in that weird zone where one part of me really wants to send them a message and join a rally against their stupidity and the pther part of me wants to turn the other cheek, ignore them, and hope that some day they go away because everyone ignores them.

**UPDATE**

From the Facebook Status of a friend of mine: A coalition of community organizations, clergy, and concerned citizens will be holding a counter-protest to the WBC this Thursday from 2pm-4pm in the parking lot of the All Saints Church. Please don't give these hateful outsiders what they want by confroting them at ELHS. Instead either ignore them entirely or join us at All Saints to send a message that East Lansing is a community that celebrates diversity and welcomes all who would make our city their home.

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Snyder v. Phelps

As many of you probably know, the Phelps case is set for oral argument today at 10 a.m. Scotusblog has an excellent in-depth analysis of issues and arguments by both sides. Basically, what is at stake is whether funerals will receive some level of heightened protection from protests or that there is a "funeral exception."

Not surprisingly, I am not a fan of Phelps and I finds his beliefs indefensible and outrageous. I wish the 'free speech' side had a more likable and sympathetic advocate, but that is not the case. While I find Snyder's arguments to be decent and compelling, I am not sure that I want to carve out an exception for funerals and wonder if the better approach would be to go after the Phelps cult in a different manner. What do you think?

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