Dancing fratboys greet Westboro Baptist Church at University of Chicago
One of the best ways to deal with hatemongers effectively is to refuse to take them seriously.
That was the scene at the University of Chicago this past week, as protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church were met not with the usual derision and outrage, but rather with revelry.
Among their reception at the University of Chicago was a bake sale raising funds for a GLBT charity, and members of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, who danced in their underwhere to "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross while flying a "no tolerance for intolerance" banner from their house.
Ever the faux-optimist, Shirley Phelps Roper tried to put the best face on their reception. "It is so awesome when you juxtapose this little group of servants of God with this restless mob of humanity. The little girly boys up there with their clothes half off gyrating around--they might as well flip off their God."
First off, the Westboro Baptist Church aren't servants of God -- they're slaves to their own hatred.
But secondly, when a college fraternity -- organizations that have a reputation for homophobic behaviour -- has the moral wherewithal to oppose Phelps and the WBC's promotion of intolerance, one knows that times are changing.
To those familiar with college fraternities this is far less surprising. The homophobic stereotype of fraternities is one that has slowly ceased to fit, as fraternities have quietly been initiating gay men into their ranks for years.
It must be disappointing for Roper to find that an organization she must have expected to be a natural ally for her and her hate cult instead opposes her so vociferously.
Monday, March 16, 2009
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*wipes away a tear*
ReplyDeleteThat was beautiful.
Some other thoughts:
-For all the stereotypes about Lister Hall, our own University of Alberta's fraternities are involved in lots of different charity and volunteer work, and other types of community service. The days of Animal House, if they ever existed in the first place, seem to be long gone.
-I find it bizarre that the WBC expects anyone else in America to take them seriously when they trample the the U.S. flag. Waving signs saying "America is Doomed" isn't likely to win you many supporters.
They're demented people. We can't really expect much else from them.
ReplyDelete@Jare Milne
ReplyDeleteThere's an old conspiracy theory going around that indicates the WBC might actually be an undercover skeptic group. A Poe.
I doubt this is true, but it's still fun to imagine.
If they're really an undercover skeptic group, they're making an incredible amount of dedication to it.
ReplyDeleteBesides, why would they want to allow religious groups to credit themselves by denouncing them?
I'm very doubtful.