That’s right. Ignore them. The Westboror Baptist Church is coming to Seattle next week and lots of well intentioned people are planning counter protests. I strongly suggest going about your business like a normal day.
The group is a cult. They come form Kansas and they spread hate where ever they go. They protest funerals of fallen soldiers, they protest other churches, and this time around they are even protesting a pre-school.They are violently anti-gay and blame every problem in the world on gay people. Simply, they are insane.
It is very tempting to engage the cult by counter protesting them. I understand the motivation to do so. But think about this. These clowns want you to protest them. They know by doing so the news cameras are more likely to show up. Their messages are so vile and so extreme that they enrage pro-equality protesters. So here is the picture you are going to create by protesting them. The news media is going to show an image of their signs — messages we are all too familiar with and I refuse to reproduce here — and then they are going to cut to an angry gay man or lesbian shaking his/her fist and raising a bullhorn to a cult no one takes seriously. Takeaway — everyone looks nuts.
Instead, picture this. We ignore them. We don’t allow them to take our energy and resources away from far more important projects (like protecting Domestic Partnerships). The news cameras show up. They film the cult protesting a church — alone. The cult will look like idiots. Maybe the press won’t even show if they know the cult is being ignored. Even they have better things to do with their time. Either way, we look better because by ignoring them we show that we know they have no influence on reality. They are just a shameless group of fools that no one cares about. Not even us.
It’s time our community became a little more savvy about the way we respond to things. This is an opportunity to turn the other cheek and leave well enough alone. If you really want to do something good for the community, let me know. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to protect Domestic Partnerships in Washington and we could really use your help. That is what I will be working on while I ignore the most insane cult in America. You should to.
