Seattle says no to Christian hate; Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church

June 14, 8:22 PMPortland Humanist ExaminerMicha J. Stone

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Westboro Baptist Church

Seattle says no to Christian hate. A radical congregation out of Kansas belonging to the Westboro Baptist Church, run by Fred Phelps, picketed places of worship around Seattle this weekend. The church group is known for delivering messages of hate around the country. However, the ugly, Christian congregation was met by stiff resistance, in the form of hundreds of Seattle residents shouting the hate group down.

Jonathan Phelps, one of the protest ringleaders, said Mount Zion and other churches are spreading lies. "They've preached that lie from hell that God loves everybody - that you can live like the devil and have any hope of heaven at all," Phelps said. The protesters targeted Mount Zion Baptist Church in Seattle during the worship service, shouting and waving placards saying "You're Going to Hell" and "God Hates Fags."

Later, as church members at Saint James Cathedral celebrated the Corpus Christi procession outside the church in white robes, the Westboro protesters took advantage of the moment, shouting their messages of hate and waving placards.

The Westboro Baptist Church congregation openly admits preaching a gospel of hate. They openly despise mainstream America. Indeed, they despise the United States, and the social and moral progress we have made in the last few decades.

Yet hate must be challenged, and the good residents of Seattle did not disappoint. Hundreds of counter-demonstrators, many of them gay and lesbian, hit the streets to battle the shouts of Christian hate. The protests remained peaceful, though emotionally charged.

The group from Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket outside Garfield High School on Monday, then show up at several Jewish centers in the city. Let us hope that the good citizens of Seattle once again rise up against hate. Let every resident, in a non-violent, peaceful fashion, stand up to hate and religious bigotry in all its forms, large and small.