Sponsor a fundamentalist!
Jan. 11th, 2011 05:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sebastienne(hattip oxfordgirl)
The Westboro Baptist Church is going to picket the funerals of the Arizona shooting victims with signs that read, "God sent the shooter" because they believe this tragedy occurred as a result of America’s tolerance of gays and lesbians.
They do, of course, have the right to protest. Even in the middle of public debate around the effect of violent eliminationist discourse in USian politics (hint: it can contribute to violent eliminationist actions), they have the right to protest using eliminationist discourse. That just makes them douches of the highest order. The Seraphim of douches.
But we have the right to show them that, for every funeral they picket, they will be "sponsored" by people who are raising money for charities antithetical to their aims. Every minute that they stand outside someone's funeral spewing irrelevant hate, the totaliser is filling up raising money for a good cause.
This is known as a "Phelps-a-Thon" and is one of the wittiest pieces of political engagement that I've come across in a while.
(If you prefer to measure your charitable giving by effectiveness, rather than by wit, then you may prefer to check out Giving What We Can, who have some excellent essays and reviews on the best exchange rate you're going to get between the pound and human wellbeing.)
NB: any language which attributes the Arizona shooter's actions to his mental health (eg "insane", "psycho") is unwelcome in comments here. Gavagai explains why better than I ever could.
oxfordgirl)The Westboro Baptist Church is going to picket the funerals of the Arizona shooting victims with signs that read, "God sent the shooter" because they believe this tragedy occurred as a result of America’s tolerance of gays and lesbians.
They do, of course, have the right to protest. Even in the middle of public debate around the effect of violent eliminationist discourse in USian politics (hint: it can contribute to violent eliminationist actions), they have the right to protest using eliminationist discourse. That just makes them douches of the highest order. The Seraphim of douches.
But we have the right to show them that, for every funeral they picket, they will be "sponsored" by people who are raising money for charities antithetical to their aims. Every minute that they stand outside someone's funeral spewing irrelevant hate, the totaliser is filling up raising money for a good cause.
This is known as a "Phelps-a-Thon" and is one of the wittiest pieces of political engagement that I've come across in a while.
(If you prefer to measure your charitable giving by effectiveness, rather than by wit, then you may prefer to check out Giving What We Can, who have some excellent essays and reviews on the best exchange rate you're going to get between the pound and human wellbeing.)
NB: any language which attributes the Arizona shooter's actions to his mental health (eg "insane", "psycho") is unwelcome in comments here. Gavagai explains why better than I ever could.