Protest at Christ Church planned for Friday, November 21st at 2:45 by Westboro Baptist Church.
Yes, that is correct. The group which has threatened to protest Grosse Pointe South and their production of the play “The Laramie Project” has now added Christ Church to its hit list and verbal protest. This is primarily in response to the Vestry’s and my statements of support of South and particularly of our core value that “we respect the dignity of every human being.”
A good friend of mine once told me, “You can’t take out of someone’s head with reason what reason didn’t put in there in the first place.” These children of God who are members of Westboro Baptist Church are among the most misguided and bigoted persons I have ever encountered in my life. One look at their primary website and you will see just how absolutely unreasonable they are. Their rhetoric is so vile that this site is blocked by our filters at Christ Church. To engage these people face to face in a debate would be a futile attempt at placing reason into someone’s head that is completely unreasonable. So we will not attempt any form of engagement or arguements.
However, we will provide our voice with a simple and clear message from our Baptismal Vows. We are providing stickers with the phrase “I respect the dignity of every human being” to anyone who would like them. Wear them and share that simple message.
I strongly urge that you do not engage the small group from Westboro. They are intentionally provacative and would like nothing better than for us to lower our behavior below that which Christ calls us to. How interesting, isn’t it? I suspect the evil one is at play here. If you wish to come to Church on Friday do so peacefully and with inner strength which will aid you in resisting any inappropriate response to hateful things which will be said to you by those protestors. For we are even called to respect their dignity while being absolutely convinced that their beliefs are not of God.
Peace,
Brad+