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Written by Rick Hellman, Editor
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Monday, 08 June 2009 14:20 |
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About 100 counter-protestors showed up Saturday morning at the corner of 75th Street and Nall Avenue to show their disdain for the members of Topeka’s infamous Westboro Baptist Church who were there to picket Congregation Ohev Sholom.
It seemed like most of the crowd was Jewish, but there were clearly members of other faiths present, too, from Christian clergymen such as the Rev. Bob Hill to Buddhist leader Lama Chuck Stanford in his red robes to Sikh leader Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa in his white garb and turban. The day before the demonstration, Rev. Hill sent out a notice to members of a local interfaith clergy coalition, alerting his colleagues to the event.
WBC founder Fred Phelps wasn’t in sight Saturday, but four adults, five children and one young woman who appeared to be a teenager held up signs reading things like “God Hates Fag Enablers” and “You’re Going to Hell.” One man wore an Israeli flag with one end tucked into the front of his shorts, stepping on the flag as it dragged across the ground.
They stayed on the northeast corner of the intersection, surrounded by police, for 45 minutes, occasionally shouting things at the larger group gathered on the south side of 75th Street.
At one point, they sang to the tune of “Hey Jude” the following refrain: “God hates evil, reprobate Jews; God hates you, You Christ killers.”
The counter-protestors mostly stayed quiet and held up home-made signs with such messages as “God is Love” and “Honk if you (heart) Jews.” At one point, they broke out a rendition of “We Shall Overcome.”
Ohev members had a 20-foot-long banner professionally made that read: “Ohev Sholom Synagogue Welcomes Fred Phelps and Members of Westboro Baptist Church.” Acting synagogue President Audrey Asher was out on the lawn Saturday morning, ready to hand out brief, written statements saying Ohev members were pleased to see the Phelps clan protesting them that morning, rather than “at the funeral of a fallen hero.”
The WBC has gained nationwide, even international, infamy for picketing the funerals of U.S. soldiers killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The church members believe such deaths are God’s punishment for widespread American acceptance of homosexuality.
The WBC — made up almost exclusively of Phelps, his descendants and their spouses — has picketed Topeka’s Temple Beth Sholom almost weekly for the past 15 years, ever since then-Rabbi Larry Karol lit a “seventh candle” in memory of the homosexual victims of Nazi Germany at a Holocaust memorial event. Lately, the group has taken to picketing synagogues and other Jewish institutions around the country.
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