In response to e-mails from a bunch of 16- to-18-year-olds, the church decided to picket the high school — how incredibly mature and Christian of them.

This act — verbally berating a bunch of minors at their place of learning — is nothing short of despicable. The 70-odd hill people who make up the church’s membership will be descending from Kansas to spread their hateful message upon East Lansing.

Led by the aging misanthrope Fred Phelps and his mad daughter, the church consists primarily of family members and those enticed by the prospect of free donuts and coffee (probably chocolate donuts, in their defense).

Aside from their beef with the gay community, the church also believes God “hates” America (godhatesamerica.com), the world (godhatestheworld.com), and oddly enough, the royal family of Sweden (godhatessweden.com).

They have quite the monopoly on the “god hates” URLs. If this doesn’t spell out how deranged and downright preposterous the group is, then I’m not quite sure what will.

Criticizing this group is too easy. From their primary website titled, excuse my language, “godhatesfags.com,” to their lawsuit concerning their right to protest at soldiers’ funerals, to their signs spouting out hateful slogans such as “pray for more dead soldiers” and “you’re going to hell,” everything about them reeks of the dregs of human life.

Given their actions, their “church” label is a bit of a misnomer. If you questioned it, you’re not alone. Thankfully, no other church in the U.S. wants to affiliate with WBC.

Additionally, nearly every major religious organization has denounced its particular interpretation of the Bible.

It’s clear the group is nothing more than a bunch of pariahs with no actual weight or insights, aside from hate.

If my admission into heaven requires a strict adherence to their insane and vile beliefs, then I guess I will enjoy my stay in hell with the rest of the civilized world.

(Although I suppose it’s my own fault for living in an open, tolerant society. Isn’t that right, WBC?)

WBC makes a habit of scheduling pickets on their website, but rarely showing up at them. Yet, if the WBC makes its way to harass the students of East Lansing High School this Thursday, I implore permanent residents and students to join in the many counter-protest efforts that are being organized.

I’m usually not big on protesting or counter-protesting, but this is an issue that should cause outrage across the political spectrum and resonate deeply in people’s hearts.

While our right to free speech is a definite staple of this nation, so is tolerance. Thus, the aim is not to interfere with their inalienable right to free speech, but to drown out their rhetoric with the voices of reason.

The WBC acts as a fringe of a fringe — a marginal effort that is deservedly marginalized. Their message of hate is not effective nor is it just. It is time to show that our community will not stand for such flagrant hate in our backyard.

These cowards who besmirch this country’s name and image represent a small portion of the population. They hate blindly and drive thousands of miles solely to terrorize and exacerbate the grief of losing loved ones.

But when old Freddy Phelps and his clan of hate-mongers come all the way from Kansas to protest a bunch of teenage kids at their high school, take comfort in knowing that they are not the voice of reason or justice, and they certainly are not the voice of God.

They are simply the most obnoxious voice in the room.

The members of the East Lansing community have an opportunity to ensure that this obnoxious voice isn’t the only one that is heard.
I beseech you to let WBC know their voices are not the ones that will be tolerated here.

Matt Manning is a State News guest columnist. Reach him at mannin84@msu.edu.