Counter Protest Phelp's Westboro Church of Hate @ Drake University in IA this SATURDAY in DES MOINES

[Shoush]

The Westboro Baptist Church is coming to Drake University to protest the "Same-Sex Marriage Divide" forum held by the law school.

Here's the plan:

6:00 AM (yes, it's early, but we can do it)- meet to make signs and discuss our PEACEFUL counter-protest. Location TBD (we're looking into Parents Hall in Olmstead)

7:30 AM- Walk to the law library and start our counter-protest. During the counter-protest we are going to raise money off of the WBC’s hate-speech. Every time they use hate speech, and/or for every sign they have using hate-speech someone will donate a dollar. Bring your singles!

8:30 AM- End counter-protest. For those who want to follow the WBC to the synangogues around town, now would be the time

10:00 AM- Showing of "The Laramie Project" in Olin 101

OR

10:00 AM- Activities such as tie-dying t-shirts and games. Location TBD (hopefully the same location as the sign-making)

12:00 PM- Lunch served for those who have participated.

Any suggestions for activities would be greatly appreciated. We want to give people an alternative to watching the movie, if they so choose, but we need your input on what you’d like to see happen.

Profits from t-shirts and donations will be sent to OneIowa, AIDS research and Al Snyder, the father who sued the WBC and is now being forced to pay part of their court costs, as well as his own. We will be taking any donations beyond these two methods that people would like to give, so feel free to bring extra money.

Please leave suggestions for activities on the wall, and any other ideas you may have. Remember, keep it PEACEFUL.

This is totally worth getting up on a Saturday morning for and you know it.


http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=104483389592259&ref=nf

[patrick t. cakes]

1. count me in

see you there

[AmandaMae]

2. I'll try to be there

[rurallib]

3. He threatened to show up in CR about a year ago, but didn't show

I bet the police really hate this guy. He makes their jobs hard.

[Shoush]

4. Drake University President Maxwell's Statement on WBC

http://www.law.drake.edu/newsEvents/docs/maxwellMemo.pdf

"WBC has a well-documented history of suing those who have been provoked by their demonstrations, using any proceeds from those suits as a funding source for their activities. WBC has attracted a great deal of national attention for (among other things) picketing—with profoundly offensive signs—at the military funerals of members of the armed forces killed in the line of duty, pronouncing that these deaths are the consequence of America’s tolerance of gays.

Based on the rhetoric of their web site, it is likely that much of what these protesters will say—and particularly the way in which they say it—will be antithetical to our core values and to the very concept of respectful debate. I want to state emphatically here that—having reviewed the WBC web site and extensive media coverage of their activities—I personally find the manner in which this organization chooses to communicate its beliefs to be morally repugnant, and I am deeply suspicious of the members’ motives. By allowing their demonstration to take place on our campus, our commitment to the role of the university as a haven for free and open discourse will be sorely tested—all the more reason to ensure that we ourselves act in accordance with our principles.

Drake University’s Statement of Principles, adopted by the faculty in 1991-92, emphasizes the vital importance of civil discourse and freedom of speech as defining elements of the University. The Statement of Principles reads, in part:

Drake University upholds freedom of thought and freedom of expression as central to its educational mission. Drake therefore carefully refrains from restricting the exchange of ideas or regulating the content of speech. We realize that freedom of thought and freedom of expression produce conflict and challenge. We encourage civil debate and discussion of divergent perspectives and opinions in a manner that affirms our community. We seek to create a community in which shared purpose transcends difference and respect for human dignity transcends conflict. . .

Freedom of speech is ultimately one of our messiest freedoms—it means that on occasion we will be subjected to words and ideas that we find morally repugnant, offensive and disheartening. The way in which we react to those words and ideas ultimately defines who we are. We cannot—when confronted by them—give in to emotion and allow ourselves to abandon our values, allow ourselves to become like those whom we find offensive."