Justin Vacula: westboro baptist church

Showing posts with label westboro baptist church. Show all posts

Westboro Baptist Church responds to new military funeral legislation

I published a new article for Examiner.com titled "Westboro Baptist Church responds to new military funeral legislation." Read the first paragraph of the article below and click the above link for the full story.

President Obama recently signed legislation which places restrictions on protests of military funerals. New legislation, the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012, states that protests may not take place within 300 feet of military funerals. Additionally, protests are prohibited two hours before and after military funeral services. Brent Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church -- a group impacted by this new legislation -- comments for this article.

Westboro Baptist Church: "Praise God for The Clergy Project"

I authored a new article for Examiner.com titled Westboro Baptist Church: "Praise God for The Clergy Project. Read the first paragraph of the article below and click the above link for the full article.

The Clergy Project – a private, invitation only, online peer support community for active and former clergy who no longer hold supernatural beliefs – has drawn the attention of the Westboro Baptist Church. A Westboro Baptist Church “Godsmacks' blog post titled “Preachers=Atheists And?” announces, “Praise God for The Clergy Project.” Lizz Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church comments for this article.

Radio appearance discussing upcoming college talk

Reap and I at American Atheists' 2012 Annual Convention

I appeared on the June 27, 2012 episode of Reap Sow Radio to discuss my upcoming speaking engagement for a college-level philosophy course at Holy Apostles College and Seminary -- a fully-accredited evangelical Catholic university -- titled "Atheism and New Atheism." For my initial comments and more information about this upcoming speaking engagement, read the corresponding blog post on the matter that has also been reproduced on the Freedom From Religion Foundation's website.

Download or stream the episode here.
(Warning: NSFW - Some language)

I start talking about the class and much more-- for about twenty minutes -- around the 35 minute mark.

Enjoy...and check out Reap's podcast, "The Angry Atheist," which has more than 85 episodes -- a new atheist in almost every episode -- featuring Todd Stiefel, Peter Boghossian, my friend Trinity, Bridget Gaudette of the new Secular Woman group, Friendly Atheist Hemant Mehta, Emily Dietle, my friend and fellow NEPA Freethought Society member Karla Porter, D.J. Grothe, and many more! I was even on in June 2011! [Sorry, can't get everyone here.]

Westboro Baptist Church to protest Drew Carey

I published a new article for Examiner.com titled "Westboro Baptist Church to protest Drew Carey." Read the first paragraph below and click the above link for the rest of the article.

Members of Westboro Baptist Church – a church widely known for its protesting of military funerals and rhetoric concerning LGBT persons – will be protesting Drew Carey's “The Best of the Midnight Show” at the Landmark Theatre in Greenwood Village, Colorado this Saturday evening.

Westboro Baptist Church to attend Reason Rally with special message for atheists

I authored a new article for Examiner.com titled "Westboro Baptist Church to attend Reason Rally with special message for atheists." Read this article and more on my Examiner.com page and please subscribe for instant updates of new content.

Penn State University Atheist/Agnostic Association responds to Westboro Baptist

I published a new article for Examiner.com titled "Penn State University Atheist/Agnostic Association responds to Westboro Baptist." View this article and more on my Examiner.com page and please subscribe for instant updates via e-mail.

Shirley Phelps-Roper: Joe Paterno failed in his duty

I published a new article on Examiner.com titled "Shirley Phelps-Roper: Joe Paterno failed in his duty." Read this article and more on my Examiner.com page and please subscribe for instant e-mail updates.

Ben Phelps: People who live like Steve Jobs go to Hell

New Examiner.com article - Exclusive interview with Ben Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church

"Ben Phelps: People who live like Steve Jobs go to Hell"

View this article and more on my Examiner.com page and please subscribe for instant notifications of new content!

Westboro is now Misleading...After Not Showing

(Notice the "spreads the word" in this caption...they never showed.)

The Westboro Baptist Church is continuing their misinformation campaign... After not showing at the procession in Pittston after saying they would on live radio, they decided to put up a field report on their website here. They're misleading people by publishing a "field report" which usually requires them to actually be there.

What is their picture, anyway? This is certainly nothing from Pittston and it's obviously photoshopped. The Westboro Baptist Church is full of liars...and not just about their religious or moral claims.

Westboro Never Showed

(A picture of the crowd)

(Some members of the NEPA Freethought Society pose for a picture)

(Me being interviewed by WILK Newsradio)

Above photo credits to NEPA Freethought Society board member Mark R.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Westboro Baptist Church members said they'd be protesting the funeral of a local soldier...but they failed to appear. I brought some members from the NEPA Freethought Society and urged people to attend to counter-protest the Westboro Baptist Church members on Facebook and in-person. A very large crowd of people who would come to the funeral regardless of the anticipated protest and a very large crowd of people who probably wouldn't have showed attended. Despite Shirley Phelps saying that church members would be in attendance on a local radio station, WBC never showed.

The biggest calamity during the procession was a woman with a very noisy shopping cart. Someone called her out and said, "Are you kidding me?" and the lady responded in a very loud voice something to the accord of "I'm just turning left here!" I'm curious as to why she would noisily disrupt the procession...but I assure you that this lady wasn't Shirley Phelps.

The Citizens Voice also, for some reason, published a picture of a sign with a tremendous grammatical error. Shame on them...and where were the parents of this child who is holding this sign? Why didn't they notice this error and fix it? I jest...somewhat.

(Photo Credit: Citizens Voice article linked below)

Hilarity also ensued when a woman released balloons and they were caught in a tree.

Several members of the local media recognized me and asked me why I attended the funeral including people from WILK Newsradio, WYLN, and The Citizens Voice. As far as I know, none of the interviews are online at the moment, but I'll post them as soon as I get them if they go online.

It was excellent to see people of our community standing in unity to honor the fallen soldier and be ready to deal with the Westboro Baptist Church. "The third most hated person in Luzerne County" was happy to stand with religious and non-religious in a common cause.

Update: Here is an article from the Citizens Voice about the event.