westboro is coming to san jose

trent bortknob · February 12, 2011 10:08 AM

what should i do

trent bortknob · February 12, 2011 11:17 AM

i mean i don't want to be like "WTF YOU'RE WRONG GOD LOVES EVERY1" or attempt to troll them because it won't work obviously

i think instead of trying to change their minds, i could use their presence as a way of promoting positive atheism

i was thinking of having signs that picket messages regarding other fictional literature than the bible. like harry potter. for example: a sign that says "DUMBLEDORE HATES MUDBLOODS" or something. i can't think of anything right now that would be really useful, as ignoring them seems like it would be the most beneficial thing (though i know that most others aren't going to).

if nothing else, i'll probably go there with some like-minded people because it will be something to do on a friday night. i was thinking if i can't think of anything important messages to promote, we'll all just hold up signs with inane and irrelevant messages on them and act angry about it. if nothing else we could just watch for fun.

i have a shirt that says "THERE IS NO GOD" on it. i've always been careful of wearing it because i don't want to offend people (then why did i buy it, i know), but this seems like a fitting occasion.

Flash · February 12, 2011 12:17 PM

i don't believe in god, either - but i think this is a better opportunity for speaking against hate than for promoting some other point of view.

Sapphire · February 12, 2011 01:40 PM

how about you just go to taco bell and order a bean burrito and call it a day

Philip K Dick · February 12, 2011 06:21 PM

just say "alright" to everything they say.

slack · February 12, 2011 06:42 PM

Quote from: Sapphirehow about you just go to taco bell and order a bean burrito and call it a day

trent bortknob · February 12, 2011 06:42 PM

Quote from: Flashi don't believe in god, either - but i think this is a better opportunity for speaking against hate than for promoting some other point of view.

that's what everyone is going to be doing though.

everyone either speaks against hate or tries to troll them, and i mean those methods just don't do anything. most people in america already hate this family and their stupid message, me going around telling everyone that their message is wrong is pretty unnecessary. and putting up signs insulting them can be kind of funny, but it's also not going to do anything.

i'm not trying to do something really great or important or something, just handle it differently. there was this one guy who set up a charity donation booth thing like across the street from them, and got a lot of people from the large crowd that went to see westboro to donate to the same charities that westboro pickets against. he didn't get all in westboro's face about it either, he just sort of did it across the street quietly. that's like the perfect mix of ignoring them and also countering them

so i might just do that

Necronomitr0n · February 12, 2011 07:13 PM

don't bother

you will not succeed

Flash · February 12, 2011 07:14 PM

that's a cool idea indeed, go for it!

i remember one time i saw street musicians counter-protesting against some random hate group around here, if you know how to play music from some of the groups they hate, it might work too, and it'll be entertaining. any money you make might go to charity.

if i had a better repertoire i would've done this at that time haha

rtil · February 12, 2011 07:16 PM

ignore them

they crave attention

if everyone ignored them, they wouldn't do these protests and pickets

trent bortknob · February 12, 2011 07:20 PM

that's what everyone says, and i think there's truth to it, but you know like i do that they're not going to be ignored by everyone. if you can take their attention that they're getting and turn it into a positive thing without giving them anymore attention, that would be the way to go.

Mew_User · February 12, 2011 09:54 PM

Submit

rtil · February 12, 2011 10:26 PM

Quote from: trent bortknobthat's what everyone says, and i think there's truth to it, but you know like i do that they're not going to be ignored by everyone. if you can take their attention that they're getting and turn it into a positive thing without giving them anymore attention, that would be the way to go.

so just because other people won't be ignoring them, you're not going to either, even know you know that's the best thing to do?

Jeinu · February 12, 2011 11:05 PM

infiltrate the church

creamcorn · February 12, 2011 11:08 PM

i think you should not only tolerate their beliefs, you should also respect them

tmk · February 12, 2011 11:09 PM

not attending would only be an effective response if everyone else chose to ignore them
too late for that to be a realistic scenario

not attending= one less attendee
attending and setting up a booth for charity or some such= $$$ for charity, feel-goods for everyone

ignoring any moral implications of using the public's fascination with hate speech to turn up a profit for charity and all that

trent bortknob · February 12, 2011 11:14 PM

well if you read the rest of my post you would have seen that i\\\'m not necessarily sure that it is the best thing to do.

yes, i do believe in the idea of doing something even though no one else will. for example, when people were choosing obama at the elections as a (lesser of two evils) i thought it was really stupid. but, in this case i think that there are certain ways of ignoring them but also using them in subtle ways to do other things: like i said, you can collect money for the charities they specifically target, or you can somehow promote something else

holding big signs making fun of them is sort of funny, but it\\\'s overdone and not valuable. i\\\'m not sure that ignoring them is the best option either, and also because i KNOW no one else will ignore them, i\\\'ll probably try some alternative way of turning it around. or not, i\\\'m not sure yet.

thank you tmk for explaining that

Quote from: creamcorni think you should not only tolerate their beliefs, you should also respect them

that\\\'s some good trolling dude LoL

Greenkitten · February 12, 2011 11:16 PM

set them on fire.

rtil · February 12, 2011 11:19 PM

Quote from: tmknot attending would only be an effective response if everyone else chose to ignore them
too late for that to be a realistic scenario

not attending= one less attendee
attending and setting up a booth for charity or some such= $$$ for charity, feel-goods for everyone

ignoring any moral implications of using the public's fascination with hate speech to turn up a profit for charity and all that

i'm going to have to completely disagree with the scenario because the logic is totally unsound. one less person bringing attention to WBC is an effective response. you're still using the argument that you may as well bring more attention to them simply because others are doing it, with the guise of "i am doing something good", when in reality you're using WBC's presence as a secondary excuse for doing so.

and you may as well never make any decisions on your own in the long run if your logic follows mob mentality.

CoolDrMoney · February 12, 2011 11:24 PM

Stay home and masterbate