Blog: My Conversation with the Westboro Baptist Church Protesters

The Westboror Baptist Church (WBC) is infamous for protesting military funerals saying that the soldiers died because the United States government does not have a hard-line stance on homosexuality. They also protest churches for being soft on sin and for encouraging people to remarry after divorce.

After seeing these protesters on the news and viewing their horrible website “God hates fags.com”  I’ve always wanted to ask them a few questions if I had the chance. Well I got that chance on Feb. 24 when the WBC came to Malibu and protested a few churches and then moved on to the Oscars later that evening.

I arrived at the First Presbyterian Church on Malibu Canyon Road early before the scheduled protest. A small group of protesters, about six, arrived in a mini van and began protesting across the street on Malibu Canyon  Road. I was able to snap a few photos and have a conversation with some of the protesters. My most burning question was  about evangelism. Isn’t the goal of every church to win hearts for Jesus? Is this church kidding themselves about the number of people they turn away?  Apparently not.  I asked this lady  if she feels responsible for the people that they turn away from following Christ. I asked her what about the people who are on the fence about deciding to make  a decision to follow Jesus, but after seeing them protest,  they make the decision not to. She stated that “there is no fence. You either follow God or you don't. The laws is either written on your heart or it's not.”  She repeated several times “there is no fence.”   She stated that their “ministry” is not evangelistic; it is a ministry of warning.

As I heard the entire group making their speeches or answering questions it was obvious  that they have had a lot of practice. Just like presidential candidates practice for debates, I can imagine these people practicing their interactions with the public. They seem to have “down pat” answers for everything. It also seems to be difficult for them to talk verses yell. I also looked around and noticed several people with expensive video cameras.  I wondered if one of these people was from their church, chronicling  the interactions. I had read that this church is not actually a church at all, but a family that has a large number of attorneys that make money suing people who infringe on their rights of free speech. In other words these protests were supposedly their way of getting people riled up to infringe on their right to free speech so they can sue. I asked a protester about this and she stated they are busy spreading the word of God and she doesn't have time to sue people.  She did say she is an attorney though. A female protester  stated that most churches today are soft on sin. They preach about a wimpy, long haired Jesus that loves everybody. They teach their congregation that it is okay to divorce and then re-marry into fornication. I heard this word fornication several times this morning. It seems to be one of their favorites.

I noticed that she was standing on an American flag. I also notice that almost each protester had some type of deformation of the American flag. I asked what would happen in Iran if someone was stomping on the Iranian flag in the middle of Tehran. She got angry at me and called me a hypocrite. She stated that she has been arrested here in the United States for standing on the flag “so don't talk to me about Iran.”  I tried talking to her about the irony of her exercising her right to freedom of speech while standing on USA soil with one foot and USA flag with the other. She got angry again and launched into a memorized diatribe about the evil policies of the United States government.

The group then moved to the corner at Legacy Park by Malibu City Hall where the Wave Side Church meets. There I asked a protester  the evangelism question. I asked it in a different way… “would you be willing to admit that the WBC turns more people away from Christ then it converts?”  He answered confidently “yes - but the people that turn away are people that God doesn’t want in the first place.”  Such a wonderful  diffusion of responsibility.

The interactions were mostly peaceful but a few drivers honked their horns, showed their middle fingers and yelled obscenities. With every curse word, the protester’s resolve strengthened.

The group then moved to an area by the Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church. During this protest  I talked to a protester about the Bible verse about the fruits of the spirit; kindness, gentleness, love, joy, peace Etc. He had a prepared answer... He stated that he is kind. He stated  if a friend was about to walk off a cliff , he would do the kind thing and warn him. He stated “this is what we are doing out here,  we are warning the people they are about to walk off a cliff and die with eternal damnation.”  During this protest,  a citizen not from Malibu showed up and began to confront the protesters. He was very angry and loud. People with the cameras quickly gathered around to finally see some action. The  WBC group seemed to thrive on all the attention and drama. And once again, their resolve strengthened.

 In my 30 year career in Social Work and counseling,  (which is not over by the way) I have talked to many difficult people; murderers, rapist,  angry and traumatized victims,  child molesters, drug addicts, and their attorneys… and all of the above in varying degrees of sobriety and mental health. I find it ironic that I had to use the same skills of talking with these “church” members that I do with my clients.

In some ways my most burning question was answered. They don’t care about the people they turn away from Christ. I think though, I am more confused than before about their motivation and what makes these people tick. 

Whatever  it is, they are incredibly sad,

Incredibly rude,

and their hearts seem to be so hardened.

I'm thoroughly convinced that the way to deal with these people is to freeze them out; to not have any cameras or interviews or any sort of attention at all when they protest.  It would be so cool if traffic could be diverted from the street they protest on. I remember the phrase from the 60's "what if they had a war and nobody came?"

On one hand I was happy and glad to be part of this Malibu history and glad to finally talk with some of these people. On the other hand, I was little bit ashamed that I, with my camera, interacting with these people, was part of the machine that keeps them going.

I am such a dork. I have an American flag patch on my camera strap. As I was talking to these people, I made darn sure that my flag was not accidentally positioned upside down.