A guy I never saw before walked up to me a few years ago on the
sidewalk in Pittsburgh out front of Heinz Hall and said, right out
of the blue, “God hates fags.”
Across the street, behind a police line, about a dozen
protesters were chanting and carrying large signs: “God Hates Mr.
Rogers’ Neighborhood,” “God hates queers,” “Mr. Rogers Is Burning
In Hell.”
The protesters were from the Westboro Baptist Church in
Topeka, Kansas.
Along with a large crowd on the sidewalk right before
showtime, I was inching my way into Heinz Hall with my wife to
attend a Fred Rogers memorial service.
Rogers had a wife, too, along with two sons and grandkids,
plus a Presidential Medal of Freedom. But somehow he was perceived
as still too “gay” for some people when he put on his sneakers,
buttoned up his cardigan sweater, and began to softly sing “Won’t
You Be My Neighbor” to the kids.
For the Westboro group, I guess that song sounded too much
like everyone was welcome, like it would be just fine if Elton John
moved in next door with his husband and their new nontraditionally
produced son, a kid who arrived with five names — Zachary Jackson
Levon Furnish-John.
Maybe the anger coming from the street protesters about
Rogers and his neighborhood was linked to their national security
anxieties. Perhaps they think it was better when our kids were
entertained by watching cowboys eradicate indigenous people in
their own neighborhoods.
Maybe they think it’s better for us when our kids get
desensitized to resource fights and the might-is-right ethos, lest
they become too weak-kneed to fight kamikaze pilots, underwear
bombers and whatever else is tossed in our direction.
A Welcome Wagon is no match for bloodthirsty
jihadists.
The aforementioned Heinz Hall incident was brought to mind
when the Supreme Court recently affirmed in a lopsided 8-to-1
ruling that the Westboro Baptist Church had the right to stage
anti-gay protests at the funerals of U.S. troops.
The signs they carry at soldiers’ funerals say things
similar to what the signs said at Heinz Hall: “Thank God for Dead
Soldiers,” “U.S. Troops in Hell,” “God Hates Your Dead Son &
Your Tears.”
The Supreme Court case resulted from Albert Snyder suing
the Westboro church after its members picketed the funeral of his
son, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq. The
court rejected Snyder’s argument that the church invaded privacy
and caused intentional distress.
The Westboro Baptist Church basically consists of Fred
Phelps and his family. Their message is that America’s military
deaths are God’s punishment for our growing acceptance of gay men
and lesbians. Ellen DeGeneres is tops on TV and Elton John is rich,
married and touring, so God is allegedly pleased when our troops
get killed.
“America is doomed for its acceptance of homosexuality,”
contends Phelps. “If God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for going
after fornication and homosexuality, then why wouldn’t God destroy
America for the same thing.”
I’m not learned in theology, but I think that, in addition
to Sodom and Gomorrah, there’s also something in the Bible about
God killing a million Ethiopians, plus the first born of Egyptians,
plus Onan for some incorrect spilling, plus there were allegedly
lions, bears and worms sent by God to eat up on assorted skeptics
and free thinkers.
In any case, I asked the anti-Rogers protesters at Heinz
Hall about God eradicating the first born in Egypt, mostly
heterosexuals, along with Mr. Onan and some noncompliant guys
who ate some fish without fins, but they just clammed up and got
back in their vans.
