Westboro Baptist Church: How We Responded
Protesters from Westboro Baptist Church came to campus on Friday, January 14, 2011. They came to proclaim a message of God’s hate and wrathful judgment. The United Methodist-Protestant Community was a big part of how the American University Community chose to respond to this message of hate, by affirming values of openness, acceptance, and a Gospel of God’s love.
Setting the Tone
Our chaplain, Rev. Mark Schaefer, felt the need to lift up a message of love early on, not only for the people whom WBC usually targets–LGBT persons, Jews, soldiers, etc.–but even for Westboro themselves. These sentiments were written in a post on this site entitled “Why Love Must Win Out,” and among other things, gave the United Methodists their theme for the week: Oscar Romero’s words “Let us never tire of preaching love… love must win out; it is the only thing that can.”
Poetry of Love
Senior Tara Culp-Ressler shared an opportunity with the community for a response of creativity, rather than confrontation. She brought the God Loves Poetry movement to campus and started a Facebook page and organized poetry making events at the previously schedule GBLTA mixer and during the United Methodist community’s Practical Christianity group on Thursday evening. The United Methodist community helped Tara by providing sign-making materials and signage to display on the quad, and giving the event an easy to remember web address by promoting the program on our website at aumethodists.org/godlovespoetry.
Working with Student Leaders
Jonathan Lipton, a freshman involved in the Jewish community, had put up a counter-demonstration page on Facebook very early on. Jonathan wanted to make sure the tone was about affirming all the good things about AU rather than fighting with WBC. Because of his thoughtful tone, his effort was embraced by the University administration and the Student Government. The planned event was named the “Rally to Reaffirm Sanity” after Jon Stewart’s rally earlier in the school year. The Student Government and ATV (American University TV) even produced a video to promote the event and set the tone, with Student Government president Nathan Bronstein closing out the video with an important affirmation of AU’s values. Once again, the United Methodists were invited to participate:
The Rally—Grace Through Chocolate
For the United Methodist-Protestant Community, it was important to demonstrate our commitment to a Gospel of love, even for those who would not share love with us. In addition to becoming a very early supporter of the counter-demonstration and our previous support of the God Loves Poetry program, the AU United Methodist-Protestant Community committed to serving hot chocolate to everyone at the rally. Affixed to the cups were labels with verses of scripture and other quotations affirming God’s love and the duty of Christians to love all. We even made our free hot chocolate available to the protesters from Westboro Baptist Church. They declined. UMSA President Kathleen Kimball and Vice-President Carolyn Capern brought greetings to the entire rally, and quoted Oscar Romero’s elegant words on love as the “force that will overcome the world.”
Pastoral Support
The chaplains of the Kay Spiritual Life Center issued a statement affirming the values of inclusion, diversity, and tolerance on campus. Rev. Schaefer was invited to read the statements from the clergy and preceded the reading by sharing a reflection on the event:
Today is not about anybody else. Today is not about what some other group might think of us, or the bigotries they share, or the hate they would use to express them. Today is not about the press or the spectacle, or the ongoing social debate in our country. Today is about one thing—it is about the kind of community the students of American University have declared themselves to be: a community of openness, of diversity, of respect, of acceptance, of love. A community that affirms the dignity and respect of all our brothers and sisters, whether you see them as fellow descendants on the evolutionary tree or stamped with the very image of God.
Today, in the face of intolerance, you declare acceptance of all. In the face of the narrowness and weakness of fear, you declare the strength of openness. Today in the face of hate, you declare love. There is no collegiate ranking, no Patriot League victory, no KPU visit that could raise the estimation of American University higher. Today is a day when declared yourselves to be a source of light in a world often overrun by darkness.
Images of the Day
The event itself was full of affirmation, openness, a lot of humor, and a lot of love. Below are some of the images from the day when AU responded to hate with an even greater commitment to love.
(To view the public Facebook album, click here)
For Further Reflection
Read our chaplain’s article reflecting on the rally, published on the website of the Baltimore-Washington Conference.
How You Can Respond
Messages of hate are everywhere. We encourage you to share messages of responding to hate with love and you are welcome to share our chaplain’s blog post or other reflections on this event (we ask that you use proper attribution if you do). Feel free to repost using Facebook (or use the ‘share’ button below). If you would like to support our campus ministry in its work to create a community of love and welcome for all on the American University campus, you can make a contribution here. We also appreciate your prayers for our campus, our students, and our ministry. And yes, prayers for the members of Westboro Baptist Church, that their hearts may be filled with a knowledge of God’s abiding love and grace.
And of course, you can respond by helping to create communities of love and creativity in the face of hate wherever you are.
