WBC to picket Alaska Natives

God Hates Alaska Native Culture Says WBC

By Jeanne DevonFred Phelps, the founder of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas is dead and gone, but the institution of intolerance and hatred is still on the march, and headed to Alaska. WBC has a long history of organizing anti-gay protests, and picketing military and other funerals with crude and offensive signs.

Now, Westboro Baptist Church has announced plans to picket the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage on the morning of June 1. Why, you ask?

A news release posted on GodHatesFags.com, replete with Bible quotations, states two reasons for protesting the Alaska Heritage Center.“…you make a religion out of the pagan idolatrous practices of past generations. There is nothing appealing or holy about the “heritage” of the eleven “distinct cultures” or “diverse population” of Alaska. They walked in darkness and served idols of every kind, contrary to the direct commandment to have no gods before God.

“… you fail to give God the glory, instead of the traditions and gods of the past… Stop worshiping dead cultures, man-made idols, and the sinful traditions of past generations. Put the resources into teaching and learning the Bible instead, and warning your neighbor to stop sinning before it’s too late, and he’s sinned away the last day of grace.”Westboro Baptist Church protesters unlikely in Alaska, watchdog says

By Tegan HanlonAs a local group made plans Tuesday to counter-protest a Westboro Baptist Church picket in Anchorage, an expert with the Southern Poverty Law Center said it's unlikely that Westboro protesters will actually show up. Their announcements are often publicity stunts, he said.

Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the Topeka, Kan. church, known for controversial protests at funerals and other public events, has a long history of scheduling pickets, but actually attends less than half of the events.

"Typically, they will call the local press, get a scary story about these awful people coming to town and not show up," Potok said. "And what sometimes happens is you'll be expecting 50 people and a man and two small children show up."

Westboro Baptist Church has announced two protests in Anchorage over the past three days, one at ChangePoint, a non-denominational church, and the other at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, a nonprofit in Muldoon with a mission to share and preserve Alaska Native culture. Both pickets are planned for Sunday, June 1.'God Hates Native Culture': Westboro Baptist to Picket Alaska Natives

By Vincent SchillingShortly after the announcement of the protest by the WBC, a No Westboro Baptist Protest at our AK Native Heritage Center! Facebook page was created to offset the protest. Though the Facebook page had over 600 members on Monday evening, it had doubled in size by Tuesday afternoon to well over 1,200.

According to the ‘No Westboro’ Facebook pages’ mission statement posted by Donna Willoya:

‘We are uniting as Alaskans to honor and embrace our cultural diversity, to preserve our heritage and to teach future generations the importance of acceptance & respect for all people.’

Willoya also posted in the group that though people may get angry at the WBC members for wanting to protest, she wishes the Native community not to respond with violence and sink to their level.Photos of the Native Culture Center 'God Hates'

Comment:  Last I heard, the WBC called the protest off. Good thing for them, since Natives would've shown them up badly.

But I wonder how this came about. Did the idiots read about Alaska Natives in a hunting magazine or something? Did they decide these must be the last Natives left?

Did anyone tell them hundreds of tribes have been practicing their religions for centuries? It's kind of late to stop their "idolatry." What's next...supporting the Spanish Inquisition against the Jews?

For more on the Westboro Baptist Church, see Pix of Comic-Con 2010.