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WORD Gives Westboro Baptist Church One Hour Of Airtime

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

This afternoon at 3 PM during the Bob McLain show. This in return for promising not to protest at a Williamston, S.C.'s funeral tomorrow.
http://www.wyff4.com/r/27236615/detail.html

And their website currently has a poll: "Do you agree with WORD's decision to give the Westboro Baptist Church one hour of air time in exchange for not protesting at a fallen SC airman's funeral?" Nearly three out of four say "yes."

I don't know about you, but I hope Bob McLain pulls a Jimmy Cefalo with these clowns.
 
DToTheJ said:
I don't know about you, but I hope Bob McLain pulls a Jimmy Cefalo with these clowns.
Click to expand...

Charting a course of action to deal with Westboro Church is a challenging task. But treating them with behavior as bizarre as their own behavior may not be the answer. I question whether the rest of us can ever win by trying to be MORE obnoxious to them as they are to us.

We have two issues at play here.

1. Can someone through the negotiating process, and maybe through one-on-one conversation before and after such broadcasts finally reach through the "shield of arrogance" that surrounds the Phelps family and let some sunlight inside that shield?

2. What kind of message does it transmit to the public at large if high-profile people and institutions (broadcasters included) demonstrate that the way we deal with differences in our society is to see who can over-power the other groups with nastiness?
 
I hope they put a dummy load on the transmitter.

As a (fallen) Christian and a member of the Patriot Guard Riders, the WBC makes me want to puke.
 
Publicity and attention are the oxygen on which WBC breathes. Take away the attention and they're just another bunch of crazy people carrying signs.

I would imagine the Phelpses leave a town happy if they've drawn a trail of news coverage and radio appearances and lawsuits (remember, they're all lawyers, and they earn their keep by suing those who counterattack them).

I would imagine the Phelpses leave town very, very disappointed if they've spewed their bile and nobody's really paid them any mind.
 
This seems rather bizarre to me, but if this is what keeps these ultra fundamentalist wackos from protesting a brave airman's funeral, then I say more power to WORD. I was really saddened to see this decision given to them by the Supreme Court and they give a bad name to all good churches in this country.
 
It's a fine idea for WORD to give the Phelps Westboro family airtime.
The best part is that no one has to listen.
If they listen, that's all right too, but at least it will keep five or six bilous people off the streets the day of the funeral.
 
MarkSC said:
WORD does it for the same reason Westboro does...publicity. But, I agree, it's a poor decision.
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agree. i am sure word publicized to all the other media to get coverage in hopes of spinning them as the good guys. lunacy on both sides of the mic on this one
 
WORD and Entercom are shameless. They are giving credibility to a group that is despicable....not credible. It's one thing to go to the edge and even past the edge on most occasions and issues. This is not one of those times. The Westboro Baptist Church deserves nothing short of annihilation and should not be bribed to stand back and refrain from dishonoring the honorable. Shame on WORD and Entercom for placcating the Westboro Baptist Church. Outrageous.
 
I can't say I'm surprised. Yes, this is tasteless, but given who's there, how can you be surprised? I typically like news/talk stations, but this is WORD for crying out loud. The talent they have is less than impressive, is not likable, and their scheduling is stupid. Who schedules Hannity from 8-11pm? I really don't get what they see in Gallagher (who has been doing his show live from Ent. Upstate this week), it has to be do the fact that he has roots with them.

Sickening, really.
 
MarkSC said:
Same principle as not negotiating with terrorists. Once you start, it never ends.
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This is one of the prices, one of the discomforts of living in a country that gives freedom of speech.

There are parts of the world where someone in government would decide this errant little church group is evil and the rest of us would never know whether the group was indeed evil, or just government suppressed.

If no one ever gives them a soap box on which to stand for their now-and-then 15 minutes of fame, how will we ever know for ourselves that they are indeed "bad hombres"?

I asked a friend why his Presbyterian church building was so far out in the rural area rather than in the little county seat town here in North Georgia. His reply was that 30 years ago the townspeople thought Presbyterians were some kind of evil cult and no one in town would sell them land to build on. One land owner not only told them no, but said if you do find land and you build, we will burn it down.

The price of freedom includes having to listen once in a while to someone prove that he/she is indeed the south end of a north bound horse.
 
Margie Phelps called into Dennis Miller today, just as a regular caller "Margie from Kansas" not as spokesperson for the church.
If the hour on WORD is anything like the two minutes she did on Dennis Miller, then the only thing that will come out of this is that they will prove (again) that they are what they are. And at least it will keep them from protesting at a funeral (officially, it seems like they cancel a good percentage of their "planned" protests anyway).
 
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