The Lead

The loosely affiliated group known as "Anonymous", a group of Internet users that have been described as vigilantes, have announced their intention to target the Westboro Baptist Church websites and congregation members. Westboro is notorious online for their website "GodHatesFags.com", their actions picketing churches that support GLBT rights and, of late, funerals of American war dead.

As the Examiner describes it:

Tuesday, the group Anonymous released an open letter to Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church (WBC). The letter is nothing short of an ultimatum: a cease and desist order against the Westboro Baptist Church.
The letter states "Rather than allowing the deceased some degree of peace and respect, you (WBC) instead choose to torment, harass, and assault those who grieve." After chastising the WBC for "preaching your benighted gospel of hatred" and deploying "tactics and methods of intimidation and mental & emotional abuse," Anonymous makes it clear that the church will soon be a target of attack.

Open Letter to Westboro Baptist Church

AN OPEN LETTER FROM ANONYMOUS

February 16, 2011

TO THE CONGREGANTS OF WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH:

We, the collective super-consciousness known as ANONYMOUS - the Voice of Free Speech & the Advocate of the People - have long heard you issue your venomous statements of hatred, and we have witnessed your flagrant and absurd displays of inimitable bigotry and intolerant fanaticism. We have always regarded you and your ilk as an assembly of graceless sociopaths and maniacal chauvinists & religious zealots, however benign, who act out for the sake of attention & in the name of religion.

Being such aggressive proponents for the Freedom of Speech & Freedom of Information as we are, we have hitherto allowed you to continue preaching your benighted gospel of hatred and your theatrical exhibitions of, not only your fascist views, but your utter lack of Christ-like attributes. You have condemned the men and women who serve, fight, and perish in the armed forces of your nation; you have prayed for and celebrated the deaths of young children, who are without fault; you have stood outside the United States National Holocaust Museum, condemning the men, women, and children who, despite their innocence, were annihilated by a tyrannical embodiment of fascism and unsubstantiated repugnance. Rather than allowing the deceased some degree of peace and respect, you instead choose to torment, harass, and assault those who grieve.

Your demonstrations and your unrelenting cascade of disparaging slurs, unfounded judgments, and prejudicial innuendos, which apparently apply to every individual numbered amongst the race of Man - except for yourselves - has frequently crossed the line which separates Freedom of Speech from deliberately utilizing the same tactics and methods of intimidation and mental & emotional abuse that have been previously exploited and employed by tyrants and dictators, fascists and terrorist organizations throughout history.

ANONYMOUS cannot abide this behavior any longer. The time for us to be idle spectators in your inhumane treatment of fellow Man has reached its apex, and we shall now be moved to action. Thus, we give you a warning: Cease & desist your protest campaign in the year 2011, return to your homes in Kansas, & close your public Web sites.

Should you ignore this warning, you will meet with the vicious retaliatory arm of ANONYMOUS: We will target your public Websites, and the propaganda & detestable doctrine that you promote will be eradicated; the damage incurred will be irreversible, and neither your institution nor your congregation will ever be able to fully recover. It is in your best interest to comply now, while the option to do so is still being offered, because we will not relent until you cease the conduction & promotion of all your bigoted operations & doctrines.

The warning has been given. What happens from here shall be determined by you.

WE ARE ANONYMOUS.

WE ARE LEGION.

WE DO NOT FORGIVE.

WE DO NOT FORGET.

EXPECT US."

From here.

Comments (7)

I would expect that many of us have thought about contacting Fred Phelps and his followers at Westboro and advising them in a similiar manner. Though ANONYMOUS does not identify themselves as a religious group, I am compelled to cling to the teachings of the Master Jesus when He taught us to turn the other cheek. That is a difficult thing to do - especially when you have those who hold up signs which read "God Hates Fags" and those who protest at the funerals of those women and men who have died in the military due to wars. The Second Greatest Commandment that the Master Jesus taught was to love our neighbors as ourselves - even when they revile us and persecute us. And it is hard. It is hard to not want to lash out and offer them the same type of treatment that they have dealt us. I am not sure what this letter from ANONYMOUS will accomplish - as it appears that the Westboro group are so saturated in their hate, bigotry, intolerance, and ignorance. Westboro, like many hate groups, need our prayers. We need to love them into being.

Namaste.

Posted by Br. Thomas Squiers | February 19, 2011 11:06 PM

It's childish, but I have written these people (along with Pat Robertson, Rush Limbaugh, Mother Angelica, and a few others) informing them that God had asked me to tell them to shut up. So far, God and I aren't doing so well on that front.

I do hope that this is nothing more than a scare tactic.

Posted by Peter Pearson | February 19, 2011 11:24 PM

I feel extremely ambivalent about this.

There's no doubt that Phelps&Co DESERVE this. "Sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind": they SHOULD know that!

Moreover, I believe that Phelps has, through his anti-LGBT, anti-pluralist, misogynist, misanthropic message caused REAL HARM ("...but names can never hurt me" is BS).

That said, I think that Anonymous's efforts may well make WBC feel even more paranoid and victimized than they already do.

Say Anonymous knocks "GodHates... dot com" off the web. For how long? And even if so, I think we can trust they'll show up at funerals (etc, et al) regardless.

I'm just not sure I see the point (besides Anonymous getting their jollies at knocking down the websites for some period).

Personally, I think if Anonymous put their efforts at helping the bullied, instead of hurting the bullies, it might be more productive.

Ultimately, Fred Phelps will go the way of all flesh (Please, dear God, of natural causes! If ever there was anyone who did NOT deserve the crown of martyrdom...). That, more than anything else, is what is most likely to cause the demise of WBC.

JC Fisher

Posted by tgflux | February 20, 2011 12:54 AM

An update:

On the WBC's main website's home page, they have already retaliated with remarks about members of Anonymous being pimply geeky amateur hacker teenagers.
(Really? That's something you expect to hear on the playground, not from a church!)

They have no clue what dragon they've unleashed. Anonymous has some very proficient, dedicated, and downright vicious hackers, many of whom don't take kindly to being publicly insulted.
This...is not going to end well for the WBC.

Posted by Kate Jackson | February 20, 2011 1:23 PM

Now, there's some doubt whether this was "Anonymous" at all, but rather a scam by WBC to collect IPs, for suing purposes. (I have NO idea about these things)

Posted by tgflux | February 21, 2011 2:00 AM

@ JC Fisher

It might be, it would fit with the WBC's "piss them off, wait for retaliation, sue, profit" pattern of behavior. And I wouldn't put it past them to ride on Anon's recent media notoriety with the WikiLeaks hoop-la. It's a good scapegoat, a good lawsuit possibility, and a good way to direct media attention back to themselves, since Fred can't stand being out of the limelight even for 2 seconds.

But quite frankly, any hacker who doesn't know how to decently spoof their IP so they don't get caught, deserves to get caught.

Publicly, I think a good majority has decided to opt for the safer route and continue giving what aid we can to people struggling for political change over in Africa and the Middle East.
But being such a very loose collective only defined by temporarily common goals, there's still inevitably going to be some who do go after the WBC. And who probably get caught in the act. And sued until their great-great-grandchildren will be feeling the monetary pain.
Good luck to 'em, but the rest of us have bigger fish to fry.

Posted by Kate Jackson | February 21, 2011 10:11 AM

It was a hoax. Anonymous has responded (and with tongue firmly planted in cheek) http://www.flickr.com/photos/7760588@N05/5465635808/

Kathy Kirkland

Posted by www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=781817925 | February 22, 2011 11:51 AM

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