patching...
Welcome back, Patch Blogger!

Westboro Baptists

Monday, January 21, 2013

Protesters Unite Against Westboro Baptist and Hate

Counter-protesters, including a Forks Township woman, showed up at Lehigh Valley churches Sunday where the controversial Westboro Baptist Church said it would picket.

Westboro Baptist Church's threat to protest at four Lehigh Valley churches on Sunday was, in the end, an idle one. The controversial church known for its extreme views on homosexuality and protests at military funerals was a no-show. But the Kansas-based church rallied a diverse crowd that included a Forks Township woman, a Sunday school teacher, a cigar aficionado club and motorcyclists in chaps, to get up early on a frigid Sunday morning to publicly and peacefully take a stand against Westboro's message of hate and intolerance. Westboro's potential presence here was enough to get Ryan Bitler, 22, of Bethlehem, out of bed and attend his first protest. Bitler is a Pennsylvania National Guardsman who served a year in Afghanistan as a …

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Westboro Baptists Don't Show but Counter-Protesters Ready

Westboro Baptists did not show up at Asbury United Methodist and First Baptist churches in South Whitehall, or two Allentown churches, Sunday morning but counter-protesters were there in case they did.

Update: 10:45 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 20 Westboro Baptists do not show up at First Baptist Church in South Whitehall, which was the group's fourth targeted church in the Lehigh Valley. South Whitehall Police Lt. John Christman, who is at First Baptist, said, "It’s a non-event. It’s been non-violent. It’s more social than anything." As for the controversial Westboro Baptists, he said, "I feel fortunate they didn’t show." Counter-protesters came to First Baptist, as they did to three other churches earlier Sunday, turning out in case Westboro Baptists did show up. Many carried signs against hate. There were two South Whitehall police cars and several officers at the church location. Update: 10:20 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 20 Counter-protest group at the…

Awesomeness

7:29 pm on Sunday, January 20, 2013

I am not into church but do things for others and is that not what church is an example of. Being there for other and help other less able to. There are different forms of what we all believe in. Let build to help other and embrace others for good not bad. These are reason why our USA is falling apart. Positive people come on.   more ›

Got a Hot Tip?