Anonymous Goes After GodHatesFags.com

An anonymous reader writes "Anonymous is now recognised as a serious force to be taken seriously, but its activities aren't confined to mass global protests, as the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, is discovering, according to p2pnet. Says the Examiner, 'Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church is infamous for their "Love Crusades," obnoxious displays of insensitivity and homophobia at the funerals of fallen American soldiers. The controversial if monotone message of the "Love Crusade" seems to be to blame everything that is wrong in the world on homosexuality. The crusades are part of a hate-based mission started in Kansas by the WBC and Fred Phelps.' In an open letter on AnonNews, '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,' says Anonymous, stating 'Should you ignore this warning, you will meet with the vicious retaliatory arm of ANONYMOUS.'"

Re:Ohhh the irony...

[anagama]

Absolutely there is some irony and there is an understanding of this expressed in Anonymous' letter, but it seems pretty thin (though long winded), and boils down to something like, "we are proponents of free speech, but we don't like the ideas you espouse or the way you express them, so we oppose _your_ speech."

Anonymous should review the ACLU's defense of Nazis in the Skokie case: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Party_of_America_v._Village_of_Skokie [wikipedia.org]

For freedom of speech to work, unsavory speech must be protected. Indeed, it is bottling up unsavory speech, that makes it so dangerous.

Anyway, this is Anonymous' reason not protecting speech:

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.

Streisand effect

[Kjella]

Pardon me for saying so, but why in hell would Anonymous give PR to this weird little cult? Apart from being grossly disgusting they seem fairly few and harmless and their sole power is the outraged press they garner.

They're the kind of religious nuts you can't reason with because they see everything as proof they are right. Hell, isn't this the same creeps that wanted to show up in the funeral of that 9yo girl that got shot? I think these people are going for martyrdom and hoping someone will open fire on them. I'd be tempted.

Anonymous = Liberal version of Militiamen

[Saint Stephen]

I wonder how long it will be before some Anonymous fan decides to kill a few people to prove a point. I always said during the Bush years that I was glad that the paranoid nutjobs (the 9/11 truthers) all appeared to be on the Left this decade. It was such a drag when the militia idiots were in the news all the time.

Re:I don't normally condone vigilantism....

[geekoid]

Freedom of speech has limits, something that has been shown time and time again. Phelps crossed that line.

Re:They Do It for the Lawsuit Settlements

[Prien715]

I have no problem with creating a website devoted to hate. What I do have a problem with are their funeral protests.

If someone gives their life in service of the country, the least the country can do is give them a dignified funeral. We already have limits on Free Speech (screaming "fire" in a theater) and I'm not quite so sure adding an additional restriction would lead to repression. I am however, equally happy, that the counter-protesters always outnumber their filth.

Re:Ohhh the irony...

[MightyMartian]

Or to put it simply, Anonymous really stands for nothing at all. It's a rebel with too many causes. It has about as much meaning or philosophical underpinning as a wet bag of shit.

Re:Ohhh the irony...

[aarggh]

So you would suggest that WBC should just be able to keep doing what they do best, victimise and harass people and families during the time of their greatest despair? I guess this is okay seeing as they are just a "tiny (just one family I believe) group of fringe fanatics that everybody laughs at"? At what point does anyone have the balls and the decency to stand up and say "heaping so much hatred and stress to bereaved familes because it's freedom of speech is a crap excuse for being a worthless human"? Well regardless of their good or bad intentions as some say, Anon have done just that. I'm sure the families victimised by Jennifer Petkov (seriously google it) could just "brush off" the torment they received as Jennifers right to free speech! The right to free speech ends when it is war or hate mongering as in WBC, and/or targets people in a victimising or harassing way, again as in WBC. So to all those who think WBC has every right to continue their harrassment, instead of it being some unknown individual copping it, just picture it being YOUR mum or dad, or sister or brother, being on the receiving end, and then see if you still think "free speech' is fine?

Re:GodHatesFags.com

[Rary]

Anyone taking bets that Phelps turns out to be gay?

Gay, not quite. Bisexual, almost certainly.

All the really vocal anti-gay fanatics turn out to be bisexual. That's why they're all so convinced that homosexuality is a choice. For them, it literally is, and they assume it's the same for everyone else.