By DIMITRIOS KALANTZIS
Contributing Writer
At 11:39 a.m. a small group of men, women and children lowered their signs, recriminations of gays, liberals and Jews, and headed south to a waiting SUV.
Across the street, another group, this one nearly 400 people large, broke into raucous applause and cheer. Turning Sheridan Road into a virtual River of Babylon, community residents, local politicians, and church leaders and congregants, gathered outside of the Emanuel Congregation synagogue, in protest of the demonstration staged across the street by the oft-provocative Westboro Baptist Church, a group whose main tenets involve anti-gay, anti-American and anti-Jewish beliefs.
But the songs of counterdemontrators were not of yearning or loss; they were spirited by hope and union. In response to chants of “God Hates Jews,” the counter-protesters sang “God Bless America,” “The Star Spangled Banner” and “Blowin’ in the Wind.” They held signs that read “Teach Tolerance” and “Do Unto Others,” last-minute poster board projects in stark contrast to the laminated signs across the street, which read: “God Hates Israel,” “Bloody Obama” and “Jews Stole the Land.”
Motorists honked in support of the counter demonstration, which was organized, in part, by Rabbi Michael R. Zedek, who turned to neighboring church and community groups for support after learning of Westboro’s plans last week. Gregory Holmes Singleton, a Franciscan priest, arrived 30 minutes before the 11:15 a.m. Westboro demonstration.
“I think it’s disgusting,” Singleton said of Westboro’s anti-gay and anti-Jewish message. “It’s the antithesis of anything Christian.” “I wish they would read some scripture,” Singleton said, “and not just selectively.” Singleton said he has reached out to Westboro’s founder, Rev. Fred Phelps, who did not join his family’s trip to Chicago, several times in the past but with no success.
“I pray daily for Phelps,” Singleton said. “I have no idea what drives a man like this.”
But on a day in which the Phelps Family Chicago Tour kicked off, with at least six planned stops along the way, culminating in a protest of Don Rickles’ show tonight at the Auditorium Theater downtown, many people were inspired and comforted by the overwhelming display of love and peace and solidarity.
“It’s so touching to see so many different people from different avenues,” said Sandy Chaet, a long-time member of the Emanuel Congregation.
Shelly Friedman, a cantor at the Emanuel Congregation for the last 14 years, agreed. “I walked out and saw so many people from the community and I started to cry,” she said. “I felt so strengthened and supported,” Friedman said, adding that Emanuel Congregation community greatly appreciated the inter-faith support. “It meant the world to us,” she said.
The Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro clan was not as impressed. “They’re a little bit slackish,” said Elizabeth Phelps, Fred Phelp’s 47-year-old-daughter who brought along her 8-year-old son, Daniel.
Asked to comment on the criticism of child abuse in dressing her son in a shirt that reads: “God Hates Fags,” Phelps chalked it up to good parenting. “If you want to teach your children something, you start early,” she said.
As the 8-year-old teetered precariously on the curb’s edge, carrying his sign perfunctorily, his mother, a state-worker in Kansas, sang Phelps-family rewrites of classic Beatles’ songs, like “God Hates Jews,” sung to the tune of “Hey, Jude.” Asked how he felt about the large group of counter-protesters across the street, Daniel, in the soft voice of a child that belied its own words, said simply: “Stupid freakin’ people.”
And then at 11:39 a.m., right on schedule, the group made its way south for the second stage of its Chicago tour, a Boystown street corner, before hitting a few more synagogues a long the way downtown. And Sheridan Road went back to being just another four-lane street, no more a dividing line between love and hate.
Read more about Westboro Baptist Church
“I can guarantee I’m not a fag”
Phelps Family Has Twisted Pickets Down To A Science
Slideshow of Westboro Baptist Church Protest, Chicago News Bench
Another Westboro Baptist Protest Met With Peaceful Counter-Protest, Chicagoist
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Dimitri,
Yet another great piece of writing from you. Just one argument, however. You said early on that the Westboro Baptists had signs with “recriminations of gays, liberals and Jews.” That’s true, but not complete. They were attacking straight people as well, regardless of their religion. The sign “America Is Doomed,” for example, does not specify sex, gender or religion. The Phelps clan, to put it simply, thinks God hates anybody who does not strictly follow the Bible by their own weird interpretation. Gays, liberals and Jewish people were certainly in their sights at Emanuel Congregation, but remember that they are most infamous for their attacks on the funerals of dead US military personnel, regardless of race, religion or sexual preference. The Westboro/Phelps group hates anybody who does not believe precisely what they believe. It was good to see so many people there to voice their opposition to the hateful Westboro Baptists, and many of those standing against them today are straight white conservative males like me. While I have political disagreements with some gay “leaders,” it is simply that. Hatred is not part of the mix, nor should it be. It is ironic that anti-Semitism is associated with conservatives, when we are Israel’s staunchest allies in the US. Ask any Israeli right now, and he or she will tell you that Barack Obama scares the hell out of them. With respect, I ask that you be more open minded about the fact that conservatives also stand against the abberation that is the Westboro Baptist Church.
Ha! Tom Mannis can try to convince me that “hatred” is not part of his modus operandi. Ain’t gonna work. And his comment about Obama scaring the hell out of every Israeli is just more hogwash. I mean, Tom Mannis speaking on behalf of all Jews? Ha! Get out of your dingy Rogers Park apartment, Tom, and travel to Tel Aviv. You’ll meet many Israelis who support Obama and who don’t hold the same political views as their US brethren.
Billyjoe,
How hatefilled are you, that when I say from my heart that I stand with Emanuel Congregation against the Westboro Baptists you have to twist it into a rant? My father was Jewish, Billyjoe. Half of my ancestry is Jewish. I have cousins who are third and fourth generation Israelis. I visisted Dachau in 1974, Billyjoe, and cried most of the time as I walked around it. My father, with the 45th Division Thunderbirds, entered Dachau hours after the British liberated it. He told me about it once; it was too painful for him to speak of it a second time. I have friends who are gay, Billyjoe, and while we may disagree passionately on some political issues, I have never hated any gay person for being gay (or for any other reason that I can recall). I feel sorry for people like you, Billyjoe, who cannot separate heated political argument from hatred. To disagree is not necessarily to hate. Look at the photos (on my blog, Chicago News Bench) that I took at the demonstration at Emanuel Congregation, Billyjoe, and you’ll see Democrats and Jews and gay people. Greg Brewer, a Democrat, smiled nicley for me. Ald. Mary Ann Smith posed graciously for me, as she has done in the past. Gregory Harris, a Democrat in the Illinois Legislature and a gay man, shook my hand and said a cordial hello to me. I even have a photo of Ald. Joe Moore, whom I’ve criticized harshly for years, but I did nothing to his photo (it was tempting!) because I felt that it would be wrong given the context of the event. I feel that Joe Moore was sincere in his presence there; his children are half Jewish, as I am. A number of Democrats and liberals, who I call friends, know that I’m politically passionate, Billyjoe, and that I am not a “hater” as you would say. I hate stupidity, not individuals. I hate ignorance, not groups of people. Even though I am a half-Jew who strongly supports Israel, Billyjoe, I would never presume to speak for all Jews. I never claimed I did. Who do you claim that you speak on behalf of, Billyjoe? (By the way, I do not have an apartment in Rogers Park, dingy or otherwise.) Peace and love to you, Billyjoe, I hope you can begin to love again. I don’t know if you were at Emanuel Congregation on Monday, Billyjoe, but your vibe would not have been welcome.
Fred Phelps is a boon to gay rights. He’s extreme to the point of parody.
Patrick, you make a great point. Civil discussion or disagreement about politics, philosophy or policy is one thing. The Westboro gang takes it to a ridiculous (and frightening) extreme indeed. There are some, including a major local blog, that say groups like the Westboro Baptists should be ignored, and that attention only fuels them. While it’s true that they thrive on the attention, to ignore them would allow them to lurk in the shadows. We dare not ignore the KKK, neo-nazi groups, maoist communists, ecoterrorist or any other extremists on either end of the political spectrum. To do so is denial, and makes us no different than an ostrich with its head in the sand. Let us all continue to shine bright lights on the Westboro Baptist Church – and extremists of every political stripe.