Quotes from WBC's visit to Central Michigan University

[dawn9476]

I posted a few weeks ago that WBC was going to be at CMU speaking to a class. Today was the day. Michigan Live posted some quotes from the debate. Here is one goody response to a student who said that her chruch teaches God loves everyone and the WBC doesn't follow the bible.

 

"Scratch off the paint on your church and it'll say 'whore house.'

[FireIsCatching89]

How charming. Sounds like their typical drivel. Seriously, they are the best IRL version of "don't feed the trolls" I have ever seen. Maybe if we find them a nice bridge to camp under, they'll shut up?

[fundyfunland]

Really, now. What was the point of even giving them an audience to spew their hatred?! It looks bad on the university really to have a hate group on campus.

[Witsec7]

Really, now. What was the point of even giving them an audience to spew their hatred?! It looks bad on the university really to have a hate group on campus.

American Universities should be bastions of free speech and diverse thought. When I was at Uni decades ago we had some neonazi's on campus. I did not agree with them, but having them up close and personal allowed me to look hate in the eye and challenge their paradigms first hand. Sometimes free speech is ugly, but its not always about the message.

[fundyfunland]

American Universities should be bastions of free speech and diverse thought. When I was at Uni decades ago we had some neonazi's on campus. I did not agree with them, but having them up close and personal allowed me to look hate in the eye and challenge their paradigms first hand. Sometimes free speech is ugly, but its not always about the message.

True. True. I see where you're coming from, it's just that I 'hate' when hate groups are given platforms. By no means does the WBC provide any rational or reasonable arguments for their crap. I wouldn't have so much an issue with their appearance at the university if they had at least some scholarly argument to back up their POVs, but we know they don't. For example, Mein Kampf, despite it's hatred-filled pages, I would never advocate for its ban. It provides a logical, and yet repulsive, snapshot of the beginnings of the Holocaust.

[Witsec7]

True. True. I see where you're coming from, it's just that I 'hate' when hate groups are given platforms. By no means does the WBC provide any rational or reasonable arguments for their crap. I wouldn't have so much an issue with their appearance at the university if they had at least some scholarly argument to back up their POVs, but we know they don't. For example, Mein Kampf, despite it's hatred-filled pages, I would never advocate for its ban. It provides a logical, and yet repulsive, snapshot of the beginnings of the Holocaust.

I really feel that this kind of diversity is what makes higher education so valuable. I do not believe in censorship, its one of the reasons I post on FJ and am grateful to have access to a forum that believes in free speech.

[JesusFightClub]

Hmm, I have to disagree with you on this one, experiencedd. I believe in no platform for fascists.

Agreeing to debate with them gives them a legitimacy they don't deserve. It makes their arguments look like they are worthy of serious consideration.

[Rachel333]

I don't really agree with them speaking to a class, but I do think that free speech is important and they should be allowed to come to the university. Our university has to let our crazy preacher come and preach his hate on campus, but I do feel like having him in class would be different.

[asinglevoice]

I attend CMU, so I've been hearing about this quite a lot. I couldn't go to the presentation, as it was a closed class this time, but it's a pretty interesting experience from what I've heard. Our school newspaper's website set up a livestream of the debate, which I caught a few minutes of, but had to turn off because it made me too angry.

One of the hard parts about arguing with someone like Shirley Phelps is that, well, she's not an idiot. A lot of times fundies sort of resort to the "Well, because!" or "God said so, you're stupid, nyah nyah!" arguments when they run out of steam, but this woman does not. She's smart as a whip, having been a lawyer, particularly when discussing things like the First Amendment, which was ultimately what they were here to do. Naturally the conversation went where we all expected it to go.

But what was REALLY weird was, when not discussing their obviously disgusting hate-filled "values," they were actually rather pleasant. The last time they were on campus in 2010, a good friend of mine got into a debate with one of the daughters; my friend is gay and a super, super hippy, "I love everybody!" sort of person with Buddhist inclinations. Friend and WBC Daughter ended up following each other on Twitter and had a "Let's agree to disagree" moment and then started trading tweets like they'd been old friends for years. They still do! It's very bizarre.

Anyway, I appreciate the intellectual value behind bringing them to campus. I see why these kinds of debates are valuable, in terms of thinking critically about our rights to free speech as Americans and how far they extend. But they're a very perplexing group of people, and it's not worth it to debate them about their beliefs. About the First Amendment? Sure. Whether or not God hates fags? Not so much.

[Minerva]

Those of you who have had the WBC or similar groups on campus, does your university have hate speech rules? I'm not convinced a group like that would even be allowed on my campus. We have a single anti-gay group that stands downtown with signs sometimes, but they don't dare venture onto my campus, and I think that's because they're not allowed.