Monday will be a different kind of day at Penn. At 11:30 a.m., members of the Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-gay activist church from Topeka, Kansas led by minister Fred Phelps, will be protesting in front of Penn Hillel.
Phelps has made his name protesting gay rights and military funerals, with the tortured rationale that America’s support for gay rights led to the 9/11 attacks and therefore the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are, unsurprisingly, also anti-Semitic.
We’re not fans, either.
Nonetheless, we support their right to their opinions. The First Amendment is the foundation of newspapers, and we can’t deny that the WBC can hold its views. Similarly, we reserve the right to vehemently disagree with theirs. And this is the time for all students to stand up and exercise their First Amendment rights.
Hillel has created a banner, to hang on its building, as a silent act of response that both makes a statement and refuses to give members of the WBC members the attention they crave. Several other student groups have signed on, as well. Other students have talked about organizing a formal, silent protest to mark their opposition to the group’s beliefs.
While we support Hillel’s decision, we hope that all students who abhor what the WBC stands for find ways to make their opinions evident. Protesting, however, should not become violent. Penn prides itself on being a diverse campus, and this should not be lost when confronted with such an opponent.
Moments like these arise every few years on college campuses, wherein students get a chance to speak up and show where they stand on such fundamental issues as human rights. Don’t let this one pass you by.
