On Monday morning, students came together to advocate acceptance of all religions, ethnicities and orientations. They were responding to a protest against Hillel launched by the Westboro Baptist Church — a group widely known for its anti-Semitic and homophobic views.
Around 11:30 a.m., roughly a dozen Westboro protestors arrived at the corner of 39th and Walnut streets, across from Philly Diner. Some held signs reading — among other slogans — “Mourn For Your Sins,” “Israel is Doomed” and “Obama is the Antichrist,” featuring a photograph of President Barack Obama with horns protruding from his forehead.
The youngest protestor in attendance, who carried a sign reading, “God Hates Jews,” looked to be no more than 10 years old.
According to Westboro spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper, Hillel was selected as the protest site as a result of its ties to Judaism.
“We go [into areas] where there are going to be some hearts and minds we can put [our messages] in front of so we can get them to understand and turn their attention to the House of Israel,” she explained.
She added that the Church’s objective is to run “to and fro in this country to connect the dots to understand why the nation’s destruction is imminent.”
In response, members of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity held an “Acceptance Barbeque” on their front lawn, where they grilled burgers and hot dogs. The event started at 10 a.m. and lasted throughout the entire protest, which ended around noon.
Students were given both free food and the opportunity to donate to the Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Anti-Defamation League. Westboro made national news when they protested outside of a funeral held for Shepard, a gay student who was murdered in Laramie, Wyo. in 1998.
Chairman of Lambda Alliance and Wharton sophomore Tyler Ernst was among those helping to solicit donations at the barbecue.
Ernst characterized the protest as an “opportunity for positive change.” He said Lambda worked with Hillel and PRISM, Penn’s interfaith student group, to ensure that students’ response to Westboro’s presence would remain “classy” without compromising its effectiveness at “counteracting [Westboro’s] negative message.”
Ernst also voiced support for the Acceptance Barbeque becoming an annual event. “It really demonstrates the solidarity within the Penn community,” he said.
College sophomore Laura DiPaolo, member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, said the Christian community at Penn is “embarrassed” by Westboro’s message. Maintaining that “God loves everyone,” regardless of sexual preference, DiPaolo questioned the Church’s interpretation of scripture.
“Jesus came to this earth to give everlasting life, not to run around with a picket sign saying ‘follow me or burn in hell’ — that’s not him,” she said, adding that Westboro’s actions are “giving Christians everywhere a bad name.”
Westboro’s Phelps-Roper acknowledged that her group represents a “stastically insignificant minority,” she says any opposition to the Church is “MUSH” — an acronym for “makes us so happy.”
“We don’t get demoralized. If we followed the path of this nation, we would certainly get demoralized … but it makes us so happy that they all disagree because Jesus says at the time of his return, that’s exactly what it’s going to look like,” she said.
As students looked on, the protestors sang and displayed signs for about half an hour before leaving around noon. While several students attempted to engage verbally with the protestors, most spectators did not initiate any form of interaction.
College sophomore Greg Barber, who created a Facebook event last Wednesday to raise awareness of the gathering against Westboro, said it helped to start an “important conversation that hopefully will continue.”
