5 year old girl vs Westboro Baptist Church Smackdown.

Mmmm, a bucket of lemonade . . . damn it, now I'm thirsty.

P.S. painting that house must have been interesting. Wonder what quantity they bought their paint in . . .

Just when I think the WBC can't surprise me any further with their horrid behavior, they try and go after a little girl. *sigh* Good for the girl for doing what she did, though. There should be more people like her.

LOG said:

P.S. painting that house must have been interesting. Wonder what quantity they bought their paint in . . .

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I wonder that, too.

Got to admire that little lass! She is awesome.

Aww. What a sweetheart.
I want their paint job.

I got to be in an anti-Westboro protest thingie once. It was pretty awesome, seeing so many people united around the principle of not being terrible.

This is truly inspiring.

Wait a sec... *squints* The graffiti, on that last picture--does that say, "God hates Thor," or am I imagining that?

I'm wondering why one of the signs says 'God takes your peas'. What's she got against little green vegetables?

Actually, I think it's disingenuous of the parents to pretend that they *didn't* know that putting up a lemonade stand meant to support their cause right across the street from - and facing - the WBC would be targeted. Especially when it's in front of a house painted rainbow for gay rights, they put a rainbow on their sign, and it was *pink* lemonade.

That they'd put a five-year-old child in that position strikes me as poor parenting rather than good. They basically put their child in the line of fire for publicity, and because they knew that the WBC hurling insults at her would bring in $$$.

I see nothing right or wonderful in this scenario.

There ya go again, Monkey, thinking outside the box.

Nicely said.

Monkey said:

Actually, I think it's disingenuous of the parents to pretend that they *didn't* know that putting up a lemonade stand meant to support their cause right across the street from - and facing - the WBC would be targeted. Especially when it's in front of a house painted rainbow for gay rights, they put a rainbow on their sign, and it was *pink* lemonade.

That they'd put a five-year-old child in that position strikes me as poor parenting rather than good. They basically put their child in the line of fire for publicity, and because they knew that the WBC hurling insults at her would bring in $$$.

I see nothing right or wonderful in this scenario.

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Monkey, I understand what you have posted but, based on the newspaper article I disagree.
I do not think it is poor parenting to teach a child that there are some humans who are unpleasant bigots. Having read the article (I know it is the Daily Fail, but they do sometimes get it right) I think the parents prepared their daughter for what would happen. There is a bit of me though that hopes she is being taught and not indoctrinated. So, Monkey, in some ways I also agree with you.

My head hurts.

Monkey said:

Actually, I think it's disingenuous of the parents to pretend that they *didn't* know that putting up a lemonade stand meant to support their cause right across the street from - and facing - the WBC would be targeted. Especially when it's in front of a house painted rainbow for gay rights, they put a rainbow on their sign, and it was *pink* lemonade.

That they'd put a five-year-old child in that position strikes me as poor parenting rather than good. They basically put their child in the line of fire for publicity, and because they knew that the WBC hurling insults at her would bring in $$$.

I see nothing right or wonderful in this scenario.

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I have to say I agree; that was my first thought when I read the story. I wouldn't expose my children to that. Who knows what those WBC crazies will do or say? It's not like they have boundaries or will leave her alone because she's just a child.

I wouldn't put my five-year-old anywhere that exposes her to abuse.

I think it depends on the five year old. Some would be upset by the telling, others would yell back. If she wants to do something good for the cause, I don't see why she shouldn't be allowed to. The church members aren't going to hurt her, they'll just act like the obnoxious crazies that she was probably already taught they are.

If her parents are supportive and explain things in ways she can understand, she could be completely unmoved by the yelling people actoss the street.

Here's another article with more information. http://www.kltv.com/story/22612435/...de-stand-draws-ire-of-westboro-baptist-church

According to this, the mission of the group she was raising lemonade for was "promot[ing] peace and equality issues." (bolding mine.) And yet, the parents claim, they simply had no idea that the WBC might target them, nor were they attempting to confront the WBC... they chose the equality house simply because the little girl thought it was pretty.

Jayden told her father that she wanted to set up a lemonade stand to help a charity. After doing research, they settled on Equality House because of its mission and efforts, not its location across from the Westboro compound, her father said.

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Fucking really? Does ANYONE believe that? If they did any research at all, they had to have known the whole point of the Equality House was that it was across from the WBC. And it wasn't just a charity... it was a charity in direct opposition to the WBC.

I don't believe for one instant that they didn't know that the Equality house, painted in rainbow, was across from the WBC or that it was antagonistic in nature, especially if they had to research it... Any research at all would have made it very clear what would happen to someone who put a pink lemonade stand with rainbows on the poster in that yard, especially if their goal was raising money for "equality issues."

One soldier stepped on Westboro property while taking pictures, prompting at least one person to yell profanities at the soldier, who responded that he fought for his freedoms, Hammet said.

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"Get off my lawn!"
"I fought for your freedoms, so I can step on your private property if I damned well please!"

No, I don't see any great win for reasonableness, equality, or peace, here. I see parents who put their child in an ugly situation so they could get publicity and money, and people taking the bait simply because it's so easy to frame this as The WBC vs A 5-Year-Old with a Lemonade stand.

I do see where a point could be being made; the WBC uses people's funerals to provoke outrage, get a reaction, and thereby get attention and money for themselves... these parents put their child out there in such a way as to intentionally provoke the WBC, get a reaction, and get attention and money for themselves. Yeah, great way to turn it around on them... except that they used a small child to do it.

ETA:

If this wasn't about putting a child in that position for money, the "clueless" parents could have, upon seeing their child being targeted, bring her indoors and stand out there to sell the lemonade themselves. But that wouldn't have made as good headlines, nor brought in as much money, eh?

@Monkey Even if they did do it to piss off the WBC (and I don't think they did) your assumption that the confrontation was for "money and attention" and not just as a way to challenge the WBC, seems...overly cynical? It's a character judgement rather than just an interpretation of events.

Also, (a kind of general note) I'd say that I'm often opposed to getting too political with kids, but that's generally with complex topics that have a lot of gray area. I don't think it's "political" to tell a child that the teachings of the WBC are morally wrong. Or to talk to them about "equality." I see those as issues of human decency, rather than partisan politics.

ETA: there also seems to be some discrepancy over the particular point of how much they knew:

Jayden, who is from Kansas City, decided to set up her stand at the Equality House after her parents explained to her the significance of its construct. After being told that the church across the street had a message of hate, she set a goal of raising money to go towards a message of love and peace.

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So it sounds to me like she picked the house because it was pretty, they knew it was across the street from WBC but that weren't there for that reason. Which seems to fall between "we had no idea" and "we're here to start a fight." She wanted to set it up in front of the equality house and they let her despite the WBC's location across the street.

Once the five-year-old is getting screamed at, and the parents are standing by and letting it happen, some lines have been crossed, IMO.