Westboro Baptist Church Hate Group Petition Reaches 85,983 Signatures

On Friday Dec 14, 2012, Grant B posted a petition on whitehouse.gov to consider Westboro Baptist Church a hate group. According to whitehouse.gov

Signatures needed by January 13, 2013 to reach goal of 25,000

It is currently at 86,304(which is up just from the time I wrote the title and added the above)

I will not source this petition as the last time I did a thread on a petition posted on whitehouse.gov I almost got into trouble for violating the T&Cs but I will quote the petition itself

we petition the obama administration to:
Legally recognize Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group.

This group has been recognized as a hate group by organizations, such as The Southern Poverty Law Center, and has repeatedly displayed the actions typical of hate groups.

Their actions have been directed at many groups, including homosexuals, military, Jewish people and even other Christians. They pose a threat to the welfare and treatment of others and will not improve without some form of imposed regulation.
Created: Dec 14, 2012

Here is an older article on the petition.

Edit to add:

For those of you that are not familiar with petitions on whitehouse.gov, There is a set amount, as I showed in the first quote above, that if reached, the White House will address the issue of the petition. As you can see, there is no question as to whether or not this petition will be addressed.

15e.) Recruitment/Solicitation:
i) You will not use your membership in the Websites for any type of recruitment to any causes whatsoever. You will not Post, use the chat feature, use videos, or use the private message system to disseminate advertisements, chain letters, petitions, pyramid schemes, or any kind of solicitation for political action, social action, letter campaigns, or related online and/or offline coordinated actions of any kind.

Terms and Conditions of Use

Finally, something regarding WBC that doesn't feel like diaper rash.

reply to post by Agarta


About time!

This pleases me greatly, not sure if anyone has seen it although theres a great doco on them.

A petition that makes sense.I bet even Jesus can't stand those loathsome assholes.

Good. I'm guessing this petition is gonna get far, far more signatures than even this. I also feel that they have bitten off more than they can chew this time.

Did those petitions to secede from the union ever get a response from Obama administration? They got way way way more than the 25,000. As far as I know, those white house petitions are a joke.

Oh, and in my opinion, they don't need any regulation for this, or any other hate group. Just make it legal to beat the crap out of people who clearly, unquestionably deserve it. Watch how fast these people fade away.

Yes I'm barbaric, uncivilized, stupid, idiotic, a moron even, whatever you wish to call me. I couldn't care less.

reply to post by OpenMindCuriousMind

The White House’s “We the People” petition Web site has been flooded with secession petitions from all 50 states, attracting more than 1 million total signatories.

Eight petitions have reached the 25,000-signature threshold that guarantees a response from the White House. Administration officials said that while they do not support secession, they will formally respond to the petitioners in the next few weeks.

Source published 15/12/12

Yes I'm barbaric, uncivilized, stupid, idiotic, a moron even, whatever you wish to call me. I couldn't care less.

Yet you took the time to reply anyway, Thank you.

reply to post by Agarta


You're quite welcome.

Edit: Oh and thanks for that link. I DID ask a question after all. Now let's just wait and see what they have to say, about both petitions.

Originally posted by Agarta
... will not improve without some form of imposed regulation...

As much as I utterly and vehemently loathe the WBC, they don't scare me. They are small, worthless creatures and I quite enjoy the fact that I can say that to them if I choose.
However, the above quote from the petition, and it's implication, scares the crap out of me.

reply to post by xFiDgetx


Agreed, the precedence set could be more than they were looking for and could cause some issues in the future.

got to say, the fact that these hate filled lunatics / shakedown merchants *delete as appropriate* can exist makes me admire the US way of doing things.

Horrible bunch of people, but then the US govt is a "horrible bunch of people"- killing kids in Pakistan and in the 90s thinking 500,000 dead Iraqi kids was "worth it"

Freedom involves tolerating those who you don't agree with or possibly even despise- as long as they are not inciting violence.

The funeral aspect I would have issues with (though that may sound contradictory)- maybe they should not be allowed to protest within a certain range of the funerals themselves

This will never work because no matter how much we despise them and what they stand for they are still based on religion and hide behind that. It would open too many doors to label any religious organization a hate group.

I still say the best way to deal with these idiots is to declare wakes, funerals, and funeral processions as part of private property which would give the families legal right to declare someone uninvited. What I'm talking about is probably not possible because it would include declaring certain amount of space around the funeral home and cemetery and procession route off limits until the funeral was over and everyone had cleared out, and I'm referring to a distance that would not put them anywhere near funerals. I think that's something most people would agree with and everyone would know it would be to keep assholes like this out and that the other 99.99999% of the population could freely break the rule because everyone knows the majority aren't a bunch of POS.


Aside from this issue I've always thought funerals should be private anyway.

As much as I hate to defend them, WBC has every right to be the assholes that they are. As long as they are obeying the laws (which they do, even if its by the width of a cats whisker sometimes), the government should leave them be.

I would love to see the likes of them, and the Church of Scientology both gotten rid of, but the very idea of the government intervening without conclusive proof that they are breaking laws scares me.

It wouldn't take much to use the precedent of getting rid of WBC as a stepping stone to get rid of all religious groups until we have a de facto national religion.

I wanted to give an update this morning on the signature count which is (at the time of this posting)

94,919

.

As this petition begins to close in to 100,000 signatures I would like to point out a quote from the link I posted in reply to OpenMindCuriousMind above.

When 23-year-old college student Micah Hurd posted an online petition last month asking the White House to allow the Lone Star State to secede, nearly 120,000 people rallied behind him — making it the most popular petition in the 16 months that the Obama administration has been soliciting them.

Source: here

As a few members have pointed out, the precedence that could be set, if Obama were to act favorably on this petition, could very well be a blow to our Constitutional Rights of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion at a time where the Right to Bare Arms is possibly under attack due to the latest swarm of shootings. This is a very sticky situation indeed.

The signature count has risen to

96,143

in the time it took to write this post.

Edit to add: 10:23am CST(1hr 41min after this post was made)

102,959

I looked for it on the website in order to sign the petition, and it's not there.
Stupid T&C. I require a direct link!
Never mind, I located it. Anyway, wow. Even if this doesn't work, at least it's becoming officially clear that people in general have had enough of the group's hate-filled antics.

reply to post by Agarta


Regardless of what they say or who they say it to, they have the right to say it. I hate what they say and what they stand for, but they have the right. If their speech can be shut down, what is to stop the government from stopping YOURS?? If enough people sign some BS petition to silence your speech then I guess the precedent will have been set.

I've just located the petition and added my name to the list of 121,000 (and growing) citizens who have decided enough is enough. I'm eager to see if this petition will get anything done. Frankly, something should have been done a while ago. I don't care what kind of rights WBC has, they've gone too far. Let's see some justice done!