Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Calling all comedians, comedy gold has been struck. Even the Westboro Baptist Church hates Kim Davis.
A few WBC members recently stood outside the Rowan County Courthouse where Kim Davis was employed and shouted the usual vitriol with their signs.
This is a rare development: The Westboro Church attacking someone who’s universally not liked.
This isn’t Robin Williams, deceased U.S. soldiers or Sandy Hook victims. This is a county clerk who already has a lot of scrutiny upon her for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
It’s tempting for me to rub my hands gleefully and go, “Hahaha, they’re finally condemning the right person.”
But the WBC’s dislike does not stem from Kim Davis’s homophobia. They’re condemning her alleged adultery, referring to their disapproval that Davis is a divorcee who has remarried. They stress a perceived hypocrisy angle—if she’s an adulterer, then her stance against gay marriage isn’t enough.
“I certainly don’t have as much sympathy for her in that regard, considering other people who have been picketed by this hate group (like) Matthew Shepard, who was murdered in a horrific gay hate crime in Wyoming in 1998, and many American soldiers who died serving our nation,” history junior and gay Christian, Jeffry Faircloth said.
“Maybe she should see this as an opportunity to reexamine her particular Christian beliefs and see if they truly reflect the spirit and message of Jesus Christ.”
Even though the picketing does not advance much sympathy for Davis, here’s the laydown: their attack on an unpopular public figure does not make the WBC any less contemptible.
The fact that they’re attacking the idea of divorce remains reprehensible. It’s all part of their predictable streak, except they tried to make their punch line less unoriginal. They couldn’t even try for “God loves Kim Davis” or “Thank God for Kim Davis.”
“I don’t agree with (their picketing of Davis). It’s an unhealthy church (where people) are ostracized. I don’t agree with Kim Davis, but think about anybody having a group of people marching outside of their office saying what a horrible person they are,” said Lorraine Schroeder, the UH LGBT Resource Center director. “It’s not a constructive use of their time. What’s the end goal in doing that?”
It’s almost numbing to hear of yet another WBC publicity-seeking antics. The difference is that their current choice of target provokes head scratching rather than sighs and facepalm slaps.
But, it made them a little more laughable at least.
Opinion columnist Caroline Cao is a creative writing and media production senior and may be reached at [email protected]
