Oh..those people at westboro baptist are at it again! o3o

[Trieste]

Well for one thing, I for one would not go to that convention now if I ever would have gone before based on the nature of that protest.

Counter-protests draw more attention to the original protest, and in general are done in a way that is just as rude and self-degrading as the protest they are protesting, if not more so.  I saw very little to respect in that counter-protest, and much that deserved disrespect... as was the case with most counter-protests I've seen.

I disagree. I think the counter-protest was done with humor and wit. Writing "God hates fags" on a placard makes no more sense than writing "God hates Jedi" on one, and protesting a convention full of a subgroup notorious for its low belief in God accusing them of false idol worship is nothing short of arrogant and divisive.

When you preach only hate and death, you certainly don't deserve grace in return, but they got it anyway. That said, I wish the press would stop covering the WBC. I don't think they will, but I wish they would.

[Oniya]

There's also the fact that fandom generally considers very little to be self-degrading.  This, coming from someone who used to race across campus with her Dr. Who scarf flapping behind her.

As for drawing more attention to the original protest:  If you're walking down the street and see a conservatively dressed, middle-aged person carrying a 'God hates fags' sign, and on the opposite side of the street you see a guy dressed like a robot carrying a 'Kill all humans' sign, which one draws your attention more? 

[Arhys]

Agreed.  Counter protests and much of counter culture are derived from self-mockery and satire to make their point.  The street theater protests are incredibly creative and work at a level people feel, not think about.  Billionaires for Bush is a prime example of that, watching crowd reactions to them walking down the street was just amazing. 

[Noelle]

I think it's a creative way to use humor to draw the heat off the situation; where some people may become upset by such inflammatory signs (which, by the way, they're kind of losing their 'shock-factor' since everyone has seen them by now and they really haven't changed their slogan), people use satire to play down the message and expose just how ridiculous it is.

[Josh the Aspie]

And that is entirely your opinion, and you may consider them to have 'won'.  You may be cheering them on.

There are other people who have been pushed away by their actions, and are likely to avoid the con in the future.

That's why I feel both sides lost, just as I feel that in modern war both sides usually loose.

I was simply expressing my opinion over this particular matter.

[Trieste]

And that is entirely your opinion, and you may consider them to have 'won'.  You may be cheering them on.

There are other people who have been pushed away by their actions, and are likely to avoid the con in the future.

That's why I feel both sides lost, just as I feel that in modern war both sides usually loose.

I was simply expressing my opinion over this particular matter.

I was expressing mine in kind.

I don't understand the logic behind punishing the con for the actions of its goers, however. It's my understanding that this was not actually organized by the con itself.

Whatever the case, the fact that the WBC has moved to protesting at ComiCon indicates that they are nothing more than attention whores at this point, which is why I said that I wish the news would stop covering them.

[Valerian]

Whatever the case, the fact that the WBC has moved to protesting at ComiCon indicates that they are nothing more than attention whores at this point, which is why I said that I wish the news would stop covering them.

Yes, this.

I can almost, sort of, understand (though not agree with, I hasten to add) them wanting to protest against such things as same-sex marriage.  On some level, many of them probably do feel genuinely threatened by the idea, strange as that may sound.

However, since I haven't heard of any comic fans agitating to start a Church of Odin, or fighting for the rights of humans to marry elves, the fact that they showed up at a comic convention just reeks of opportunism and publicity-seeking.  Next thing you know, they'll blow the dust off the old D&D = satanism cliche and protest at Gen-Con.... and doubtless get much the same reaction.

I'm not sure if the majority of the counter-protesters were especially concerned with who was "winning" or "losing".  Had I been there with my gaming buddies, we would likely have been counter-protesting ourselves... and we're none of us all that concerned with protests or politics.  Geeks, by and large, are one of the most live and let live groups I know of, which is one reason I like being one.  :)

[Paladin]

If they protest at Gencon, they will be in for a world of trouble. Indiana dosen't mess around. I know that I will tell them what real christains think of them. I'm pretty sure othr convention goers will do much worse. Rotten tomatoes anyone? Fights have started at Gencon over less issues.

[HairyHeretic]

Rotten tomatos could constitute assault, and I believe one of the ways they fund themselves is by suing people who do that sort of thing. I believe at least a couple of them are lawyers.

[The Golden Touch]

The wife of the head guy is a lawyer...  They also can have anyone that assaults them arrested, which is why they often have police escorts around to keep people from attacking them.

[Wolfy]

Yes..but if a mass of people do it all at once...how can they police that? O-o..There won't be one specific person to point the finger at, after all...and I don't think they could sue Gencon....maybe. *shrugs*

[Will]

Then the police will do the best they can, which will still be pretty damn good. :P

[Noelle]

Assaulting them in any way, shape, or form is kind of a dumb idea. They don't pose a threat to anyone, they're just a bunch of inbred loudmouths with nothing better to do than attention whore. You might as well just save yourself the judicial headache and hand over your donation to WBC directly without the violence, because that's more or less what a lawsuit against them is like.

Besides, assaulting someone doesn't really make them or their ideas go away.

[Paladin]

well Gencon Goers are pretty weird. I should know. I'm one of them. Besides Gencon's so loud I don't think we'd even hear them in the first place. I oubt they will come around here though. Theres a a few Churches I know of that would launcha  counter protest.

[Oniya]

I think following Comicon's example - maybe setting up a contest for the best counter-protest sign? - would be safer all around.  No assault charges, and trying to out-showboat con-goers is like mudwrestling with a pig.  Everyone looks silly, but the con-goers don't mind.

[Bayushi]

I think following Comicon's example - maybe setting up a contest for the best counter-protest sign?

A couple people already won the best counter protest sign(s).

[Ironwolf85]

where are the westboro baptists? is that westboro england?
as a good christian soul I'd have to inform them they're violating their own faith, and giving our shared faith a bad image.
and when they beat me down... due to the number of geeks at Gen-Con, someone will record the incident, and put it on youtube.
I'm sure I could get my hospital bills paid for if I ask for donations on the site... and get my face on TV.
it's possible I could launch a political carrear on such an action if I played it right.

[Silk]

Topeka in Kansas I believe.

[Ironwolf85]

really? kansas?
I could make an ignorant remark about southerners...
but it kinda saddens me and pisses me off that such groups exist.
oh well

[Will]

really? kansas?
I could make an ignorant remark about southerners...
but it kinda saddens me and pisses me off that such groups exist.
oh well

Your discretion is admirable. :P

[Ironwolf85]

I hate extremeist groups of all kinds, they give their faiths and cultures a bad name, from fanatics, to extreme nationalists, And much much worse.
they are an annoyance to me, and drag down the human race as a whole

[Oniya]

As I think I said earlier in this thread, these people are the type that make everyone that could loosely be associated with them (normal Baptists, Christians in general, Kansans, Southerners in general, Americans in general) wish that they would just shut up and go away instead of making the rest of us look bad.

[Will]

I don't think they make anybody look bad.  It would take a special kind of stupid to lump Christians, Kansans, or southerners (even though Kansas is nowhere close to being southern, so I don't know where that came from) in with such obvious lunatics.

[Ironwolf85]

yep but that's how the media will portray it
I think I'm done, I've done my part

[HairyHeretic]

Guilt by association is one of the less admirable parts of human nature. Even those who know that you cannot judge an entire group by the actions of a few can still be somewhat influenced. For someone who doesn't like a particular group to start with, the actions of the loony fringe are immediately applied to the group as a whole, with strident cries of "Look! Look what they're all like!"