From http://blog.newsarama.com/2010/07/09/westboro-baptists-plan-to-picket-comic-con/

July 9th, 2010
Author Albert Ching

My original headline for this was going to be “horrible people plan on attempting to ruin otherwise awesome and fun event,” but that maybe a little too on the nose.

Reports surfaced today that the Westboro Baptist Church, the Fred Phelps-headed church that thrives on hate-filled publicity stunts, have targeted Comic-Con International in San Diego, kicking off in less than two weeks; specifically from 1:15 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 22. It’s galling to give them any publicity at all, since that’s exactly what they want, but the fact that they’ve targeted as innocuous and positive as an event as Comic-Con is really a testament to just how off their nut they are.

Part of their screed: “They have turned comic book characters into ideals, and worship them they do!” That’s way off-base, guys. We worship video game, movie and TV characters, too. Get with it!

Aaron Schwartz's thoughts wrote:

they're picketing Al Gore in San Diego, they're taking time off to picket the "idolators" (they theorize that comic book readers are worshiping comic book characters as gods) who attend the SDCC. How much time? All of 45 minutes. They're also doing this on Thursday, one of the lighter days of the convention (if it can be said to have lighter days), from 1:15pm to 2pm, devoting less time to their cause than the people assigned to walk in the Gaslamp district giving away coupons for Subway sandwiches. So be sure to seek them out in a timely fashion if you want photos, or you'll miss your chance. It's almost nostalgic for old-time D&D players, who may remember the guy in Milwaukee who would shout at the attending gamers about hellfire and brimstone, completely unaware that we already had several sourcebooks and modules for that campaign.

i'll_bite_your_ear wrote:

i would like to know why you are disagreeing. or are you just disagreeing because you want to?

Forum Rule 6 wrote:

The SydLexia.com forums are not a pulpit. As it turns out, SydLexia.com is a pop culture website, not a religious website. The forum staff openly encourages you to discuss topical issues involving religion, but we remind you that religion is an extremely sensitive issue. Please refrain from endorsing or debasing any major religion. This includes Buddhism, Atheism, Judaism, Taoism, Shintoism, Hinduism, Islam, and all major branches of Christianity. However, you are invited to criticize extremist religious groups and individuals such as Osama bin Laden and Jerry Falwell who subvert religion to further their own political goals. In doing so, you must refrain from more general attacks on religion itself. Furthermore, these forums are not a recruitment ground. You shall not use these forums to attempt to convert people to your religion; please note that this includes Atheism. If you find this unfair or if you are eager to show off the shit you learned in your World Religions and Philosophy 101 classes, too bad. THIS IS NOT A FUCKING THEOLOGY WEBSITE.

i'll_bite_your_ear wrote:

and why this rule?

If you're asking why the rule exists, ask a mod. I'm simply trying to keep this thread from being locked (or should we just start saying a thread was "Jeebus'd" as a joke?) if it devolves into a flamebaiting discussion on religion instead of remarking how nuts and amoral the WBC is, especially for deciding to picket one of the largest conventions in the US..