14 DAY TRIAL // The Westboro Baptist Church, or the WBC for short, is the group best known for its message of hate. Anonymous’ activity includes, among other things, a very sustained and public boycott of the Church of Scientology. The two have come “face to face” over the weekend.
It all began when a press release from Anonymous was posted on AnonNews: the statement was actually an open letter in which the WBC was openly targeted for its hateful message, intimidation tactics and manipulation of the freedom of speech for financial gain.
The open letter accused the WBC of using the name of God in its own interest (financial gain) and of leading aggressive intimidation campaigns against anyone and everyone.
As we also noted on previous occasions, the WBC is known for sending its members to boycott funerals of American soldiers, for “God hates fags” campaigns and for speaking out against Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Adam Lambert, among others.
This was something that Anonymous seemed willing not to tolerate anymore from now on.
“Thus, we give you a warning: Cease & desist your protest campaign in the year 2011, return to your homes in Kansas, & close your public Web sites,” the original statement read.
“Should you ignore this warning, you will meet with the vicious retaliatory arm of ANONYMOUS: We will target your public Websites, and the propaganda & detestable doctrine that you promote will be eradicated; the damage incurred will be irreversible, and neither your institution nor your congregation will ever be able to fully recover,” the open letter said.
It also mentioned that ignoring the warning would not be wise because Anonymous would not stop until “you cease the conduction & promotion of all your bigoted operations & doctrines.”
In retaliation, the WBC issued its own open letter, inviting Anonymous to “bring it!” It also said that the Internet was created specifically give the WBC a venue to speak up, called Anonymous members “girls” and mentioned that God still hated gays and “hackers.”
Since then, Anonymous has issued another press statement and the way it deals with the WBC almost makes up for knowing that they will not be going after the Church.
The first open letter was not the official stance of the group because, frankly, Anonymous has bigger fish to fry than the WBC, reads the second statement.
“While Anonymous thanks you for your interest, and would certainly like to take a break and have some fun with you guys, we have more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. But, we will keep this application on file, and will certainly contact you if any openings become available in future. Next time, don’t call us. We’ll call you,” says the letter.
Right now, the timing is a bit off, Anonymous says. But that’s not to say they wouldn’t have a blast bringing WBC down.
“In closing, let us assure you: We are not BAWWWING sissies, nor are we afraid of your false god; we’re just really busy. Stay tuned, and we’ll come back to play another day. We promise,” the statement says.