14 DAY TRIAL // The film industry is in mourning after the sudden death of film critic Roger Ebert, who lost his long battle with cancer late last week. Fellow writers, industry people and readers might be weeping for him, but the Westboro Baptist Church has other plans.
In a statement cited by The Hollywood Reporter, the WBC announces plans to boycott Ebert’s funeral because he was an “enabler.”
“American entertainment industry publicity leech Roger Ebert took to Twitterverse to mock the faithful servants of God at Westboro Baptist Church, just days before he received the horrifying summons: ‘Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: [now] whose shall [that silly vanity called a Pulitzer Prize] be, which thou has provided?’ (Luke 12:20),” the WBC says.
“This fool sold his soul for some fame & fortune, forgetting that God has made a simple declaration regarding His people: ‘Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.’ (Psalms 105:15),” adds the group.
Clearly, the WBC was pretty shook up by Ebert’s mentioning its name twice on his Twitter feed just days before he passed away.
However, he said nothing negative about them because, as many know, their actions speak for themselves: he just retweeted a link to Jeff Chu’s book, “Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian's Pilgrimage in Search of God in America.” Chu is gay and, as part of the research for his book, he spent a day with the WBC.