Another protest scheduled by the infamous Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka KS has been defused by a local radio broadcaster with the offer of air time. The station is Magic Broadcasting’s WYYX-FM, a Rocker that calls itself 97X.
The church is known for its campaign against gays, and believes that the presence of gays in the military has brought the wrath of God down on America, and as such, pickets the funerals of soldiers killed in the line of duty.
This time, however, five members of the church were going to picket services for a father, mother and their five children, all killed in the crash of a family-owned plane.
A church member told the local News-Herald, “You pick any collection of seven and they fall out of the sky, it’s probably going to draw our attention,” explaining that they see it as a manifestation of heavenly anger.”
Instead of going to a Niceville FL service, the church members took local 97X afternoon drivers ShortBus and Dr. Stroke up on an offer to discuss their views on the Panama City FL station.
The service and the airtime offer were scheduled for Friday 7/15/11.
RBR-TVBR observation: The point is often made that the biggest challenge in the enjoyment of the freedom of speech is the obligation to accept that the same freedom is held by others whose speech you may not agree with. We have friends on both sides of the political spectrum and most positions in between and we know of nobody who supports this group. Kudos to the radio stations who have stood up and kept them away from grieving friends and families.
