Dozens of counter-protesters showed up at four Lehigh Valley churches Sunday where the controversial Westboro Baptist Church said it would protest.
Westboro Baptist Church's threat to protest at four Lehigh Valley churches on Sunday was, in the end, an idle one. The controversial church known for its extreme views on homosexuality and protests at military funerals, was a no-show. But the Kansas-based church rallied a diverse crowd that included a Sunday school teacher, a cigar afficionado club, motorcyclists in chaps and college students, to get up early on a frigid Sunday morning to publicly and peacefully take a stand against Westboro's message of hate and intolerance. Westboro's potential presence here was enough to get Ryan Bitler, 22, of Bethlehem, out of bed and attend his first protest. Bitler is a Pennsylvania National Guardsman who served a year in Afghanistan as a machine …
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Westboro Baptists did not show up at Asbury United Methodist and First Baptist churches in South Whitehall, or two Allentown churches, Sunday morning but counter-protesters were there in case they did.
Update: 10:45 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 20 Westboro Baptists do not show up at First Baptist Church in South Whitehall, which was the group's fourth targeted church in the Lehigh Valley. South Whitehall Police Lt. John Christman, who is at First Baptist, said, "It’s a non-event. It’s been non-violent. It’s more social than anything." As for the controversial Westboro Baptists, he said, "I feel fortunate they didn’t show." Counter-protesters came to First Baptist, as they did to three other churches earlier Sunday, turning out in case Westboro Baptists did show up. Many carried signs against hate. There were two South Whitehall police cars and several officers at the church location. Update: 10:20 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 20 Counter-protest group at the…
Jay Bell
1:35 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
The Westboro Baptist Church is just out for publicity and money. They don't care anything about God, per se. They are political prostitutes, plain and simple. www.firebrandcental.com more ›