JustASC

When that awful little Westboro Baptist Church came our way late last year, we and many others debated whether reporting or acknowledging the group only serves their odious cause.

At GetReligion, which critiques press coverage of religion, Terry Mattingly suggests why we can’t ignore the “God hates fags” church, even if we wanted to: the Supreme Court is taking up a case about them:

The Supreme Court will review whether anti-gay protests at funerals of American soldiers are protected by the First Amendment, taking up the appeal of a Maryland man who won and then had reversed a $10 million verdict against the small Kansas church that conducts the demonstrations. 

But if we must write about them, Mattingly implores that we at least do so with “accuracy, balance and perhaps even good taste.” Most importanly, we should:

stress that — like thousands of other “Baptist” flocks of all sizes — this church is totally independent from ties that bind it to any other group that calls itself “Baptist.”

…

Simply stated, it is wrong to hang the actions of the Westboro team around the necks of other Baptists. It would only take one or two sentences to clear this up.

Just the other day, my colleague in Jewish journalism and hyphenated last names, Elana Kahn-Oren, had this cute Facebook update:

I’m getting concerned about my friends at the Westboro Baptist Church. I haven’t received a fax since Friday. I’m beginning to forget that America is doomed.