On westboro baptist church.

While I pretty rarely post anything but work-related rants here, today I'm veering off course. Because this morning the good folks from the westboro baptist church showed up at my kid's high school in Denver. I took the above picture at about 7:15 this morning.

We knew they were coming. That's the thing with the wbc: They're very detail-oriented. They post their picket schedule on their website (I'm not going to put a link here. If you're interested, a quick google search will take you to their site).

So I dropped my kid off up by the school, drove down past the crowd, parked and walked over to the corner. The students had organized quickly, telling everyone to keep things peaceful. I was impressed by their ability to do that. I confess I sat in my car for about 15 minutes before getting out, debating with myself as to whether I'd be able to remain as composed as the kids or not. But I did. And I'm glad.

Here's what I realized.

I'm glad the wbc showed up. Very.

They brought out the best in the students. The kids banded together. They were behaved. They had senses of humor (some very creative and funny signs). And you could tell that the presence of the wbc made them even stronger in their beliefs in equality. It was very cool to witness.

But even more than that, I found my anger drifting away. After years of hearing and reading about the wbc's antics, and being consumed with anger and hatred toward them, seeing them in person made me realize some important things.

First, they're ugly. Yes, ugly on the inside, filled with hate, blah blah blah. But I already knew that. What I didn't realize was just how physically unattractive they are. I thought, man, have you ever seen yourself in the mirror? If God really is full of hate, can you not see that he directed it toward your face when you were born? One of the women actually looked like a vagina. No offense intended toward vaginas, mind you. There are some beautiful ones. They just don't belong on a face.

Second, they were wearing clothes. While that is obviously a good thing, since the state of their faces would lead one to believe the bodies underneath those clothes resemble something from John Carpenter's version of The Thing, I also found comfort in the knowledge that those clothes were made by people the wbc says are going to hell. The wbc bought those clothes. They also drive cars and use the internet and make videos and live in houses... see where I'm going? They couldn't do what they do without the people they hate. They rely on us. They need us. What a quandary for them. They can't win. If they're right about all their "God H8s You" stuff, then God hates them too, because they're sleeping with the enemy. If they're wrong about it all, well, nice life they're living. They'll either end up in hell because God thinks they're douchebags just like we do, or they'll just end up as worm food.

That has to fucking eat them up inside.

Finally, in all seriousness, they are a small, pathetic cult with tiny brains that have helped to band together a disparate group of people of varying backgrounds, beliefs and orientations. Think about that. They are helping to do what we as a society of millions have not been able to do very well.

For that, I thank them.

But please, wbc. Get some ski masks. And maybe some memberships to 24-hour Fitness.