Fort Lewis Campus Community Peace Rally - Today at 4:30 p.m.
dirty...@riseup.net
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
4:30 - 6 p.m.
Meet at the McPherson Chapel on The Rim
PRISM and the Fort Lewis College Office of the President will be holding a
peace rally in support of peace, tolerance and compassion towards all
people on campus today, Tuesday, November 9, 2010. All of campus, as well
as the Durango community, is invited to participate by gathering around
the McPherson Chapel on The Rim at 4:30 p.m. The rally will then proceed
to the football field.
Our campus has been informed by the Anti-Defamation League that members of
the Westboro Baptist Church plan to picket today on the Fort Lewis College
campus against the screening of the film, �The Anatomy of Hate.� As some
of you might know, the Westboro Baptist Church holds extreme views against
groups such as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and
often conducts protests across the country. Fort Lewis College has found
no legal options that would prevent them from holding their protest.
The College has been in contact with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to
seek advice on handling the protest by the Westboro Baptist Church. The
League has dealt with the WBC in the past and has been very helpful in
offering advice to many different organizations.
The ADL has advised that we �resist directly engaging with WBC.� In their
publication �Responding to the Westboro Baptist
Church<http://www.adl.org/media/pdf/Responding-to-the-Westboro-Baptist-Church.pdf>,�
(attached) the ADL says, �A primary goal of the WBC is to garner publicity
and to spread their message through tactics that grab media attention. The
WBC has a �loud bark,� but communities should resist directly engaging
with them.�
The ADL also suggests that organizations �hold an event (away from the WBC
protest) that demonstrates the diversity and unity within the community.�
We know that the Westboro Baptist Church may inspire strong feelings in
many people, but we ask that you do not engage the WBC protesters. Groups
such as this conduct these protests in order to get attention for
themselves. Their goal is to make people upset and create a disturbance.
The more people they can engage with, the more attention they can get. The
FLC Police Department will be on hand to keep the peace during the
protest.
We invite all of campus, as well as the Durango community, to take action
in support of peace and understanding. A few suggestions are:
� Join us for the peace rally today at 4:30 p.m. at the McPherson
Chapel on The Rim.
� The FLC Leadership Center will be open today from 12 p.m. to 4
p.m. for anyone wishing to create a sign to hold during the rally.
� The screening of �The Anatomy of Hate� will also continue as
planned today in the Reed Library, Beers Room at 5:30 p.m.
� For those who attend the rally and miss the screening of �The
Anatomy of Hate,� a second screening is being scheduled. The time and
place of the second screening will be announced soon.
� If you�d like to learn more about �The Anatomy of Hate,� visit
http://theanatomyofhate.com.