Jared Hasen-Klein
Webmaster and Guest Writer
The Westboro Baptist Church, a religious group known for their hate rhetoric, announced last week that they would “bring gospel to some Jewish youth” at Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles on February 27, 2017. The Kansas based church, established in 1955, historically opposes Jews, Muslims, LGBTQ+, soldiers, politicians, and even Catholics – citing strictly biblical verses.
On Monday, I attended both the picketing and the response movement. At the picketing, I, along with Hannah Langley of USC, interviewed a member of the group holding a “God Hates Proud Sinners” sign. The man asked not to be identified by name – not because he wants to hide his identity, but because he wants the focus to remain on the group.
We started by asking him about the significance of Shalhevet out of all of the Jewish institutions in the country. His first reason pointed to the fact that they were in Los Angeles protesting the idolatry at the Academy Awards. However, once in LA, there was really nothing special about Shalhevet. He couldn’t even remember the name or how to pronounce it until he looked at the sign on the building. His “target audience” for preaching is all Jewish youth.
Finally, the students made signs spreading positive messages as they marched from the offsite location to Shalhevet.