Christina-Taylor Green was nine years old when she was murdered by Jared Loughner in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday. She was born on September 11, 2001, and had been featured in “Faces of Hope,” a book about babies who came into the world on that terrible day. Her mother told ABC News that Christina “thought of it as a day of hope and change, a chance for the country to come together and be united.” She came to the event held by Representative Gabrielle Giffords to “learn more about politics.”
Now we learn that the odious Westboro Baptist Church has declared its intention to picket her funeral. Alpha scumbag Fred Phelps issued a statement thanking God* for the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords, and the church put out a flier entitled “THANK GOD FOR THE SHOOTER – 6 DEAD! WBC WILL PICKET THEIR FUNERALS!”
The flier goes on to explain that Jared Loughner was an agent of God sent to punish America for her sins, which notably include the oppression of the Westboro Baptist Church. It ends with a cheerful prayer for “your destruction – more shooters, more dead carcasses piling up, young, old, leader and commoner – all.”
Anyone still confused about what an actual “climate of hate” looks like?
An organization called the Patriot Guard Riders was formed in 2005 to protect the funerals of soldiers from the Westboro filth. They’re a band of bikers who arrive as invited guests of the family, and keep Fred Phelps and his cult tastefully hidden behind a wall of star-spangled muscle. I hope they might consider a trip to Christina-Taylor Green’s funeral.
I also hope her family knows that no measure of Christina’s memory or honor lies within the foul reach of the Westboro slime. There are monsters in this world – people who have renounced their very humanity. Their fleeting darkness counts for nothing against the light of innocence and courage. There is nothing they can do to damage the love of families, and nations, for fallen heroes or children.
* Note: all use of supreme beings in this post was carefully supervised by a functioning human conscience. No actual Authors of the Universe were harmed or insulted during the making of this essay.
