(Image source: Jalopnik)
BY NATHAN GIANNINI
ANCHOR LOGAN TITTLE
More than 260,000 people have signed an online petition to have the federal government legally recognize the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group.
“The controversial group is known for picketing soldiers’ funerals. The petition accuses the church of targeting homosexuals, the military and other religions.”
(News12)
The petition, created on December 14th, is the most popular single petition ever on The White House’s ‘We the People’ website. It states: “They pose a threat to the welfare and treatment of others and will not improve without some form of imposed regulation.”
The petition was reportedly a response to the church’s threat to picket the funerals of the victims of the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting -- though the church reportedly did not follow through with that plan.
So what would such a move mean for the church? The Week reports...
“Such a move would strip the church, which is largely composed of leader Fred Phelps’ family, of its tax-exempt status, and could lead to more severe legal penalties if the group is ever convicted of breaking the law.”
Four other petitions on the site aimed at the church’s tax-exempt status have collected nearly 200,000 signatures between them.
(Image source: Jalopnik)
BY NATHAN GIANNINI
ANCHOR LOGAN TITTLE
More than 260,000 people have signed an online petition to have the federal government legally recognize the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group.
“The controversial group is known for picketing soldiers’ funerals. The petition accuses the church of targeting homosexuals, the military and other religions.”
(News12)
The petition, created on December 14th, is the most popular single petition ever on The White House’s ‘We the People’ website. It states: “They pose a threat to the welfare and treatment of others and will not improve without some form of imposed regulation.”
The petition was reportedly a response to the church’s threat to picket the funerals of the victims of the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting -- though the church reportedly did not follow through with that plan.
So what would such a move mean for the church? The Week reports...
“Such a move would strip the church, which is largely composed of leader Fred Phelps’ family, of its tax-exempt status, and could lead to more severe legal penalties if the group is ever convicted of breaking the law.”
Four other petitions on the site aimed at the church’s tax-exempt status have collected nearly 200,000 signatures between them.
