Ray Hollister Just what the world needed, someone else's opinion.

Phineas and Ferb spoof CSI: Miami.

Now for something completely different. Since I have a four year old daughter, I have an excuse to watch Disney Channel. One of Zoe's favorite shows is the cartoon Phineas and Ferb, a show about two brothers who are creative geniuses that take every seven year old boy's craziest ideas and make them into realities, i.e. building a roller coaster through a major city, going to Mars, traveling through time, making it snow in the summer, etc. In true Saturday morning cartoon style, their sister plays the role of the "villain" that is always trying to "bust them" by showing their mother what they have done. They don't seem to mind though, and they have even assisted her in the busting on one occasion. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, their pet platypus, is a secret agent that is constantly disappearing to thwart the evil plots of his nemesis, a clueless, evil scientist. In true deus ex machina style, these two plots usually come together with the evil scientist's new invention inexplicably causing the boys creations to conveniently disappear or otherwise go away. OK, yeah, now that I wrote that all down, it does seem kinda crazy, but it is a fun show to watch. It's also a heck of a lot more cerebral than Thundercats was!

Anyways, now that you have a general idea of what the show is about, in an episode that Zoe and I just watched, the boys pretend to be detectives on a manhunt for their sister's lost doll. During the search, they do a montage of detective show parodies. The funniest one is when they parody the opening scene of CSI: Miami. They managed to squeeze in a total of 6 well used gags from both shows in only 21 seconds.

Final score: Love 133 | Hate ZERO – Recap of the nonexistant Westboro Baptist Church protest at Douglas Anderson.

So, there you have it. We showed up; they punked out. They said they were coming, and then they did not show up. I've always assumed that WBC skips parts of the Bible, but now we have proof that Fred Phelps must skip at least: Leviticus 19:11, Psalms 31:18, Psalms 63:11, Psalms 58:3, Psalms 101:7, Proverbs 6:16-19, Proverbs 12:22, Proverbs 12:19, Proverbs 14:5, Ephesians 4:25, Revelation 21:8, and Revelation 22:14-15 during Sunday School!

Well, I hope that's what happened. I pray that nothing terrible happened to them on the way. I tweeted Megan Phelps to see if I could get a response from her, and I haven't heard back yet. I will update you if she responds. I saw Jackie Cornelius go by the crowd in her car and she smiled. That made me happy. I was complimented on the alteration on one of my posters, "Father Forgive the Phelps."

I was interviewed by Action News 47. I said, "Blah, blah eh, blah, narf". I completely forgot everything when I saw that GIGANTIC HD lens! When it was focusing, I thought it was going to eat me! However, when the DA newspaper reporter asked me for a statement, I have to admit, I wasn't much better! I'm thinking that I might not be that good at the whole interviewing thing!

The good news is, since WBC never showed up, we got all the publicity. Well, when I say we, that's the funny part, who was this we? There were so many people there, from all different walks of life, different beliefs, different sexual preferences, all with one common reason for being there, to tell WBC that they are wrong.

Here's the articles that I have found about the event. Please share any that you find in the comments.

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/content/topstories/story/Hate-group-doesnt-show-up-for-protest/9tU8i4c6REqbKtrLyUBS3A.cspx

http://jacksonville.com/news/columnists/charlie-patton/2010-04-29/story/protest-counter-protest-announced-%E2%80%9C-laramie-project%E2%80%9D

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/400799/charlie-patton/2010-04-29/douglas-andersons-production-laramie-project-may-have

http://www.news4jax.com/news/23314575/detail.html

http://www.news4jax.com/news/23123886/detail.html

http://phelps-a-thon.com/dasota.html

And of course...

http://www.godhatesfags.com/written/fliers/20100227_Jacksonville-FL-Laramie-Project-May-1.pdf

http://www.godhatesfags.com/schedule.html

My response to those who are against the anti-protest…

News4Jax | Protesters Target Local Play - Video with audio from Shirley Phelps-Roper "School officials said they have received hundreds of e-mails from people wanting to stage a counter-protest. Cornelius said they would rather have people show up and watch the play instead of counter-protest."

I understand and respect Mrs. Cornelius' statements about the counter-protest against Westboro Baptist Church. It is part of the reason why I did not discuss it with her. She is in a difficult position. Regardless of her personal opinion, if she showed any support for the counter-protest at all, she could place the school board in liability if something were to happen to someone during the protest. She could potentially even be held liable if she didn't outright say that she was against the counter-protest.

However, the belief that protesting against them will increase the attention that the media gives them, or that ignoring them will reduce the amount of attention that the media gives them is naive. The media will pay attention to them because it is a story. However, by protesting against them, we get to tell our side of the story, and the public sees that there is opposition to them. The public gets to see that there are people who believe that what Westboro is  saying is evil and wrong,  and they are willing to stand up against them.

Some have said that protesting against WBC is just adding fuel to the fire. That is not true. If we stood against them with hatred, then we would be fighting fire with fire, which just results in a bigger fire. However, we are responding with love, which counters hate. Megan Phelps recently retweeted a quote from a counter protester "The WBC is a firestorm & we've only brought water guns." I would stand against them all day with a water gun. Because their fire will never over come our water guns. A wildfire will never go out if you just ignore it and pretend it's not there.

So, while I understand and respect Mrs. Cornelius' official position on the counter-protest, I am still going to participate in the counter-protest. I say that we should show up for the counter-protest AND watch the play. I watched it Thursday night, and it was incredible. As always, Dr. Beger has molded a group of kids into actors that have talent and maturity well beyond their years.

I thought about it today, and I am not protesting because I graduated from DA. Sure, it definetely got my attention because it was happening at DA, but I would still be protesting against them if they were planning on picketting Stanton, Paxon, Fletcher, Bolles or Ribault. I am protesting because the WBC's message is hatred and evil, and it should be protested against. Knowing this and not protesting would be an act of cowardice.

Please don't misunderstand me. This is in no way a judgement against anyone who chooses not to protest, and it is not judgement towards Mrs. Cornelius's request that alumni do not participate in a counter-protest. It is my way of explaining why I must participate in the protest against WBC, despite her request. However, I am sad that I have to do this in opposition to the administration's wishes.

So why am I protesting?

"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men". Abraham Lincoln

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. Martin Luther King, Jr.
These are values I learned while I was at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.