Resist temptation

On Oct. 22 our community will take a 90-minute test.

It will be more than a test of self-restraint. On Oct. 22, we'll test the limits of the First Amendment in Coeur d'Alene.

Parents, now is the time to tell your high school students that a group of knuckleheads is coming to town. No, that's not right, either. Tell them some American citizens with an unorthodox approach toward religious and political expression are coming to town. And it is up to all of us not to give them what they so desperately seek: angry reaction leading to a big payday.

Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., is sending a group here, ostensibly to protest "The Laramie Project," a play that will be performed at North Idaho College later this month. "The Laramie Project" deals with the effect the homophobic 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard had on that Wyoming community.

Many posters on this newspaper's website say the Westboro folks simply want publicity. It is much, much more than that.

"They make their money by doing things that make people so angry, they react by doing something they shouldn't," NIC theater instructor Joe Jacoby told The Press. "Then (Pastor Fred) Phelps and his people sue them."

So this is even more than a test of self-control and freedom of expression. It's an experiment that delves into capitalism and tests our legal system, using the First Amendment not just as a shield, but as a magnet for materialistic gain.

Disgusting? Damn right. So let's not give them what they want. No matter how much we'd like to plant a well-aimed boot in a malevolent buttock, let's turn the other cheek. You know, one attached to our face. Let's ignore these money-motivated martyrs.

For 90 minutes on Friday, Oct. 22, we can do that, can't we? We can thank another group of unorthodox Americans brandishing their First Amendment rights for having given us plenty of practice.