Tourism in North Idaho

Speculation abounds locally as to why picketers from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, chose Coeur d'Alene for several days of demonstrations; it ranges from a protest against THE LARAMIE PROJECT, a play presented at North Idaho College, to exaggerated sinfulness among the North Idaho population.

These explanations are simply incorrect. Those Kansas Baptists were bona fide tourists, here because of great work accomplished by our chambers of commerce.

Years ago while teaching at Northern Arizona University I tried to find out who owned a bumper sticker (and the car affixed to it), which read, COMMITTING SUICIDE IN KANSAS IS REDUNDANT. It's obvious: the Westboro people came here to get away from there; anyone who has visited Topeka knows residents need to get away from time to time to nice places like Idaho. They picketed for a few hours while here but that was probably for tax purposes to make their trips tax deductible.

Picketers are fascinating. While an undergraduate at the University of Illinois in Chicago - then housed on Navy Pier - I had an acquaintance who was a semi-professional picketer. He used to dress up in a sheet like a ghost on Halloween and carry a sign that said, "Shame" on it.

One day he showed up with his costume under his arm so we asked what he would be picketing - a play that was anti-Semitic. His picture appeared in the Chicago Tribune so we knew he had been there. He showed up for classes a few days later with sheet and sign to tell us his group had found another target, this time a play that was not anti-Semitic. I guess that's equal opportunity picketing, a guy who works both sides, even when there is no issue. The Westboro people did not seem to be on both sides of anything, not even Fourth Street.

We young idealists marched 50 years ago at Burn the Bra rallies for many reasons, some vaguely philosophical. Bra burning, we thought, was a good way to respond to gender based oppression. Years later I heard an anthropologist discuss the history of the brassiere which, in fact, liberated women, permitting activities previously very uncomfortable. My interpretation of the rallies changed as a result of new information; my feelings about the issues did not.

I drove by Coeur d'Alene High School about 6:45 a.m. to see the Kansas tourists in action, much like the night before on television. No one was burning bras or dressed in sheets.

I was taken especially by one hard-working gent with four signs, one on each arm and leg. I am thankful he had no additional appendages; he was already a hard person to read. There appeared to be more police than Kansans; there were certainly far more counter protesters urging me to love, not hate.

Later that morning I attended a rally at the Human Rights Education Institute where dignitaries and ordinary folk gathered to celebrate inclusiveness. Several speakers asked 200 or so attendees to thank the Westboro folks for being catalysts to Idahoans for whom suicide is not redundant. I know a lot of Baptists; they are not like the picketers from Westboro.

It must be a burden to have knowledge that makes one superior to others. I am reminded of my favorite piece of graffiti: "Nietzsche: God is dead. God: Nietzsche is dead." It is probably wise to make certain you have the ear of God before claiming you do. For myself, I doubt that God hates fags or that He enjoys seeing dead soldiers, as the signs the Westboro folks held proclaimed.

Tim Hunt, the son of a linotype operator, is a retired college professor and nonprofit administrator who lives in Hayden with his wife and three cats. He can be reached at linotype.hunt785@gmail.com.