by Angela Blasi
The Westboro Baptist Church has capitalized on the old saying that there is no such thing as bad publicity, even if you’re in poor taste. Which they are, all the time. The group of old Testament, like religious zealots are notorious, if not infamous for their protests at events such as fallen soldiers’ funerals and pop culture events. However, their latest endeavor on 4/20/11, protesting the beloved ska band Less Than Jake, makes even the more apathetic of us raise an eyebrow. Really guys? Apparently somewhere in Leviticus it made a reference to skanking being the dance of the devil or some shit. See? And you thought all that gyration was wholesome.
Faced with slightly more than a dozen picketers with “signs that talked about whore mongering, adultery, sin,” Vinnie Fiorello was a bit perplexed by the reaction. “It had to be a slow night at the bible study last night… Or they heard the truth that we are a traveling band who love Satan but hate guns,” he told AltPress.com.
Clearly, none of these Westboro Baptist Church members have ever been to a Less Than Jake show, or any ska show for that matter. If they ever did open the narrow scope of their ignorance-coated blinders, they would see a community of kids all coming together for music; picking each other up off the floor from pits, skinny baby-faced boys with arms out to keep the girls from getting hurt and a color spectrum of skin tones and flushed cheeks.
What exactly is “whore-mongering” anyway?
Less Than Jake recently re-released expanded versions of 1996’s Losing Streak and 1998’s Hello Rockview on their own label Sleep It Off and are gearing up for some major announcements shortly. The band just wrapped up a handful of Florida dates and are preparing for the entire Vans Warped Tour this Summer.
Nevermind The Posers 