Before I begin here, I want to make it very clear that as a journalist, I generally try to keep my emotions out of my professional writing. However, in this case, because not only as a father of two children, but as a human being, I cannot. Any opinions expressed below are those of me only, and not those of Mind Of The Geek, or any of my great colleagues.
The absolutely tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, will leave a mark on not only this nation, but the entire world. I believe anyone can agree there is no excuse for Mr. Lanza’s mindless slaughter of the teachers and young students who were gunned down before he cowardly took his own life. This act against not only the people shaping our children’s future, but the innocent souls of small children who did nothing wrong. I like, countless people, have cried, prayed, and held their own children a little tighter these past few days. While we grieve for the parents, family, and friends of the victims as decent human beings, we all have held our own children a little tighter, or given them an extra kiss goodnight, or told them we loved them a little more after this tragedy. It’s through the support and love of all of our loved ones and community that we will all deal with this tragedy in our own way.
The last thing we need in this country surrounding this horrible, hateful, event, is more hate. However, the members of Westboro Baptist Church, whose hate-mongering in “the name of God” has been famous in the past, have publicly announced that they plan to picket Sandy Hook Elementary. In a blog post, church spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper stated they would picket the school to “sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment [sic].” The blog post went on to praise the actions of the shooter, citing, according to ZDNET, that the ratio of deaths from adults to children was a “good ratio”.
As if that wasn’t absolutely inhuman in itself, remember that this is the same group that has picketed the funerals of fallen U.S. soldiers as well as the funeral of the late Steve Jobs. They’re also the same “church” that owns the following websites: godhatesfags.com, westborobaptistchurch.com, beastobama.com, godhatestheworld.com, godhatesamerica.com, priestsrapeboys.com, blogs.sparenot.com, jewskilledjesus.com, signmovies.com, godhatesislam.com, and godhatesthemedia.com.
The hacker group Anonymous, famous for their earlier attacks on the Department of Justice and the domain servers of child porn websites, has taken action. Anonymous has vowed in a video released to vow to “dismantle” their institution. Anonymous goes on to state, “Attrition is our weapon, and we will waste no time, money, effort, and enjoyment in tearing your resolve into pieces, as with exposing the incongruity of your distorted faith,” and “From the time you have received this message, our attack protocol has past been executed and your downfall is underway.”
Anonymous has already successfully posted in a blog post the names and addresses of members of the Westboro Baptist Church, as well as the domain registrations of all the websites mentioned above. You can view the full details here. It’s safe to assume that Anonymous isn’t done yet, as the group of hackers is more than good enough to cause further damage to the organization, including hacking bank accounts.
Not a hacker, but like me are disgusted by this group of hate-mongers? For the rest of Americans who want to stand up to this awful organization, petition site We The People, where Americans can sign petitions to have issues addressed by the White House itself, has already started a petition asking for the government to deem Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group. The petition already has over 75,000 signatures. You can sign it yourself, as I already have done, at this direct link.
In closing, many media outlets have reported that the shooter was a gamer, and good with computers. While none I’ve heard have used the word “geek”, many people may use the word “geek” to describe someone else with similar interests. As someone who considers himself a “geek”, and likes video games and computers, I take solace in knowing that the real “geek” here isn’t the monster who gunned down small children, but instead each and every one of the Anonymous hackers who are taking down hateful people like Mr. Lanza and the members of the Westboro Baptist Church, or anyone who has used their computer, smartphone, or social network to express their love and support for the victims, their families, and the Newtown, CT, community. They’re also the 75,000 people who have used technology to tell our government to rid our society of these monsters at Westboro Baptist Church as a “religious organization”.
Real geeks love technology, our children, and humanity. Real geeks have all shed a tear, and a keystroke these past 48 hours for the 20 children and 6 adults who needlessly lost their lives.
