While the rest of us needlessly debate what caused the bombings at the Boston Marathon, the Westboro Baptist Church has already learned the real reason behind the tragedy: "fag marriage."
The infamously anti-gay, anti-Semitic "church", known for picketing the funerals of fallen U.S. military veterans, announced Tuesday that it would protest the funerals of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people, including an 8-year-old boy, and injured 176.
"BREAKING: Westboro Baptist Church to picket funerals of those dead by Boston Bombs! GOD SENT THE BOMBS IN FURY OVER FAG MARRIAGE! #PraiseGod," the Kansas-based group tweeted.
"Massachusetts invited this special wrath from God Almighty when it was the first state to pass same-sex marriage on May 17, 2004," the group added.
The organization later tweeted a similar claim, this time referencing the Ellen DeGeneres TV show.
"Everyone can give a big thanks to the likes of @TheEllenShow in supporting same-sex marriage - THAT is the reason GOD SENT BOSTON BOMBS!"
Lucky for supporters of basic human decency, Westboro's proclamation has already drawn the condemnation of the Internet freedom activists in the hacker collective Anonymous. The anti-authoritarian group responded to Wesboro's threat with a promise of its own: "If #WBC protests the Boston funerals, they will have to expect us."
This isn't the first time the hackers in Anonymous have actively antagonized the Westboro Baptist Church for its deplorable behavior.
When the Westboro Baptist Church promptly announced it would picket the funeral of Reddit and RSS co-creator Aaron Swartz after his suicide in January, the hacktivists in Anonymous successfully scared the hate group enough to back down from protesting. Anonymous also revealed the personal information of numerous alleged members of the church in December, and derailed the WBC's plan to picket the funerals of Sandy Hook School Shooting victims.
A White House petition to designate the Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group is "the most popular single petition ever created through the White House initiative," according to the Huffington Post. Since the petition was created Dec. 14, over 355, 000 individuals have now signed.
"The Westboro Baptist Church is better-known for homophobic displays, suing people and picketing funerals than for providing Christian care to a community. Due to their harassment and politicking, their IRS tax-exempt status should be immediately investigated," a post on the White House's "We the People" online petition forum explains.
The Westboro Baptist Church is "arguably the most obnoxious and rabid hate group in America," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Anti-Defamation League is less explicit, but similarly agrees. The church is "a small virulently homophobic, anti-Semitic hate group," it says.