Westboro Baptist Church Turned Into Turkey Safety Hotline by Pranksters; Elder Claims WBC Was Target Because of Its Anti-Gay Message
A popular parody news website recently pranked the Westboro Baptist Church by issuing the organization's phone number as a helpline for a fake turkey-related flu that the site reported on.
The National Report published a story last week that said the CDC had confirmed a new form of Avian flu had been found in turkeys distributed by a major supplier. The site also warned consumers not to eat any turkey on Thanksgiving because the virus had the ability to withstand cooking temperatures.
"In early testing, this virus has shown enormous ability to withstand cooking temperatures," read the fake report. "This makes this a much more dangerous situation."
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The site claimed the only chance of killing the disease was by deep frying, which the National Report said only worked 50 percent of the time.
"In our food safety laboratory, we have found that only deep frying cooking methods have been effective at reducing the viral load, and even then, by only about 50 percent. At this point, we can not recommend any preparation method as safe."
The site then issued what it called the "Turkey Safety Hotline" for consumers looking for safety updates. This number happened to be the contact information for the Westboro Baptist Church.
A report from Addicting Info says the church received countless calls which jammed its phone lines.
Steve Drain, an elder with Westboro Baptist Church, spoke with The Christian Post and denied that the church was "flooded with calls."
"I saw some of the stories that said we were getting inundated or flooded with calls," Drain said. "How would these publications even know without talking to us? We got a few calls. I would call it more of a gentle zephyr of calls rather than getting blown away by it."
Drain feels the mock publication wrote the piece in reaction to Westboro's stance on issues such as gay marriage and what it believes to be the downfall of America.
"We got calls from different places around the country and we just politely responded to those people with a similar message. 'No, this is not the turkey hotline, this is Westboro Baptist Church.' And the reason why we got pranked is because of our core message, which is that God hates [expletive] and that same-sex marriage will doom any nation that embraces it."
The National Report includes a disclaimer in the legal portion of its website which explains that its statements regarding health and products are not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are "not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease."
The site also goes on to discredit itself completely as the disclaimer progresses.
