Joe Gaona was there not to protest, but to try to spread the Gospel. Д«ut Bleeding Cool News did do a well-balanced report on two protesters at the 2014 SDCC who were not so polarized, and both seemed to be saying things that were not antagonistic. But Brian makes a good point when he says, вЂњAtheists donвЂ™t show up a churches and try to convince people that their story is nothing more than a story.вЂќ Still that did not dissuade other protesters from showing up last year to the 2014 SDCC, yelling at people for not only idolatry, but slinging sexist and homophobic slurs out into the crowd. In 2013, an atheist named Brian organized his own protest, with signs as fancy as the conservativesвЂ™ were. It seems to be a different group each year. Since that year, you can search the internet to find articles where other conservative Christian groups try to get in on the game. Depending on which account you read, the reaction was either good natured with a few exceptions or pretty heated. Some were actually pretty clever, like вЂњGalactus is NighвЂќ and вЂњGod Hates JediвЂќ brandished by a Star Trek cosplayer. According to several accounts, these protesters were severely outnumbered by the many comic fans who came prepared with their own signs which they hastily cobbled together (I donвЂ™t blame them for their hurriedness, their main concern was probably getting their costumes ready in time to stand in line all day for Hall H). They stated that their main objection was that being a comic book fan was akin to idolatry, but all those other hate issues got muddled up into their message as well. All of these had the standard, hatemongering slogans that Fred PhelpsвЂ™ church usually employs at US soldiersвЂ™ funerals like, вЂњGod hates you,вЂќ вЂњGod hates fags,вЂќ and other deplorable sayings. The Westboro Baptist Church had sent just a few people, but they did quadruple duty holding as many as four signs each.

The first major protest (in terms of press coverage) was at the 2010 SDCC. But first, letвЂ™s look at some of the protests that have already happened at SDCC. In the process, I suggest that we, as Christians, can learn from cosplayers how we can live out some important illustrations in the Bible that will help us follow Jesus Christ more effectively, and therefore, become more Christ-like ourselves. I question these protesters is this the most effective way to get your message across? More to the point, is cosplaying and other such activities even worth protesting? This blog post will answer these questions.

I am expecting that this year, just like the last several years, there will be some Christians with poorly thought out slogans slapped onto protest signs, with big bullhorns causing brouhaha for comic book fans, cosplayers, and anyone else at the convention trying to have an enjoyable week. San Diego Comic Con 2015 is right around the corner.

The black legend debate