Image via WikipediaI normally don't post stuff like this, but in this case I just had to say something. On one had I'm glad to see the courts actually standing up for the Constitution for the first time in what seems a very long time now.On the other hand, the Westboro Baptist Church in this case have got to be doing one of the stupidest things I have ever seen a Church do.
Their signs DO NOT reflect Christianity in any way shape or form. Nor, do they reflect anything that has to do with Christ and their actions are far from doing anything that has anything to do with the Bible itself.
These people disgust me. they make me sick and I cannot believe they actually have the guts to call themselves Christian.
Here they live under the same banner of the United States of America, Protesting the very people who are protect their rights to do what they are doing. I would love to see how far they would make it doing this in any other Country other then the U.S.A.
Knowing many soldiers out there Fighting and more that have returned myself. I feel the need to share to them again. These people DO NOT reflect Christianity. As a Christian I will say this to the soldiers out there. Ignore these people. God Loves you no matter what you have done out there. Jesus died for those terrible things WE ALL have done. So that we may choose Him and be able to go Home. When He rose from the dead, He now has that power to remove all sin for us to do so. Including you and them.
That said. The Westboro Baptist Church. Knock it off. Stop protesting funerals like a bunch of idiots. You are not reflecting Christ, or God or the Bible with any of your actions. It's people like you all that give Christianity a very bad name, and you wonder why people don't want to be saved?
THEY DON"T WANT TO TURN OUT LIKE YOU!
Is our Country in need of God? Yes. But, it has nothing to do with any sign these people are showing and being rude to the people who fight to protect the very thing they are out there doing.
To the Military, You Rock! I thank God and Pray for you all everyday.May God bless you all and help you through everything you have to face and go through.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110302/ap_on_re_us/us_supreme_court_funeral_protests
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the First Amendment protects fundamentalist church members who mount anti-gay protests outside military funerals, despite the pain they cause grieving families.
The court voted 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The decision upheld an appeals court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment to the father of a dead Marine who sued church members after they picketed his son's funeral.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the court. Justice Samuel Alito dissented.
Roberts said free speech rights in the First Amendment shield the funeral protesters, noting that they obeyed police directions and were 1,000 feet from the church.
"Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and — as it did here — inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker," Roberts said. "As a nation we have chosen a different course — to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate."
Alito strongly disagreed. "Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case," he said.
Matthew Snyder died in Iraq in 2006 and his body was returned to the United States for burial. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who have picketed military funerals for several years, decided to protest outside the Westminster, Md., church where his funeral was to be held.
The Rev. Fred Phelps and his family members who make up most of the Westboro Baptist Church have picketed many military funerals in their quest to draw attention to their incendiary view that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.
Well said - and as another conservative Christian who loves our Constitution and understands that the First Amendment protects all speech, I'm saddened that these people claim to be following God and the teachings of the Bible. Poetic justice would be protesters screaming and carrying signs at one of the THEIR funerals (radical leader Fred Phelps is one VERY old Democrat, so that could be soon, who knows?), but Christians and conservatives honor grieving families, so don't expect any of us to jump on the "eye for an eye" bandwagon.
ReplyDeletePhelps and his miscreants had planned to protest at the Tucson funeral of 9-year-old Christina Greene who was murdered at the gathering where Rep. Gabby Giffords was speaking. Phelps said that Christina was killed because she was a Catholic - horrible, racist, black-hearted man. He decided at the last minute to not picket the child's funeral with his disgusting followers because a radio station had agreed to grant him an on-air interview in exchange. The fact that bikers were headed to the Tucson funeral (perhaps to beat the ever-lovin' crud out of the Westboro dingbats) had NOTHING to do with it. Yep, that's the story on that one.
For what it's worth, Phelps is a disbarred lawyer and was a 5-time candidate for the Kansas Democratic Party primaries, but never won. He also was reportedly friendly once upon a time with Al Gore... imagine that.
I had a feeling that Westboro would win on this, but I'm dismayed nonetheless.