Ok since someone else couldn't create this topic I did. First of all I would like by start saying I dislike the Westboro Baptist Church very much. They insult, invade privacy, and do some of the worst things possible to U.S. soldiers coming home and at their funerals. There beliefs are created off of a few scriptures that the Devil owns the World and we are all doomed. Luckily Anonymous hacked their website and showed them some sweet justice. Anonymous also said that they are professional trolls and that they said to bring it on.
I've just read this on wiki, to add into the above comment:
On May 24, 2006, the United States House and Senate passed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act, which President George W. Bush signed five days later. The act bans protests within 300 feet of national cemeteries â" which numbered 122 when the bill was signedâ"from an hour before a funeral to an hour after it. Violators face up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison.[62]
As of April 2006, at least 17 states have banned protests near funeral sites immediately before and after ceremonies, or are considering it. These are: Illinois,[63][64] Indiana,[65] Iowa,[66] Kansas,[67] Kentucky,[68] Louisiana,[69] Maryland,[70] Michigan,[71] Missouri[72] (which passed the law), and Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma,[73] South Carolina,[74] South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.[75] Florida increased the penalty for disturbing military funerals, amending a previous ban on the disruption of lawful assembly.[76] On January 11, 2011, Arizona passed an emergency measure which prohibits protests within 300 feet of any funeral services, in response to an announcement by the WBC that it planned to protest at 2011 Tucson shooting victim Christina Green's funeral.[77]
These bans have been contested. Bart McQueary, having protested with Phelps on at least three occasions,[78] filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of Kentucky's funeral protest ban. On September 26, 2006, a district court agreed and entered an injunction prohibiting the ban from being enforced.[78] In the opinion, the judge wrote:
Sections 5(1)(b) and (c) restrict substantially more speech than that which would interfere with a funeral or that which would be so obtrusive that funeral participants could not avoid it. Accordingly, the provisions are not narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest but are instead unconstitutionally overbroad.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in Missouri on behalf of Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church to overturn the ban on the picketing of soldier's funerals.[79] The ACLU of Ohio also filed a similar lawsuit.[80]
This paragraph is outdated. Please update this paragraph to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (May 2011)
In the case of Snyder v. Phelps, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that âdistasteful and repugnantâ protests surrounding funerals of service members were protected by the First Amendment. But attorneys for the service memberâs family are appealing the decision on the grounds that such speech should not be allowed to inflict emotional distress on private parties exercising their freedom of religion during a funeral service. The Supreme Court will likely hear the case in the fall of 2011.
"Your freedom to swing your arm in the air ends when it touches the end of my nose," he added. "What these people were going to do was hurtful, harmful and disruptive to the peace, order and good government that we guarantee to our citizens, so they have no place in this country."
This is why I love my country. We like freedom of speech, but we're not going to let you severely hurt other people just because you have something to say.
You know, the KKK was originally a religous organization. If white-robed KKK members were walking down the street with signs saying "If you're not white, GOD HATES YOU!", they would be arested for extreme discrimination. I don't know why the WBC's discrimination is considered acceptable.
The KKK actually killed blacks, destroyed property, and threatened other people.
Well compare it to the vets after Nam/Korea: they were met with even less approval. They were ignored almost completely by about 90% of the population and hated by the other 9.9% (the .1% was military).
A lot of people misinterpret the ideal of free speech. Or at least, they don't know why it's important.
It's not just important because "it's a right to express all ideas" and "restricting it is oppression" or whatever; That is, it's not a free pass for anyone to say whatever they want. That's not it's purpose.
The purpose of free speech is for the dominant majority to listen to the valid ideas of the minority, and use those ideas to shape their beliefs and get closer to what is true and good. It is not a "right" that we blindly defend, it's a necessity that must be protected to ensure that wrong people don't continue thinking wrongly.
So, as it applies above: Hate speech does not contribute in any way whatsoever to discourse. It is purely vile. As such, I don't think it's anything to make a fuss over if someone makes it harder on these WBC thugs to promote their horrid ideology. It's not a slippery slope, one can be selective without getting carried away. In this case, the WBC people are incisive and vindictive. That's called hate speech in the US, and it's prosecuted with the full force of the law.
Imagine if someone made an organization that completely countered their views. They protest with signs like "Got hates straights", "God loves Jews", and "Thank God for surviving soldiers", stuff like that.
Imagine if someone made an organization that completely countered their views. They protest with signs like "Got hates straights", "God loves Jews", and "Thank God for surviving soldiers", stuff like that.
I can't say I haven't seen... this. At my old church, there were a few members who supported Westboro, they said god loved us so much he had to hate us, he wants us to die so he can see us in heaven, which is why the world was so rotten. It wasn't as hate based as westboro, but my church forbid them to come back, simply because they voiced an opinion.
Sure, WBC has a... frowned upon way of looking at things, but the only real issue I have with them is the fact they practically brainwash their children to hate so much.
A very good friend of mine died in Iraq. Guess who showed up to protest his funeral. Fred Phelps and his 'congregation', who have apparently never even picked up a Bible, can all expletive expletive expletive.
Its got to be tough for the servicemen and women at those funerals not to unleash every bit of their training on the WBC. They have a lot of self-control.
All religion sorta does that...it's just some brainwashed people become more brainwashed, aka, the fanatics.
Trust me, I know. ._.
What would be stupid for the servicemen to focus on the negative during a service. That's disrespectful for both sides, and the ones that don't react are the ones worth being there.
