How Freedom of Speech Is Being Abused
In the coming months, the Supreme Court will be hearing arguments about a court case that should never even needed to be considered. That case is the abuse of Freedom of Speech, by a religious Church from the Topeka Kansas area. This church is the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church. The Pastor of this church is Fred Phelps Sr. A man, I feel, is a disgrace to his faith and is the poster boy to why many in today’s society are turning away from religion.
This lunatic Pastor, along with the throng of his crazies, appears at military funerals and cheers the deaths of fallen soldiers from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In protesting, this lunatic Pastor preaches the deaths of our fallen heroes, is deserved and a punishment from God, while basing this idea solely on their own biases and prejudices towards Homosexuals and other fanatical religious beliefs. A father to a slain Veteran has sued the organization for their protesting at the funeral of his son. Albert Snyder was awarded five million dollars in damages for distress caused by these lunatic protesters. Unfortunately, a higher court overturned this decision and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case to render a final decision.
The following is an article by the Associated Press providing an outline of the arguments from both sides and what is at stake with this case;
Court to rule in military funeral protest case
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court is getting involved in the legal fight over the anti-gay protesters who show up at military funerals with inflammatory messages like "Thank God for dead soldiers."
The court agreed Monday to consider whether the protesters' message, no matter how provocative and upsetting, is protected by the First Amendment. Members of a Kansas-based church have picketed military funerals to spread their belief that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.
The court agreed Monday to consider whether the protesters' message, no matter how provocative and upsetting, is protected by the First Amendment. Members of a Kansas-based church have picketed military funerals to spread their belief that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.
The justices will hear an appeal from the father of a Marine killed in Iraq to reinstate a $5 million verdict against the protesters, after they picketed outside his son's funeral in Maryland.
A jury in Baltimore awarded Albert Snyder damages for emotional distress and invasion of privacy, but a federal appeals court threw out the verdict. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the signs contained "imaginative and hyperbolic rhetoric" protected by the First Amendment.
The funeral for Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder in Westminster, Md., was among many that have been picketed by members of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. Westboro pastor Fred Phelps and other members have used the funeral protests to spread their belief that U.S. deaths in the Iraq war are punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality. One of the signs at Snyder's funeral combined the U.S. Marine Corps motto with a slur against gay men.
Other signs carred by members of the Topeka, Kan.-based church said, "America is Doomed," "God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11," "Priests Rape Boys" and "Thank God for IEDs," a reference to the roadside bombs that have killed many U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The case will be argued in the fall.
The case is Snyder v. Phelps, 09-751.
Whether you agree with any Military conflict our troops are involved in or not. The death of a soldier is the most heroic sacrifice that can be made by the individual and his or her family. The funeral is a private and personal service that should not be abused for the right of Freedom of Speech. There is nothing political about a funeral nor is their anything commercial about it. A funeral service is the private moment where friends and family say goodbye to a loved one. It is emotional and traumatic. My only hope is that the Supreme Court will see it this way as well.
Freedom of Speech is a Constitutional Right that many have died for. But, death itself, should not be exploited for personal agenda, by using the very service that our society has agreed, is the only solemn rite of passage. I can only hope the Supreme Court will see this in the same light and make the appropriate decision of when Freedom of Speech goes on hold for a more important rite.
That’s How I See It.
The following are websites of reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps
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