AP – FILE - In this June 6, 2009 file photo, protesters from Rev. Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church demonstrate …
So, the Supreme Court has made an 8-1 ruling that the protesters of Westboro Church can go ahead with their protests at funerals of gay soldiers, or any soldier.
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a grieving father's pain over mocking protests at his Marine son's funeral must yield to First Amendment protections for free speech. All but one justice sided with a fundamentalist church that has stirred outrage with raucous demonstrations contending God is punishing the military for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.
The 8-1 decision in favor of the Westboro Church of Topeka, Kan., was the latest in a line of court rulings that, as Chief Justice John Roberts said in his opinion for the court, protects "even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate."
The decision ended a lawsuit by Albert Snyder, who sued church members for the emotional pain they caused by showing up at his son Matthew's funeral. As they have at hundreds of other funerals, the Westboro members held signs with provocative messages, including "Thank God for dead soldiers," `'You're Going to Hell," `'God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11," and one that combined the U.S. Marine Corps motto, Semper Fi, with a slur against gay men.
Justice Samuel Alito, the lone dissenter, said Snyder wanted only to "bury his son in peace." Instead, Alito said, the protesters "brutally attacked" Matthew Snyder to attract public attention. "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.
Snyder's reaction, at a news conference in York, Pa.: "My first thought was, eight justices don't have the common sense God gave a goat." He added, "We found out today we can no longer bury our dead in this country with dignity."
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I feel like I'm an insensitive person because, I just don't see the big deal that people make of funerals. It bothers me that so many folks bury loved ones. I often think, as a Christian-in-training myself, "Why?" G-d knows what you look like. You're made of all the same elements that are of this earth. He's not going to come down and rise you from the dead and put you back inside that cancer ridden body that killed you in the first place! He's going to remake you anew and make you healthy and beautiful again! Why do we waste so much on funerals and on land to bury people?!
No matter, my mother was buried and my father insists on doing the same so, I'm the odd one who wants to be cremated.
I feel like, I don't care what these people are doing. We give these people too much attention! As long as they are far enough away from the cemetery, what does it matter? They have a right to express their stupid, idiotic opinion, don't they? When any of them die, we can all protest their funerals. Really make it a big time event, like a 3-ring circus or something.
We've survived KKK protests, Nazi protests during WW2, we can survive these silly demonstrations as well. I do NOT agree with what they are doing or what they believe but, they have a right to do it. I think the best thing is to find a way to reach out to them and let them know what they are doing is not expressing the Love of Jesus.
What do you think? Do people make too much of funerals? Am I being insensitive? Let me know, comment below.
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