Imagine for a moment that you have a family member who has died in the War on Terror. Now imagine a gaggle of protestors showing up at the funeral and chanting “God Hates Fags” and “God Hates Cripple Soldiers.” This is the specialty of the good folks from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS. - a group of people convinced that every single misfortune befalling an American is due to our nation’s tolerance of homosexuals.

We all know that this is reprehensible behavior. We all understand that to harass and insult people while they’re mourning the passing of a loved one is about as low as one can go. And, we are all aware that some states are taking action to curtail the activities of these idiots so mourners can have the peace and dignity they deserve.

Lest we end up with a boatload of knee-jerk legislation that does more harm than good, let’s take a step back and think this through…

First, a quick review of the First Amendment to the Constitution is in order:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

As one can plainly see above, our right to speak our minds is constitutionally protected. There is a difference however, between protected free speech and harassment.

The misguided souls from Westboro Baptist Church have shamelessly twisted free speech into what can only be described as hate speech. Not only that, but Fred Phelps has perverted the written word of God into something that resembles the Taliban doctrine more than the Christian faith. But is he violating the law? Are the actions of his congregation protected as free speech?

There is a fine line between protected free speech and hate speech. When members of Phelps’ congregation set up camp across the street from a funeral ceremony, they are targeting a specific group of people and interfering with their right to peaceably assemble. The Constitution doesn’t contradict itself. None of us has the constitutional right to violate the constitutional rights of others. Therefore, the folks from Topeka are indeed operating outside of the Constitution. It really is just that simple.

We don’t need a pile of hastily-written new laws on the books to go after the zealots from Kansas. All we need is to protect the constitutional rights of those they attack. We already have laws to accomplish this, and it’s high time they were enforced.

In closing - I could write a thousand-word essay just on how lame these people look with their hateful signs, but that’d be a bit over the top. Besides, pictures are worth a thousand words. There’s a link to Westboro’s photo page below.


Related Reading:
Westboro Photo Page
http://www.godhatesfags.com/photos/thisyear.html

Anti-Defamation League Article About Westboro Baptist Church
http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/default.asp

Article About Westboro Protest At Sago Mine Memorial Service
http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/eyewitness/0601/060112-1.shtml


Alan Burkhart is a freelance political writer, cross-country trucker, and proud citizen of the reddest of the Red States - Mississippi. You can reach him via e-mail at: alan@alanburkhart.com or by visiting his website: www.alanburkhart.com.