note: there are links in here, the words law and westboro are linked, please use IPB Default to see links in my posts.since i see the trend here, id like to bring up the reason why I feel that as much as these people are total a$$hats, they have the right to do so:
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.
By making a
law that prevents the
Westboro Baptist Church from protesting at funerals (who else does it, realy?), the government is infringing upon the rights of a minority group. While this may seem like a good thing, it isnt. The constitution gauruntees them the right to be as lame as they want, and for that right to be taken away is criminal. No this wont stop them from protesting, but it has the potentional to lead to that. When a government starts picking on the minorities and taking away their freedoms, and then starts taking away bigger freedoms, it gets too powerful. This is the sort of thing that happened in germany, starting with blaming the jews, then taging the jews, and finaly killing the jews. It happens everyday in china where the right of the people to say and think as they wish is continualy oppressed. America is fighting a war right now to give to the people of iraq the very rights it is taking away from the westboro group. I dont like what they say, and realy no one does, but the last thing that we should be doing is taking away their constitutionaly protected right to protest as they wish. it leads to a slipperly slope of continualy repressing free speech among unpopular groups, and could one day lead to forbiding the westboro and other groups from even existing. when the rights of one person are infringed upon, the rights of all persons are infringed upon.
I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. ---Evelyn Beatrice Hall, summarizing the beliefs of Voltaire.