By Syed

March 9, 2006 11:17 AM | Link to this

I am against the war, but slandering the dead in a funeral is very heinous. We need to realize free speech doesn’t mean free slander. Same goes with Mohammed’s Cartoon. You don’t need to draw a cartton of a religious icon to tell a story or comment, it could be done without the cartoons. I am proud to say I am pro left, pro freedom, but with freedom comes responsibilty and respect to others. Calling the mourning family and tell them they are happy for the dead is just despicable.

By meme

March 9, 2006 12:16 PM | Link to this

It is a shame that good manners do not come automatically. There are time to protest and if my son or daughter were being buried after a death in Iraq and these people showed up, I don’t know if I could hold my temper. I know that the right to demonstrate is one of our freedoms but, as Syed said, slandering the dead in a funeral is very heinous.

By J.T.

March 9, 2006 12:25 PM | Link to this

Free speech be d*mned.

Whether it is the funeral for a serviceman/woman who has served their country or it is a homosexual, a funeral is neither the place nor the time to protest.

Who are they protesting?

The person they are protesting is dead.

A funeral is a time for the living to remember their dead. THEIR dead. Not that waste of skin so-called preacher from Kansas.

If people have even an ounce of understanding for that Westboro Baptist Church and their ilk, then please know (and you can check this for yourself), that the founder of that church was charged and convicted of fraud when he was an attorney. He continues to act criminally and encourages others to do the same.

I wonder how he would feel if a funeral for one of his “Christian” relatives (the whole church is made up of his incestuous relatives) were protested in the same vigorous and raucous manner that he does other people?

I’ll bet he’d be angry and upset. Hypocrites know no bounds.

By Syed

March 9, 2006 12:52 PM | Link to this

meme Nice to see we agree on something

By anna

March 9, 2006 01:49 PM | Link to this

When you make statements against the government, against our servicemen and disturb the privacy of a funeral, I say it is treason and has nothing to do with free speech. Should my rights be waived in the name of “free speech”? I think not.

By Phillip

March 14, 2006 09:32 AM | Link to this

I’m glad that the preacher has the right to make these protests, freedom of speech is of paramount importance. That having been said, however, just because someone technically has the right to do something does not mean that it should be done, or that it should be allowed. The same freedoms provided to the Kansas preacher are afforded the people attending the funeral. But, the freedom of the protesters should not be placed in higher importance than those of the funeral attendees, nor vice versa. Unfortunately, only his presence is intrusive.

Leaving manners aside, which would dictate allowing someone to grieve while showing them respect, another issue is the fact that freedom of speech is not absolute. The Supreme Court has ruled that speech is free only up to a point. For example, when speech threatens the welfare of others, or causes a situation which may result in harm to others, such as inciting a riot, the speaker is subject to penalty. Incendiary speech is not necessarily protected, so I think that state legislatures have some cover if they decide to enact laws to prevent such demonstrations, and I hope they do.

I am not a Bush supporter, I disagree with his administration’s decision to wage war in Iraq, but no matter how vehemently I feel this, even if I were within my rights as a citizen to protest at a soldier’s funeral, I would never do so. There is a time and place for everything, and to usurp the private grief of someone else to grandstand for my own cause is just wrong. Besides, these soldiers are not public figures, they did not ask for attention from the media or public. They do their jobs, anonymously, just like anyone else. If someone wants to protest at, say, Bill Clinton’s funeral, fine. It may be in poor taste, but one can at least rationalize why that would be ok. He was a public figure, these soldiers are not. Let their families say goodbye and get over their loss.

By atltoday

March 14, 2006 01:27 PM | Link to this

Your rights end where my begin is what they used to teach in school. i honestly think that protesting at funerals must be allowed but a distance must be created so they can’t get too close to the family to upset them even more.