Any day now, the way certain things have been going, I halfway espect to go to my window in response to a ruckus outside, and see a bunch of lunatics carrying signs that read, "Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch To Live". Hopefully, I would have enough sense to not open fire, unless they made the mistake of letting me catch them in the act of damaging my property. On the other hand, why wait?
That is my exact feelings about the likes of Fred Phelps, the so-called "Pastor" of the Westboro baptist Church." Among his antics, he has proposed a monument in Caspar Wyoming that declares that, on the night of his death, Matthew Shephard entered hell. Shephard,ofcourse, was the young gay man that was brtually tortured and left to die, strung up to a fence along a remote Wyoming highway. Accordding to Phelps, he met his demise while out cruising for "strange flesh" and meth. He admits Shephard may have repented during his last hours, though this is unlikely as, since he is gay, this means that God has "given him up". The monument Phelps prposes actually features an engraving of a photograph of Shephard, and he has sued the city of Caspar for what he considers his constituional right, and Christian duty, to erect the it in a public park.
Another sterling example of Phelps devotion to Chist came in the city of Lexington Kentucky, where he appearred to lead a protest at the baptism of two young children who had recently been adopted by a gay couple.
Lately, he has chosen to grace Kentuckly yet again with his presence, as he leads yet more protests, this time at the funeral of slain American soldiers of the Iraqi conflict. Why would he se fit to lead such a protest? Because accordding to him, America is doomed due to it's ongoing an ever increasing support and sanctioning of the gay lifestyle. He even asserts that this is the reason Ameica was attacked on 9/11.
What this has to do exactly with the soldiers whose funerals he proposes to picket is unclear to me, but it is plain he has little to no respect for the soldiers or their families. He has even referred to them, on his web-site(which you will find a link to in the title of this post), as worthless, no talent bums who are only in the military because they are unable to find a real,decent job. One such as his, I suppose, which seems to be based on making money through sensationalistic pandering to prejudice. Not that I can fault him for that, it would be pretty hard to otherwise live off the contributions from his lttle church in kansas, with less than 100 registered members.
Still, overeactions are never good, whether you shoot out your windows at witch haters, or pass special laws against public protests at private military funerals by the likes of Fred Phelps, as some states, including Kentucky, propose to do. Unecessary,unwaranted, and an unwise invitation to the old slippery slope. Seems to me that, if simple common decency is beyond Phelps perview, then already enacted laws in most states against harrassment should do just fine. A good class action lawsuit on behalf of the families involved might give ol' Fred pause, and maybe even some food for thought. After all, I know of no interpretation of the Constitution that gives anyone a right to protest a private function, such as a family funeral, whether or not conducted by the military.
No one has the right to intrude on a private individuals or families, pesonal,and very real grief, particularly over the death of a loved one. The family of Matthew Shephard deserves better, and so certainly do the families of our military personnel.
