So, The Westboro Douche Bags Strike again...

Am I the ONLY one here who thinks every single one of these asshats should be beaten BEYOND recognition???


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100817/ap_on_re_us/us_funeral_protest

I almost got arrested once for trying to make out with one of the guys who protested at a college down here.

Good times.

They're fucking idiots. Seriously. Brainwashed bunch of jackasses. How anyone could be that damn insensitive, I don't know. Especially claiming they are "religious". Right...so God loves you for doing this shit? Righhhht. I don't know how they even sleep at night.

I'm not religious, but it sickens me how they throw God into their mouth. It sickens me how they claim to be "religious." It's people like that who makes all religions seem like a cult when really not all are! I agree, how do they sleep at night?

nope, you're not alone. they all need to die in a fire.

did you see them at the recent comicon? the geeks and nerds protested right back. it was epic.

I'm all for the freedom of speech and whatnot, but this is what happens when you let it go too far. There are just some common sense boundaries, like it or not.

Poetic Justice: I completely disagree. I firmly believe they have a right to be doing this, and that nobody should challenge their right to be doing this.

However, I also believe other people have a right to picket that motherfucker's funeral when he dies of old age in a year.

I did think about it a bit, and really it's up in the air. I mean, do I think they have a right to protest? Yes. Do I think they should be allowed anywhere within viewing distance of the families when they do it? No. If you think about it, our freedom of speech is restricted all the time. You're not allowed to yell "FIRE!" in public places without getting in trouble (unless there really is one, of course). You can't tell cops to 'eat shit' without getting arrested. If I say "God" in a school, they'll chase me with pitchforks and such... We won't even get into what you can and cannot say in the media!

The basic principle behind what they do and do not restrict you from saying/doing seems to be that if you have two opposing parties (like these protesters and the soldier's families, for instance), each have their own rights that they are trying to protect. The protesters have their freedom of speech, and the family has their right to lay their loved one to rest uninterrupted, especially by people trying to be deliberately hurtful. You obviously can't have it both ways, and a decision must be made, so I think they kind of weigh it out and try to decide who's rights are more important to protect in the particular situation at hand. My opinion is that in this case, it would be the families.

An excellent solution in my book would be if the families could anticipate something like this happening and get a restraining order on the entire Baptist Church. Or sue them for harassment after the fact. But that's just me :-/

Poetic Justice: Well you see, these instances were speech is not "free" in this sense is because it causes problems that aren't necessarily emotional:

Yelling "fire" in a public place can cause serious safety issues, especially when people start to panic.
Telling a cop to "eat shit" is iffy, because there are a number of different things they could charge you with depending on the situation, but these kinds of things can be argued in court - it's just a hassle to do so.
Saying "God" in school has repeatedly been upheld by the Constitution; however, there's a double-edged sword in the sense that you can not mess with other peoples' religions.

...and the family has their right to lay their loved one to rest uninterrupted

While I completely agree with you, that's not a constitution given right, and it won't hold up in court, and in this case, their freedom of speech trumps all else. It's a really shitty situation, but we can't really mess with it, because if we manage to shut them up, it's a very serious slippery-slope that can cause for some major problems with free speech in the future.

I don't see it as a slippery slope. It's both a common sense and a good taste thing to me. These people piss me off more than anything else I can think off.

I would GLADLY go to jail for wringing one of their necks. I also STRONGLY agree the children should be removed.

As a former soldier, it sickens me to the very depths of my soul. As a human being in general...it saddens me that someone would use religion, or anything else for that matter...to terrorize a family at their most vulnerable time. These people are below even the Jihad Terrorists in my book.

what exactly is their beef with soldiers? these people confuse/frighten/anger me beyond all reason.

Basically, their "Main" beef with the soldiers goes something like this...Their deaths are punishment for God Wrath over the U.S. allowing homosexuality to happen. In a nutshell.

It goes deeper than that on some things...but that's the gist of it. And I'm like you. They don't frighten me in the least. They Anger me. They anger me beyond all words. The mere thought of them makes me want to do violent, horrible, unspeakable things. And I can honestly say with NO REMORSE that if it was NOT for my kids, and the thought of never seeing them again...I would end ALL of their existances.

the sheer audacity and stupidity they have frightens me. how can people be so disgusting?

i suppose in some warped way i can understand the whole god punishing thing, but i honestly don't get why you'd need to protest a funeral. like, ok it's punishment, why the hell do you need to go and stand around being a cunt while people are grieving?

Am I the only one who thinks its really sad that these people really BELIEVE what they're doing is okay and right?

That leader of the Church Lady...she freaks me the fuck out. Any videos I've seen of her, she sits there straight faced saying "The Lord, your God..." blah blah.
She doesn't smile, she doesn't move her face. She looks like someone who would star in an exorcist movie.

Someone should stand outside her house and picket...see how much she likes it.

You are right, of course. It's just that I'm one of those people that believe that our rights can be taken too far, and while I strongly believe that we should be able to say/do whatever we want 99% of the time, I also believe that there is that very rare 1% of the time where something needs to be done about it.

At the same time, though, I suppose I wouldn't trust our government to know when to draw the line, either.

"The secondary measure specifically stated protesters must stay back at least 300 feet from ceremonies and processions."

How the hell is that unconstitutional? Sounds more like a safety precaution to me.

Ugh, I HATE these people! I never wish death upon people, but I can firmly say I wish these people would die a horrible death. They are disgusting and take freedom of speech way too far. What gives them the right to say such hateful things at a funeral. Completely disrespectful! I hope when one of their members dies, people line up the streets and start some sort of party to celebrate. These people piss me off thinking about it!

I've seen pictures of them protesting different places over different things and the big thing that sticks out at me? These little kids holding signs with things they have no idea about just because they are told by mommy and daddy that it's what they are supposed to do.

I agree! These kids should be taken away from them. It's child abuse. A single protest could lead to one of them getting injured by a flying object, gun, ect when it was meant for the adult.

tam i am= i totally agree with u.. that's some bullshit!!

I agree as well. It sickens me. And to think the courts have continually upheld their right to abuse these children.

@Tam I Am: of course! How else do we learn what or who to hate? We learn our intolerance from our parents and it's up to us to teach tolerance to our children. My son will learn that ANYONE can be a jerk and not worth my respect based on their ACTIONS not their skin color or sexual orientation.

@ Mommy Bunny: That's a great way of thinking.

yeah that is what frightens me, that they flat out think this is ok and that this is what god WANTS them to do.

should find out where they live, or go to a church of there's and picket. i get the feeling it'd get violent though. has anyone ever hurt any of these protesters?

@ Skull: To my knowledge...nobody has ever hurt one of them. It's why the whole 300 YARDS things was passed to BEGIN with...because there are people like me that would love nothing MORE than to see someone run a bus through the middle of them.

As for the Lady...She is Fred Phelp's daughter. He's too old and decrepit to get out there everyday, so he basically leads it from his office and she does the footwork. I actually feel sorry for her almost. She's as much a victim as the young kids out there. I TOTALLY agree about them picketing them.

In fact...I would LOVE to set up a Death Metal music festival right across the street from their church and have the bands performing while these Wing-nuts try to hold service. Bring Hell right to their doorstep! lol