Sometimes in this world… there are times when we must take a step back and wonder if we’re doing things “right.” We need to take a second to see if humanity, the thing that separates us from being “just another species,” is being upheld. In the case of the Westboro Baptist Church, protests are held outside of the funerals of gay soldiers who have been killed outside of the Iraq war. The message is that “It is good that these solders died because America is too tolerant of gay people.”
The family of deceased Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder was fed up with this Kansas church taking advantage of such a vulnerable state that they decided to file a lawsuit against the group, alleging invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy. If you ask me, this family had every right to do so. After winning the case in 2007 and receiving millions in compensatory and punitive damages, the Westboro church decided to appeal the case and take it to the Supreme court. They actually ended up winning the case this time around.
Despite the unfixable emotional damage caused and feelings ignored, it is not a surprise that the U.S. government sided with the Church. The first amendment guarantees a freedom of speech by law. The court did admit that the act was extremely distasteful and that they were apologetic for the pain inflicted upon the family, however “you can’t penalize people for expressing their 1st amendment rights at a respectful distance. Even from a funeral.” When I hear this, what got to me was the part about “respectable distance.” What respect is there in tearing apart a person’s lifestyle purposely right around the corner of their funeral? I just don’t understand. Shouldn’t something as awful as this be labeled as hate speech if nothing else?
The U.S. government has some shaping up to do, and while some of these laws and amendments were put into place to protect the population as a whole, some are causing justice to slip through the cracks and it simply isn’t alright.
The family of deceased Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder was fed up with this Kansas church taking advantage of such a vulnerable state that they decided to file a lawsuit against the group, alleging invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy. If you ask me, this family had every right to do so. After winning the case in 2007 and receiving millions in compensatory and punitive damages, the Westboro church decided to appeal the case and take it to the Supreme court. They actually ended up winning the case this time around.
Despite the unfixable emotional damage caused and feelings ignored, it is not a surprise that the U.S. government sided with the Church. The first amendment guarantees a freedom of speech by law. The court did admit that the act was extremely distasteful and that they were apologetic for the pain inflicted upon the family, however “you can’t penalize people for expressing their 1st amendment rights at a respectful distance. Even from a funeral.” When I hear this, what got to me was the part about “respectable distance.” What respect is there in tearing apart a person’s lifestyle purposely right around the corner of their funeral? I just don’t understand. Shouldn’t something as awful as this be labeled as hate speech if nothing else?
The U.S. government has some shaping up to do, and while some of these laws and amendments were put into place to protect the population as a whole, some are causing justice to slip through the cracks and it simply isn’t alright.
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