Westboro Baptist Church

The radio show that I listen to every morning talked a lot about this issue this morning and it really got me thinking. If you haven't heard of any of this before, let me give you the quick rundown. Westboro Baptist Church is a Kansas-based church that is extremely anti-homosexuality. They picket outside of military funerals with signs that read "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God blew up the troops". You may ask what this has to do with fallen soldiers... well, the church says that they believe that U.S. soldiers deserve to die because they fight for a country that tolerates homosexuality. One of the fathers of a fallen soldier who's funeral was picketed sued the church and today the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the church.

I think this issue becomes less about what the people have the right to do and more about what they SHOULD do. The beauty of living in the United States of America is that we have the freedom of speech. With the freedom to say wonderful things comes the freedom to say horrible, hateful things. I completely disagree with what the WBC is doing... and I know if it were my family member or friend's funeral, I would be devastated. However, we can't pick and choose because we like one thing and dislike another. Here's the text to the First Amendment:

"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."

However hateful they're being, they are peacefully saying what they believe in. Again, I really think this circles back to not whether people can say it, but should they be saying it. Sometimes I think people get so wrapped up in shouting what they believe in from the rooftops that they forget to think about the impact of the words they're shouting. I completely disagree with and hate what the WBC is doing, but I think we head down a slippery slope if we start trying to pick and choose who we allow to exercise their freedoms. What these protesters forget is that the reason they are able to have the freedom to picket at a soldier's funeral is that said soldier died defending that right.

I'll leave you with a quote from Chief Justice John Roberts, who was part of the vote in today's ruling:

"Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and -- as it did here -- inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker." -Chief Justice John Roberts

Click HERE for a link to the article on CNN.