Protesting at Soliders' Funerals

[jon@af]

http://glimmerglass.olivet.edu/index...d=40&Itemid=31


This story is actually out of the newspaper I work on here at my school. I heard about this and was absolutely appalled by it. It disgusts me that a Church congregation would go so far as to call themselves Godly people and be able to do this.

Originally Posted by Article

Funeral protests add insult to injury
Written by Emily Davis
Thursday, 19 January 2006

A cold March wind stung my tear-streaked cheeks, and a distant bugle played the sad, melancholy tune of Taps that signals the final rest of a soldier.

The crisp red, white and blue flag was removed from the coffin, pulled taut, and folded precisely before a soldier with trembling, white-gloved hands, presented it to my mother.
With the release of each round of the 21-gun salute, those around me jumped, unprepared for the sharp break in the silence.

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Rev. Fred Phelps and members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. have protested at funerals of homosexuals, U.S. soldiers, and even Virginia miners killed earlier this month with placards like these. In response, Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn recently proposed legislation that would regulate the time and location protests would be allowed at private funerals.
I stood motionless and watched, helplessly, as a soldier was laid to rest.

My father -- my hero -- was gone.

Very few people can understand the strange mix of grief and pride associated with the death of a soldier. That cold day in March, at 13 years old, I understood.

As I reflect on that day, I am filled with the same sense of pride for the soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice for this nation and strangely, at the very same time, my heart is overcome with grief all over again. Still, it is this unique combination that binds me, eternally, to the few others who have lost a soldier. It is this same bond that caused me to fill with anger when I learned of the many military families forced to share this final goodbye with the protests and pickets of a cold, unfeeling man.

Rev. Fred Phelps and his congregation from Topeka, Kan. have decided that it is their constitutional right to protest at funerals of soldiers that have died in Iraq. Okay, fair enough. I can understand that. But, I also understand that one person’s rights usually end when they begin infringing upon the rights of another, and the way I see it, the families of other fallen soldiers and I have the right to grieve our losses without listening to the chants of “God hates soldiers” in the background.

I can’t even begin to describe how the actions of Phelps and his congregation disgust me. Who has the audacity to intrude on a private funeral and cause more pain to the already devastated family – in the name of God? It seems unfeeling and inhumane. I believe the Christian faith should be one of love – not of inappropriate accusations and pain.

I don’t care what profession the deceased had, no one should be allowed to invade the privacy of a grieving family. I cannot believe that our constitution protects this sort of emotional injury. However, the courts in Kansas say that it does.

Phelps and his congregation of protestors battled the Kansas legislature after a law was passed that forced the protestors to move out of ear-shot from the funerals they were protesting.

However, the courts later called such legislation unconstitutional and Kansas lawmakers were forced to pay the Phelpses for court fees and lawyers.

Are you kidding me?

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Now, however, they are looking for this same victory right here in Illinois.

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn is looking to pass legislation that would forbid protesting within 300 feet of a military funeral. The appropriately named, “Let Them Rest in Peace” bill already has many supporters in Springfield and is well on its way to becoming law.

Phelps, however, is undaunted.

Never in my life have I felt stronger about a piece of legislation and I believe that there are two reasons for this. Phelps and his protestors hurt me on two different levels. First, as already stated, I am bonded to these people that are losing their loved ones in Iraq. Second, Phelps is doing this in the name of the Christian faith. The faith of not only myself, but also the faith of my father. A faith that I have always believed is responsible for sharing the love of Christ – not for terrorizing grieving mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and children.

How dare you discredit the sacrifice made by the men and women in uniform? How dare you torture a grieving family? And more importantly, how dare you do these things in the name Jesus Christ?

For me, the action of Rev and his congregation are nothing short of horrifying.

And I refuse to sit silently and not put up fight.

After all, Mr. Phelps, who was it that died so that you would have the right to protest?

I believe it was a soldier.

I really can't say much else other than I'm really ashamed that people would associate Christianity to this man. Ashamed mainly because I try to be a good Christian and help negate the stereotypes on Christianity and people like this man simply hurt that cause more.

[Muscletang]

Fred Phelps is a guy who is fucked up in the head nine ways to Sunday. If you read his biography here you'll see he has been involved in drugs and is just messed up in the head.

I go to a Southern Baptist church and this guy on his site says I'm going to hell for what I believe. Apparently, it's a lie and very wrong to teach "God loves all" when he believes God mainly hates.

He takes things out of the Bible and twists them around to fit his ideology. To him, when they would burn a fag (a bundle of sticks) in the Old Testiment, that is a sign from God that it's ok to kill homosexuals.

What gets me is there are people who actually believe this nut job!? He has 100 members in his church, and that's 100 too many.

[BNaylor]

This is disgusting. He makes Pat Robertson look like an angel.




"The soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war." Gen. Douglas MacArthur 1962.

[AlmostStock]

This is very sad to say the least. It just goes to prove how some people can justify just about anything they want in the name of religion. In other parts of the world religious fanatics bomb funerals... and believe they are pleasing their god.

[SLoe]

300 feet is not far enough! 300 miles is not far enough! It should be just as illegal as burning a flag. It's bad enough that the family has to deal with the loss of a loved one, but to have "christians" organize a protest right at the funeral...

[RSX-S777]

I agree this organization is completely off it's nut. But, as cold and distasteful as it is, it is a freedom afforded them by the Constitution. You can't pick and choose as it suits you.

[TexasF355F1]

Protesting at a soldiers funeral should be completely banned. It's not only disrespectful to the dead, but moreso to the family and friends. Hell if I were there my friends and i would start a fight.

In the words of Hank Hill: "I'm gonna kick your ass!"

[Broke_as_****]

Originally Posted by RSX-S777

I agree this organization is completely off it's nut. But, as cold and distasteful as it is, it is a freedom afforded them by the Constitution. You can't pick and choose as it suits you.

Freedoms have limits. Legal freedoms should not be above basic human compassion.

However, the solution to this is easy enough.

The soldiers performing the 21 gun salute will be issued standard 5.56 rounds instead of blanks. Granted there might have to be more than 21 shots fired if the crowd is large enough but nothing is perfect.

[KustmAce]

Originally Posted by RSX-S777

I agree this organization is completely off it's nut. But, as cold and distasteful as it is, it is a freedom afforded them by the Constitution. You can't pick and choose as it suits you.

I agree completely. Disgusting? Yes. Disrespectful? Yes. Legal? Yep.

[YogsVR4]

I think its time to stage a protest in that bastards church.

[SLoe]

Originally Posted by YogsVR4

I think its time to stage a protest in that bastards church.

It has to be during a funeral of someone he knows/loves.

[Broke_as_****]

Originally Posted by loeman

It has to be during a funeral of someone he knows/loves.

Reading through the bio provided so kindly up there, I don't think anyone really qualifies as a loved one of Phelps. How about we just protest his funeral. He'd have to die first but it's not like that is a big obstacle.

[RSX-S777]

Protest the fact that Phelps' daughter is the most abominable woman EVER in regard to looks AND ideology. How could anyone possibly believe in God after laying eyes on her?

The sad thing is that her young kids are completely brainwashed to believe the twisted things she was trained to believe. That's the real tragedy here. Most people see the "church" members for what they truly are and take their insane rantings with a grain of salt. Those poor kids are the real victims.

[G-man422]

Its sickening that people would do that.

[Jimster]

If they tried that in Italy, they wouldn't be alive to go protest at someone elses funeral.

Completely sickening, People should picket his funeral, just rub it in that he's going to hell.