Westboro Baptist Church: Fundamentalists, Funerals and the First Amendment

It was Evelyn Beatrice Hall (and not Voltaire) who first said: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. Well I disagree with what “Pastor” Fred Phelps and his fanatical minions at Westboro Baptist Church have to say and I will not risk even a scuffed shoe to defend their right to say it.

I can think of few things worse than a family grieving and mourning the loss of a loved one being confronted and harangued by someone waving a sign carrying an offensive epithet such as “God Hates Fags”, “Semper Fi Fags” or “God Loves IEDs”. Epithets that are aimed squarely at the family of the deceased telling those assembled that Westboro believes God struck down their loved one to make a statement about his views on homosexuality. Who are these people to think that they have a direct line to heaven and that they can interpret the views of their God?