I like to give credit where credit is due, and, as such, I must thank my girlfriend Ann for bringing up this week's topic over a few beers and a plate of nachos at the Joshua Tree Bar and Grill this past Saturday night. She's amazing for many reasons, but that she's willing to talk politics with me over beer and nachos is a big one. But that's for another column.
While snacking, the conversation turned to the sideshow that is Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) of Topeka, Kan. WBC has had its fair share of notoriety since its insanity first hit the national stage in 1998, when it picketed Matthew Shepard's funeral. WBC has, in fact, been holding "services" since 1955 and, since 1991, has conducted "43,156 peaceful demonstrations," according to their website.
WBC is most infamously known, however, for its protesting at military funerals; WBC believes that each American soldier killed in combat has been killed by God as a "righteous judgment against an evil nation," and that America is doomed because of its acceptance of gays, Jews and Catholics, among others. On its website, WBC states that "decadent, depraved, degenerate and debauched America, having bought the lie that it's OK to be gay, has thereby changed the truth of God into a lie." These are scary people.
WBC made national headlines recently because of court proceedings in which the father of a soldier killed in Iraq — whose funeral WBC protested — brought suit against WBC. The suit was dismissed, and he must now pay WBC $16,500 to cover court fees. That's right; the man whose son's funeral was protested by idiots waving "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" signs must pay those idiots 16 grand. A donation site was opened and the grieving Snyder family very quickly received enough money to pay the court fees.
The administrative decision ordering Snyder to pay court fees was a legal technicality that didn't need to happen if the authorities so chose. But the issue here is not a matter of legal fees — the call to outlaw WBC protests and to put an end to the church's hate−filled noisemaking has been steadily getting louder after the court ordered Snyder to pay WBC.
I in no way condone WBC's actions or religious views, if you can even call their hate speech that. What they do represents nothing less than a disgusting, sadistic and utterly vile display of willful ignorance. One cannot help but wonder how on earth anyone can believe any of the garbage WBC prides itself on spewing. In short, WBC is an unfortunate scab on the rear end of society.
But WBC does have a constitutional right to freedom of speech, regardless of how utterly contemptible its protests and views are. Limiting picketing, as many have called for, is in direct violation of the First Amendment. As long as WBC members do not get into an altercation with others, they must be left alone. It's for this reason that groups like the Patriot Guard Riders, a group of motorcyclists who show up to counter WBC pickets in overwhelming numbers, have formed. For every protest group, a counter−protest group is allowed to attend — many have formed to counter WBC in a number of ways.
The moment any restriction on freedom of speech occurs at the national level is the moment a slide down a very slippery slope of speech regulation and censorship begins. What makes America an amazing country is the freedom to speak what one truly believes. A collection of noisy hate−mongers should not be the cause for a restriction of one of America's greatest freedoms. If Americans are truly offended by WBC, then they too should exercise their first amendment rights and allow the collective roar of decency to drown out the whimper of hate from WBC.
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Teddy Minch is a senior majoring in political science. He hosts "The Rundown," a talk show from 3 to 5 p.m. every Friday on WMFO. He can be reached at Theodore.Minch@tufts.edu.
