'Fred Phelps (I hesitate to call him 'reverend' as I don't know what kind of church he would be 'reverend" to") and other family members who make up most of the Westboro Baptist Church (oh, THAT one!) have picketed many military funerals in their quest to draw attention to their view that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.'
Now let's slow down this tape and ask about "GOD?" WHAT is THAT! 'GOD's punishment for the nation's tolerance of other human beings who are not like FRED and his GROUP!!!!' Am I following this or not???
They showed up with their usual signs, including "Thank God for dead soldiers," "You're Going to Hell," "God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11," Let me just insert here, Fred, if that is your GOD, please keep him on YOUR SIDE of the fence, in YOUR YARD. I don't even want your GOD near the dog!!!
Phelps told msnbc.com in an interview in 2006 . “That’s what we’re preaching and the forum of choice to deliver such a message, obviously, is the funeral of the kid that’s been blown to smithereens." (Sorry Fred, logic appears to be ABSENT!!)
"Albert Snyder was surfing the Internet for tributes to his son from other soldiers and strangers when he came upon a poem on the church's website that attacked Matthew's parents for the way they brought up their son. Soon after, Snyder filed a lawsuit accusing the Phelpses of intentionally inflicting emotional distress. He won $11 million at trial, later reduced by a judge to $5 million. The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., threw out the verdict and said the Constitution shielded the church members from liability."
The label "psychological terrorism" has been applied to Pheps' actions. I agree. While distancing themselves from the church's message, media organizations, including The Associated Press, urged the court to side with the Phelps family because of concerns that a victory for Snyder could erode speech rights.
In spite of my belief in justice and values, I do agree that free speech must be preserved. The circumstances of this situation are unfortunate, to say the least.
In my view, this GOD of Phelps' must be dead though. Because if his GOD is all good, all wise, and all-knowing, he would have knocked the breath out of Phelps and his crew A LONG, LONG TIME AGO.
(The 'news' portions of this are courtesy of MSNBC)
(Hear my music at http://www.rayjozwiak.com)