Pollster1 pretty much said it all in post #11. WBC stays just this side of legal for the most part.
Their 1st Amendment rights don’t trump those of the families having funerals. But the rights of those families don’t trump the rights of the WBC members, either. And as long as they don’t impede traffic, don’t trespass, or make themselves so loud that the funeral can’t be held, they’re within their rights.
Basic human decency dictates that what they are doing is entirely wrong. I think what they are doing is wrong, as wrong as anything else I can think of. The pain that they are inflicting on innocent, grieving people is nothing short of vile.
Morally justified and legally justified are two different things, though. I cannot morally justify what they do and wouldn’t ever try. Putting up with their verbal garbage so that the rest of us aren’t censored is a good thing, though.
We don’t have to look far in our world to see people who will do anything, including imprisonment and violence, to suppress the religious speech of others. This is the price we pay to avoid that, and it has never been more important than now.
We call it “free speech”, but that isn’t entirely true. The price for being able to say what we want, is putting up with this kind of verbal sewage.
Thank you. I was not at all comfortable with my post, particularly since I have seen these evil people first hand, so it’s nice to know that someone sees my point.
To me the moment they disrupt the rights of another group to hold a religious gathering they have surpassed their rights.
Sure, let them protest, hold their signs, and give their twisted version of scripture - as long as it in no way disrupts the rights of others. That includes protesting loudly enough it can be heard graveside. Right there they are disrupting a religious service and the right of assembly/speech of another group. Their rights should not trump any other.
WBC has always pushed the envelope of illegal-protected rights partly because nobody has argued the other side of the coin. The religious rights of other groups.
How fast would Fred Phelps call the police if a group of protesters stood on a street in front of their family church and raised to much hell it disrupted his sermons? We know how fast - very. Years ago that is exactly what happened. A group counter demonstrated Phelps. He was on the phone with the Wichita police demanding they be removed and sued the city when the demonstrators were allowed to remain.
People tend to look at this issue simply as a free speech issue and freedom of religion. They forget there are two sides to this, there is WBC and those gathering for a funeral who also have religious and speech rights.