I am appalled that our nation’s highest court recently decided in favor of one of the most rampant examples of hatred and vitriolic speech in the history of our republic.
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a grieving father’s pain over mocking protests at his Marine son’s funeral must yield to First Amendment protections for free speech. All but one justice sided with a fundamentalist church that has stirred outrage with raucous demonstrations contending God is punishing the military for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.The 8-1 decision in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., was the latest in a line of court rulings that, as Chief Justice John Roberts said in his opinion for the court, protects “even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”
Snyder ponders the results of the Supreme Court decision which upheld the rights of the Westboro Baptist Church to spew hatred around the memory of his son.
According to the Associated Press, forty-eight states, 42 U.S. senators and a variety of veterans groups had sided with Snyder, the plaintiff in this case, asking the court to shield funerals from the Phelps family’s “psychological terrorism.
Many are asking if this means that the sacrifice of our Nation’s best and brightest on the fields of battle are now meaningless. Why are their deaths not honored and their families’ grieving rights not protected, especially after their sacrifice to preserve the very freedoms that groups like Westboro seek to abuse.
Self-sacrifice does mean something. But we should all be clear that when we put our lives on the line for what we believe, it isn’t just the parts that we like, or the freedoms that are unoffensive. Protecting freedom means that we refuse to deny freedom merely because someone else’s use of it causes offense.
Why? Because sooner or later, we all offend someone. If we deny them this right, someone would eventually tell me that I can no longer publically state that homosexuality is a sin. I might even be told that I am required by law to perform same-sex marriages because to refuse would be “offensive.” It is a slippery slope.
A decision against Westboro in this case would have opened the door to laws prohibiting the evangelism efforts of churches across the country. This could have set a precedent for prohibiting any anti-homosexual preaching in any form.
To be clear, I think that Westboro’s methods are hideous, degrading, wrong, and evil. They are enough to make me question the wisdom of preserving their freedom of speech, and that’s saying something.
However, smarter men than me discovered in harder times than these that basic freedoms are more important than even the worst offenses and grievances.
“To preserve the freedom of the human mind…and the freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will and speak what we think, the condition of man will proceed in improvement.”
I can’t think that Thomas Jefferson had these guys in mind when he wrote that. But he did know the value of free speech.
Evelyn Beatrice Hall may have seen Westboro’s ilk long before their time. She wrote in her biography of Voltaire,
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Such powerful words in favor of freedom are sharply contrasted by the words of Veteran’s Group spokespersons. Veterans of Foreign Wars national commander Richard L. Eubank said,
“The Westboro Baptist Church may think they have won, but the VFW will continue to support community efforts to ensure no one hears their voice, because the right to free speech does not trump a family’s right to mourn in private.”
While I agree with that sentiment, I’m not sure that we can find that in the Constitution.
Let’s be clear — again. Those Westboro nuts are wrong for what they say and do at funerals (and everywhere else, for that matter). It would be equally wrong to deny them their rights just because they are morons. We’d have to shut down 2/3rd of the businesses, half the capital and a third of the Pentagon if that became the standard.
Offensive, yes. Protected by the Constitution, absolutely. This is the price of our freedom: We preserve it with the blood of our best, and we share it with those who don’t seem to deserve it.
Like I said earlier, we can protect their speech, but surely we can find ways to curb their slander and limit their disruption of religious services and the pain they are inflicting on grief-stricken families.
Recent Comments