Westboro Church Plans Protest Of Funeral For Pa. Children

Source: Huffington Post

Westboro Church Plans Protest Of Funeral For Pa. Children
First Posted: 03/12/11 03:57 AM Updated: 03/12/11 03:57 AM
By Sara Ganim
Religion News Service

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Westboro Baptist Church, the controversial group that just won a free speech Supreme Court case, said it plans to protest at a funeral for seven Pennsylvania children who died in a fire Tuesday (March 8) night.

"I'm baffled that they would choose this," said Perry County District Attorney Charles F. Chenot III. "This is a family that's obviously apparently Christian in their beliefs and certainly shouldn't conflict with the beliefs of the Westboro Baptist Church."

Westboro says the children's deaths are linked to the recent Supreme Court decision, in which a father sued the church after it protested his slain Marine son's funeral in 2008.

"The bottom line is that they can't interfere with the funeral itself," Chenot said of the service set for March 15.






Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/12/westboro-church-plans-pro_n_834727.html

The Westboro clan is so despicable as to be beyond contempt.

conscious decision to win fame through cruelty and obnoxiousness. Their choice to attack families who are at the lowest points in their lives, hiding behind this country's committment to free speech, is just simply evil. And evil is very resiliant, unfortunately.

as they are certain they are doing good.

Out of respect for freedom of expression, I would be very willing to donate to a trip to send them to protest the reactors for a few months/years. Where do I send my check?

the funerals in Japan, and while there learn how to perform seppuku. Hmmm...can we then protest their funerals???
:think:

Is just further proof that there is no God.

of vile intent and purpose.

Perhaps an exorcism is in order?



Can't tell if this is sarcasm, myself.

I've long suspected that if there is one that he has one of the darkest and driest senses of humor imaginable.

read the Book of Job, it was all for a Bet...

Certainly evolution wouldn't make that from "survival of the fittest". No, those exist by a devine hand.

You know, there is free speech. But in the past the Supreme Court limited that speech, the illegal to yell "FIRE!" in a crowded theater argument.

There is what is a Constitutional right, a legal right, a moral right, and there is also decency.

I can only guess the Supreme Court thinks this whole Westboro group will quiet down after awhile, so they stood on free speech.

Allowing these people to protest these grieving families is like saying it's not indecent to wear only your dirty underwear to the grocery store. You may not be naked, but anyone can tell you're indecent.

These protests are indecent, and immoral. The Supreme Court should have taken into consideration the Westboro's stated reasons for protesting: they use these funerals as a venue for protesting something else the government has done that they don't like. That's like creating traffic jams because you don't like the price of milk.

It's a slippery slope to substitute actions to protest something else with no connection.

And it should be illegal in this case because it's immoral, indecent, causes further grief to others not involved in the original chain of events.

Our courts are failing on common sense.

Its a slippery slope to assume that what YOU consider immoral and indecent has to be banned.

As long as any speech doesn't cause immediate mass panic and chaos, its fine to just let them spew their crap around.

for children, does it?

Seems like chaos is their intent. These are fighting words, long banned by more rational Supreme Courts. Of course, fat Tony and the other little fucks don't mind chaos in other people's lives. They like killing caged birds and running around with Dick Cheney.

I don't why children's protective in Kansas hasn't removed these children from their cult compound.

is an overused quote. The context it was made was in argument against a group protesting the draft for a war which was properly overturned a few years down the road.

There is going to be fatal confrontation involving this group. I don't think it will happen at their protest. Rather, sometime after it, possibly on their way outta town.

and stage a protest next to the nuclear reactor where they just had an explosion.

Nice and close.

Know about this? Or the Angels? Maybe we need to place a call.

At some point a little common sense needs to kick in. NPR was talking about this a while ago and mentioned that free-speach has it's limitations in many countries, if the sole purpose of speach is to cause harm or pain it's illegal (but of course we'd never want to be anything like some of those socialist European countries, the ones that also have universal healthcare and all that commie sort of stufff). That Westboro clan are nothing but media whores and are profiting from their hateful protests, pure and simple. I believe we've gone way beyond what the bill of rights intended, and we'd be a much more civil country without these hateful demonstrations.

...I'm almost at the point of pitying these people. They are obviously sick. At some point, you would think someone would commit them and give them some psychiatric care.

It almost seems like they are trying to get someone to get so angry that they harm them.

And they will cease to exist.

Most communities now know about this clan of egotists. No need to inform the public anymore. The best response is to shun them.

If a bunch of CRETINS make a noise at a funeral and no one hears them ... are they really making a noise?

Someone needs to contact them. They've been effective. Although I'm unsure if they only attend the funerals of soldiers.

I hope they show up! If I were a business owner, I would refuse them service, too.

I'm not sure, but I think they only do funerals for soldiers/veterans; and only if the involved family requests their presence.

Needless to say, their membership has increased since the recent Supreme Court decision:
http://www.ydr.com/ci_17547121

National Patriot Guard Riders site - http://www.patriotguard.org

Pennsylvania Patriot Guard Riders site - http://www.pgrpa.org

As a military brat of a war hero, I was allowed to join. I did one "shield" ride where we surrounded the funeral procession where they never saw a glimpse of these assholes.

yes INDEED

I believe in all kinds of freedom but these freaks are just plain INDECENT :thumbsdown:

Westboro showed up.

Motorcyclists in full riding leathers stood sentry at an intersection near the Mennonite center. They declined to be interviewed, saying only they were on watch for protesters. A larger group of motorcyclists waited at a Shermans Dale bar if needed to serve as buffers.

-----

As the morning wore on, a man from York who identified himself as a member of the Patriot Guard, a group that counters the Westboro Church at funerals, pulled up in a Subaru hatchback and asked permission to raise an American flag.

“That’s always welcome here,” answered homeowner Stephen Poticher.

-----

The nearest public land where Westboro Baptist members could have staged their demonstration was six miles away.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/03/perry_county_residents_were_re.html

I can't even find the words to express my anger. May the Westboro bigots rot in hell because they sure don't represent the love of Christ.

is because someone from York County sued them; I believe it was over a protest at a military funeral. These people are despicable, truly evil.

Why on earth would you want to base your whole reputation on doing absolutely horrible things to other people? But they do make a whole lot of money this way. All proceeds from law suits they win.

I imagine they want to show up at this funeral just because it will be big and get lots of press.

A whole family of psychopathic egomaniacs. Great.

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:sarcasm:

that parking a semi between the Phelpses and the funeral, and sticking a couple of Hells Angels at each end of the truck to keep the Phelpses from walking around it, would constitute an illegal suppression of Fred Phelps' freedom of speech.

The funeral area is very small and surrounded by private property. Since no one would dare allow them to protest on their private land (it's a close-knit community) they had no choice but to skip this one.

as long as THEY consider it immoral and indecent. We talk about fascism developing in the right wing camps while ignoring the seeds of the same infirmity under our own feet.

John.

deemed illegal by many Supreme Courts with actual educated humans sitting on them.

The day Fred Phelps dies, I'm going to throw a party right outside his compound and celebrate until I can't any more.

I don't know why his grandkids haven't been removed by children's protective. They're obviously not as serious about it as we are in Texas. And you don't want to have worse social services than Texas.

WBC will not actually stand in the funeral/burial area for their protest, at least they have some common decency. However, the site of the funeral there was no place for them to organize. The gravesite is very small in size and is surrounded by private property. WBC cannot protest on private property - their only place they could protest would be in the middle of the road.

This one struck home to me because I am from Perry County, the location of the fire. There is a large Mennonite/Amish community in Perry County - people who want to get away from the hectic place that Lancaster County Amish land has turned into.

I just can't think of which disgusts me more - protesting at a dead soldier's funeral or that of 7 children. Just nauseating!

But do they have anything more than a post office box as a physical address to picket at?

And wouldn't it give them more airtime?

They seem to play at being professional victims, 'war on Christmas' types.

I wonder who is paying for all of these trips, as travel is expensive for most of us.