Miscellaneous Musings, #1: Westboro Baptist

I should probably sub-title this post: "Some Days, You Get the Bear; Some Days, the Bear Gets You."

Gotta hand it to the loons at the Westboro Baptist Church, the supposedly "Christian" family cult in Kansas that pickets the funerals of military personnel with signs such as "Thank God for IEDs," "God Hates Dead Soldiers," "God Hates You," and, of course, their standard "God Hates Fags." Why they have that particular bee, and not others as well, in their bonnet is anyone's guess.

Now, I am a strong defender of the First Amendment. I truly believe that, no matter how hateful and vile the messages they spew, they have the right to say it. I have the right not to agree with them, and I certainly don't.

Fred Phelps and his wife, Margie, are both attorneys as well as pastors of their kindred flock. They can choose to parse the English language any way they want, but I think most funerals are and should be private affairs, allowing the friends and family of the deceased time to grieve. The kinds of stunts they pull is, at the very least, a breach of etiquette and boorish behavior.

No matter, these self-righteous blowhards believe in what they're doing, and they spend lots of time and money going around to various funerals to do their shtick. Many states have enacted laws against protesting at a funeral, and the church has been sued over it, and one case from Maryland, Snyder v. Phelps, was just argued at the Supreme Court last month.

I reacted with mild amusement at how our local news radio station reported what happened last weekend. Maybe you didn't hear about the event, at which a van, containing 6 of the faithful, showed up.

Apparently, the folks in Tulsa, OK, were ready. A local motorcycle club got between the protesters and the funeral, and, while they were shouting, the bikers revved their engines to drown them out. I hate when that happens.

But the part that really amused me was how the reporter told about the group going back to its van... and finding all four tires slashed. But the fun was only beginning for their intrepid crew. As they drove away on rims, they tried to find somewhere to replace the tires. Nobody in Tulsa would help them. Guess whoever did eventually help them got a nice sale: 4 tires, 4 rims, and all the trimmings.

I will say categorically that I don't condone willful destruction of personal property.

Ya know, though, sometimes, you spew your hate and filth all over the place and claim you are totally in the right. But that doesn't stop someone who finds you really offensive from reacting a little outside the law.

I'm just sayin.