Hooray!!!

[ABSTRUSE]

Marine's father sues funeral protesters


GREENBELT, Md. - The father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters from a fundamentalist Kansas church filed an invasion-of-privacy suit against the demonstrators Monday.

It is believed to be the first lawsuit brought by a soldier's family against Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., whose members routinely demonstrate at military funerals around the country.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., the father of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, is seeking unspecified damages. The younger Snyder, 20, died March 3 after an accident in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. He was buried in Westminster, Md.

"We think it's a case we can win because anyone's funeral is private," Snyder lawyer Sean Summers said. "You don't have a right to interrupt someone's private funeral."

Members of Westboro say the military deaths in Iraq are God's punishment for America's tolerance of gays. They typically carry signs with slogans such as "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for IEDs," a reference to the roadside bombs used by insurgents.

The church has inspired dozens of state laws banning funeral protests, including a Maryland law that did not go into effect until after Snyder's memorial.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, a spokeswoman for the small congregation, said it is the first time Westboro has been sued by a soldier's family.

"We were exercising our First Amendment rights," she said.

___

 

[rgraham666]

Outstanding.

And Ms. Phelps-Roper? The First Amendment does not grant you the right to be an asshole!

 

[AngeloMichael]

I hope they take those douchebags for all their worth. (Which isn't much, IMO)

 

[AngelofDarkLust]

Thank freaking God.

 

[R. Richard]

If you grab them by the wallet, their hearts and minds will follow.

 

[English Lady]

And so someone should! It's definitely a Private ceremony and some daft sod who's got his hearing trumpet aimed towards hell not heaven, should be able to interfere with that.

He's a bad, bad man and all my righteous indignantion boils up when I think about him and his dissilusioned followers.

 

[S-Des]

I've heard them on the news several times. They really are completely out of their minds. It's more of a cult than anything. To me, the really cool thing was that a group of Christian motorcyclists have been organizing anti-protest demonstrations. The organizers get as many volunteers as possible to be on-call, then when they find out these people are going to protest, ride out there and get between them and the mourners (the sound of the bikes drowning out any shouts). After a while, the protesters stopped coming around here because it was a waste of their time.

Good to see someone take them on in court, but that's what they want, more attention. I'm sure none of them have a dime to their name.

 

[arienette]

I've heard them on the news several times. They really are completely out of their minds. It's more of a cult than anything. To me, the really cool thing was that a group of Christian motorcyclists have been organizing anti-protest demonstrations. The organizers get as many volunteers as possible to be on-call, then when they find out these people are going to protest, ride out there and get between them and the mourners (the sound of the bikes drowning out any shouts). After a while, the protesters stopped coming around here because it was a waste of their time.

Good to see someone take them on in court, but that's what they want, more attention. I'm sure none of them have a dime to their name.

That's a splendid idea. It pisses me off that people would protest at a fucking funeral. They're dead, they can't "offend" you anymore and get the fuck over yourselves.

Why is it that these people think they have the right to just protest anything they want? The uber-religious seem to be the only ones, or outstandingly, the majority of the people doing this. I've never seen an Atheist protest Christianity.

 

[Liar]

Outstanding.

And Ms. Phelps-Roper? The First Amendment does not grant you the right to be an asshole!

Oh but it does.

Just not at someone's funeral.

Thing is, if Phelps loses this, you'll soon see the Godhatesjudges website up there along with Godhatesfags, Godhatesamerica and Godhatessweden (any more?) dot com. Not that it maters. The site design is as ugly as the message anyway.

 

[Liar]

Btw, wasn't someone here on the AH part of that biker thing?

 

[Antfarmer77]

Sueing is too good for them, they should have the living crap kicked out of them. Truthfully I'm surprised that hasn't happned yet, what with funerals being such emotional events and all.

 

[English Lady]

Btw, wasn't someone here on the AH part of that biker thing?

Applebiter if i remember right.

 

[Guest]

Wankers.

It's at times like this that I wish I did believe in an after-life, cos then I know they'd get theirs.

How the FUCK can protesting at somebody's funeral (let alone that of a serviceman) be a "Godly and righteous" thing to do??? Hypocritical wankers.

And what the fuck is wrong with the law in the US? I can tell you for sure that such protests would not be allowed to carry on in this country. Yes, everyone has the right to protest, and the freedom of speech, etc, etc, BUT, a protest such as that in this country would be dispersed and moved along, under the "Religious hatred" laws, and probably would also be seen as an incite to violence, and any other legislation the police could pull upon to stop them.

Sod religion, it's all about respect and dignity.

They'll get what's coming to them, one day...

 

[Liar]

Wankers.

They give wankers a bad name.

Jesus would kick their asses seven ways to sunday.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

I'm surprised these assholes weren't there to protest the funeral of the Wiccan soldier that died.

 

[English Lady]

They give wankers a bad name.

Jesus would kick their asses seven ways to sunday.

At least seven ways!!!!

 

[Liar]

I'm surprised these assholes weren't there to protest the funeral of the Wiccan soldier that died.

I'm not. Those peeps are terrified of gays, and that's as far as their horizon goes. To ask them to relate to anything else, like pagan worship, would run the risk of overloading their minds.

 

[3113]

I'm surprised these assholes weren't there to protest the funeral of the Wiccan soldier that died.

Heh-heh-heh. I bet they were too scared. The Wiccans would have fought back by chanting a spell at them. And anyone who uses supernatural means to protect themselves--rather than just standing there and passively praying--probably scares the shit out of them.

Either that or they feared they'd be tainted by the ritual. I once heard tell of a Christian sales guy in a Barnes & Noble who, when a pagan customer asked to look at the tarot cards, opened the case quickly, stepped back, and wouldn't touch them.

Some Christians honestly believe that if they even go near a pagan items, let alone a pagan ritual, they'll be swallowed up by the devil. Makes no sense at all, of course. Shouldn't faith in Jesus protect a person from all evil? Apparently not. And what does that say about a person's faith in Jesus? They seem to think if they get near the pagan ritual, they'll lose their faith. Satan will lure them away!

Besides...if they're hoping to sway anyone, they've got to go to Christian funerals. Christians might listen and join up. Pagans are already beyond hope.

 

[English Lady]

Heh-heh-heh. I bet they were too scared. The Wiccans would have fought back by chanted a spell at them. And anyone who uses supernatural means (from their p.o.v., call up devils and demons) to protect themselves--rather than just standing there and passively praying, probably scares the shit out of them.

Either that or they feared they'd be tainted by the ritual. I once heard tell of a Christian sales guy in a Barnes & Noble who, when a pagan customer asked to look at the tarot cards, opened the case quickly, stepped back, and wouldn't touch them.

Some Christians honestly believe that if they even go near a pagan items, let alone a pagan ritual, they'll be swallowed up by the devil. Makes no sense at all, of course. Shouldn't faith in Jesus protect a person from all evil? Apparently not. And what does that say about a person's faith in Jesus? They seem to think if they get near the pagan ritual, they'll lose their faith. Satan will lure them away!

Besides...if they're hoping to sway anyone, they've got to go to Christian funerals. Christians might listen and join up. Pagans are already beyond hope.

It's a fear thing, a cripling fear. One that I can understand.

Faith, it's all about Faith and what if you doubt you have the Faith to withstand a real, full frontal attack from Satan? It's a real fear and I can see why it'd make someone reluctant to touch tarot cards, it'll probably tarnish some peoples view of me, but I'd be a little bit afraid to do it myself. I think I'd over come it, but I just don't know.

It's true, I think, that Jesus isn't going to let go of you, thet He'll protect you against anything -but your own doubts eat away at that belief, and you should never under-estimate the power of self doubt.

*nods*

Anway -that wa off at a tangent -sorry Abs.

 

[Guest]

I hope this works. I hope there is some part of the law that protects private family funerals from these assholes.

Because I've got to tell you, folks - this religious cult family is full of brilliant people. Very intelligent. Phelps Sr. was a lawyer, now disbarred, and most of the adult members are attorneys.

The grandkids (I have had some of them as students in my musicals) are also brilliant. They are always in gifted classes, always in the county/state spelling bees, the state geography bees, always taking advanced math and science classes at high school while still in junior high. The kids are wonderful, just a bit warped, but you can see their inevitable and unfortunate future, of course.

The family is very smart and well trained and that's why they've been able to sneak through and around legal roadblocks.

I see them almost weekly, protesting somewhere, something. Usually colleges, sometimes a business, sometimes a church. They know exactly how many feet they must stay away from the property, they know exactly what their rights are and they are completely unafraid. Arrogant. They live for argument.

They will engage people verbally who walk or drive by and if you flip 'em the bird or toss a paper cup their direction they'll press obscenity or other charges.

They are blight upon Kansas, that's for certain. I'm not originally from this state but I live here now and my children were born here. And Phelps and company is NOT the reputation Kansans wish to have.

I hope this works.

 

[3113]

[threadjack]

Faith, it's all about Faith and what if you doubt you have the Faith to withstand a real, full frontal attack from Satan?

That's a little like saying "What if I don't have a strong enough immune system to protect me from germs? I'd better live my life in a germ-free bubble." If you don't have the ability to withstand an attack from Satan, then avoiding tarot cards (or anything else) isn't going to change that. Either you do have the strength, or you don't. If you do, then you can touch those cards. If you don't...then, I think Satan is going to get you in some far less obvious way.

It'd be pretty stupid of him to try and get to you through tarot cards, a thing you routinely avoid. More likely he'd get you through something you do all the time and think is safe. For example, he seems to have gotten a lot of priests to committ pedophila right there INSIDE THE CHURCH!

And just because you give into Satan doesn't mean you can't find your way back. Some of the strongest people, with the strongest faith, are those who gave in to temptation, lived it, know it, and understand how to fight and resist it. Who rediscovered their faith after losing it.

In short, that excuse about doubts, while understandable, seems to be to be a really lame excuse. More a way to stay in a comfort zone than to maintain faith. Which I also understand; we humans like our bubbles, our wombs where there are no challenges, no questions, no uncomfortable truths, or differing views, no chances that need to be taken...a place where we never have to find out just how strong (or weak) we really are. But what good does it do you or anyone to stay within such a womb...especially when it comes time to stand and explain yourself at the gates of heaven?

"I spent my life in a bubble for fear of that I'd doubt my faith. I hadn't enough faith in it, God or myself to leave it."
[/threadjack]

 

[rgraham666]

You should read the Screwtape works by C.S. Lewis some time.

Very interesting read. In Screwtape Proposes A Toast Lewis describes how organised religion was one of the most effective tools Hell has ever created to gather in people's souls.

Mr. Phelps and his kin being a most definite case in point.