Westboro Baptist rages on

[bascule]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/14746977.htm

 

...for the first time, the picketers from Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., will be restricted by new legislation that limits protests at national cemeteries. President Bush signed the bill into law last week.

 

Congregation member Margie Phelps said that the new law won't interfere with the church's message that "America is doomed" for tolerating homosexuals.

 

"What people haven't grasped is, we don't care what they think," she said.

 

The group plans to picket all 122 national cemeteries in upcoming months while abiding by the specific provisions of the law.

 

...some of the states' anti-picket laws are being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union, which also opposes the federal bill.

 

I'm really torn on this bill. At first I wasn't opposed to it because I realized it was aimed squarely at Westboro Baptist, and if I could pick anyone on this planet to be locked in a room with while I'm holding a baseball bat, it'd be Fred Phelps.

 

I'm kind of dismayed that it really isn't going to amout to much as far as Westboro Baptist goes, besides perhaps giving the families some much needed peace.

 

Furthermore, while I would never consider protesting at a solider's funeral (except, perhaps as the Onion suggested, I might show up to save the whales), I can't help but feel that my civil liberties have been ever so slightly encroached upon...

[padren]

I think a family should have the option to have a private funeral, in which case there would also be no option for the media to be present. If they do not opt for a private service, and use it as a soap box to make political statements to the media, then in general protesting should be permitted.

 

I don't like the idea of people using funerals to make soap box statements free from the risk of protesters, but if they are just there to mourn the loss of a loved one, they should be able to do so in peace.

[Jim]

I think a family should have the option to have a private funeral' date=' in which case there would also be no option for the media to be present. If they do not opt for a private service, and use it as a soap box to make political statements to the media, then in general protesting should be permitted.

 

I don't like the idea of people using funerals to make soap box statements free from the risk of protesters, but if they are just there to mourn the loss of a loved one, they should be able to do so in peace.[/quote']

 

I assumed they were protesting only in the public points of ingress and egress from private funerals. I'd want to read this bill before coming to a conclusion but it does make me nervous.