Who says Voltaire isn’t relevant today? A famous line of his, “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it,” is in perfect accordance with the Westboro Baptist Church and their vocal, yet ugly, beliefs.
Westboro Baptist Church believes that being gay is not okay, and that it is, essentially, a “proud sin”. What is their god’s way of punishing this sin? By killing soldiers in the military.
To show their enthusiasm for their god and against this “proud sin” the Westboro Church pickets schools, funerals of fallen soldiers, and other churches.
Westboro is lead by Fred W. Phelps, and the 70 people in the congregation are made up mostly of relatives. More can be found out about the “church” at their website.
Westboro Baptist Church picketed outside the funeral of Mathew Snyder, a 20-year-old Marine lance corporal who died with a combat battalion in Anbar Province. They flaunted their hate-filled message signs for all to see. “God Hates Fags”, “God Hates You”, “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” and “God Hates America” are just a few of the phrases written on their brightly colored picket signs.
The family of Matthew Snyder sued Phelps, two of Phelps’ daughters, and the Westboro Baptist Church in Federal Direct Court in Baltimore for their intentional infliction of emotional and mental distress, invasion of privacy by intruding a private event and conspiracy to commit those acts.
The Snyder family was given $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages, which was soon lowered to $5 million. That verdict was overturned completely by the Fourth Circuit Court, ruling in Phelps’ favor, saying Phelps and his crew followed all the state protest laws and regulations, and that they were speaking about matters of public concern.
Although the court found the Phelps’ message “utterly distasteful”, they also found that it is protected by free speech.
This case has made its way up to the Supreme Court, and on October 6, both sides presented a 1-hour argument supporting their case.
Neither side has an especially compelling, or original, argument. It’s all been said before and it’s all been done before, just because Westboro’s words and actions are “utterly distasteful”, doesn’t mean they are illegal.
This is not the kind of case the Supreme Court would often take, seeing as the arguments on both sides are weak, it is extremely controversial and it brings in the problem of deciding if Westboro Baptist Church truly is a religion or not. Not to mention the fact that Westboro’s speech is completely protected by the First Amendment.
No matter how hateful or “distasteful” someone’s speech may be, if it is public speech on public matters, it is protected. Determining what is considered hateful and distasteful is another matter altogether, for what one person sees as unacceptable another may embrace.
I personally find those signs and picketing funerals more that just “utterly distasteful”, but that’s not what matters. Westboro has a right to say what they believe and to peacefully protest. Voltaire certainly would have fought for Westboro’s right to say what they believe, whether or not he agreed with it.
Westboro followed the local laws, they only used words and signs to express their feelings and they are doing what they believe is right. Phelps and his followers truly believe, or at least say they do, that being gay is not right and that God is punishing America for its tolerance of this sin by killing soldiers. Thanks to our First Amendment, they have the right to express this seemingly ridiculous message.
Bad news is that people like Phelps can spread hate and still be protected under American law.
But the good news is that right after Westboro was brought to trial, 46 states passed laws prohibiting picketing at funerals, to keep groups like the Westboro Baptist Church from using private funerals as a vehicle for spreading their vile messages. Even more good news: those that differ with Phelps and his hate mongers can voice their message, too!
Our Constitution guarantees it.
