Freedom of (Hate) Speech

Dear WBC: Get a life. Love, God.

           I begin this blog, dear reader, by expressing my deep shame that hate groups such as the the Westboro Baptist Church continue to exist in what we consider to be free and enlightened society.  That said, under the protection of the First Amendment of U.S. Constitution, such groups are entitled to pour forth their malicious babble nearly anywhere they please.  Last week's hearings of Snyder v. Phelps brought the purported freedom of speech to the test, and, initially upheld in favor of Mr. Snyder, who was suing Mr. Phelps, the head of the Westboro Baptist Church, for picketing at his son's military funeral in order to spread his hateful, anti-homosexual agenda.  However, this decision was eventually overturned in favor of Mr. Phelps' protection under the first amendment.

          The Westboro Baptist Church, of course, has a somewhat dubious history of picketing all across the country against gays, Jews, Catholics, and essentially everyone that is not, in fact, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church.  Its members (most of which are related to Mr. Phelps in some way) have been sued on numerous occasions for invasions of privacy and personal distress, but nearly all of the charges have been dropped in favor of the First Amendment. These people are, of course, universally regarded as hateful whack-jobs and are, indeed on several discrimination watch organizations' lists of hate groups; however, that does not deter them--negative press seems, if anything, to empower the group to expand.  Though their very existence is a travesty, I suppose, in some strange way, it's a little bit better than the alternative. I suppose I'd rather live in a society in which anyone has the right to speak their views than one in which no one has that right. I guess the Supreme Court thinks so too.