Free to Hate: Fight Against Military Funeral Protestors
Essay Preview: Free to Hate: Fight Against Military Funeral Protestors
Report this essay
Free to Hate
Since the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom(OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom(OIF), 4,443 brave American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq alone serving their country(
Westboro Baptist Church has made it their mission to spread their interpretation of the “word of God” since 1998. Westboro first caught the public eye after picketing the funeral of young Wyoming native Matthew Sheppard after he was brutally beaten to death, simply for being a homosexual. They stood by as a young man was laid to rest by his loved ones and held picket signs and yelled things like ” God Hates Fags” and “Thank God for AIDS”. CNN gave national coverage to this outrage, skyrocketing this inbred church of less than one hundred members (most of which are all apart of one large extended family) from invisible nobodies, to one of the single most nationally hated groups of people in the United States of America, instantly(
The church and its members began regularly protesting the funeral services of homosexuals until they decided to share with the world “Gods feelings” about the current war. They told Americans “Our attitude toward whats happening with the war is that the lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime”(
“Freedom of Speech” Three words that built a nation, but has it gone too far? If not, when has enough become enough? The thought that anyone can say exactly whats on their mind to anyone, about anything, any time is a concept that weve been breast fed ever since we were in diapers. This thought went along with “you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up” and the whole “Santa” story. We wont even get into that right now though. With freedom of speech some how came the right to censor. Everything we see and hear everyday has been passed through the hands of one hundred suits, all removing this, changing that, and modifying everything until youve got something thats courteous and at least reasonably respectful to all that may hear. Its so important that no ones too offended in fact that weve put thousands of people on the national payroll to police the airways. This federal burough has been affectionately dubbed the FCC, or Federal Communications Commission. “Freedom of Speech” doesnt sound so free any more. I suppose “Freedom of Speech Within Reasonable Limits” just didnt roll off the tong quite the same. So this all being said, if theres a list of ten to fifteen words that cant be said on daytime television, words that if I were to shout outside of a pre-school with a mega-phone Id be arrested for, then why is it any different for the military funeral protesters of Westboro Baptist Church? The first amendment does have vague limits, which include vulgar, offensive, and shocking statements made in public. I believe that protesting the funeral of anyone pretty much defines vulgar, shocking, and offensive.
All moral values and ideological views of whats right and wrong