Yesterday was a dark day in American history, as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of Westboro Baptist Church's rights to protest at the funerals of American soldiers. They will thus be allowed to continue to wield their signs saying "Thank God for IEDS" and "God Hates America." They'll continue to chant, "God hates America, God hates fags, Your soldiers come home in body bags." And now, no one will be able to stop them.
Only one justice, Samuel Alito, showed some common sense in deciding this case. I've always been a huge fan of Justice Alito, and how could I not be? He's conservative. He's Catholic. He's Italian-American. He's even from New Jersey. And now, he has made a bold stand and shown great courage by being the lone dissenter in the case against Westboro Baptist. "In order to have a society in which public issues can be openly and vigorously debated," wrote Alito, "it is not necessary to allow the brutalization of innocent victims."
This case basically came down to freedom of speech versus the privacy rights of grieving families. In the end, the Court ruled overwhelmingly in favor of freedom of speech. As the father of a fallen Marine and plaintiff in the case, Albert Snyder, said, "We found out today that we can no longer bury our dead in this country with dignity. What is this country coming to?" He also added that the eight justices who ruled against him lacked the common sense that God gave a goat. I can't say that I disagree with him.
We all understand that there's a fine line between free speech and hate speech. But while I'm not a legal scholar by any means, I can't help but think that the court missed some key points.
Let me start by saying that anyone who thinks the protests of WBC shouldn't be categorized as hate speech are absolutely, undeniably incorrect. If you think the families they target are chosen at random, then think again. On the surface, you may think that they just travel around the country indiscriminately to make broad, general statements against America and its military. But that's not how it works.
In reality, they specifically target families that are Catholic. As usual, the liberal media does not report this fact, since they only get worked up about bias against other minority groups such as blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, and Jews. Thankfully, the fair and balanced Fox News Channel has revealed the tactics of the WBC by monitoring their website and other activities.
Their protestors have been recorded shouting, "Make those Catholic brats wear iron-clad underwear." They have worn the Catholic flag around their waists and ankles in a sign of complete disrespect. But somehow and some way, the Supreme Court didn't categorize this as hate speech. I wonder what might have happened if WBC was targeting blacks or Muslims instead.
I also for the life of me cannot understand the reasoning behind the decision. The majority argued that our nation has chosen the course "to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate." How would they be stifling public debate if they didn't allow protests at funerals?
Let me put it this way. The high court has recognized the state's interest in protecting people from unwanted protests or communications while in their homes. OK, great. Now why can't we extend that protection to grieving families at wakes and funerals?
Megyn Kelly, a legal expert on the Fox News Channel, argued that a decision against WBC might in the future prevent pro-life organizations from protesting at abortion clinics. Again, I cannot understand the rationale here. A decision in this case did not have to prevent protests at abortion clinics, state legislatures, the White House, or any location other than a Church during a time when a family is grieving. That is all the Supreme Court needed to do.
But they failed miserably in their obligation to administer justice, and now families who mourn fallen soldiers will have to suffer the consequences. Not only did WBC win the case, but they also managed to garner tons of national publicity. They even gloated about it after the fact.
Two months ago, I wrote a blog post on WBC and the upcoming Supreme Court decision. I suggested we pray that the high court do the right thing and stop these protests. I said that maybe one day, people could protest outside the church of these kooks and hold signs that said, "Thank God for the Supreme Court." Now, that is unfortunately not going to happen.
So where do we go from here? All we can do as Americans is stand together and unite against the brutal tactics of WBC. Hundreds of people have volunteered in the past to form a human shield around the protesters so that the mourners would not even be able to see them. Hundreds, even thousands more should step forth and aid in that task. We need bagpipers and drummers to march in the funeral processions and drown out the chanting and shouting of the WBC members. We need states to adopt more stringent rules regarding the proximity of the protests to the Church where the funeral is taking place. Now that the high court has made it clear that we can't take away their rights to protest, let's put as much distance between the protesters and the families as we can.
It's often been said that sometimes life imitates art. Well, many a film has been made and many a book has been written where the bad guys win in the end. Yesterday that very script played out on the national stage in our great country, and it's enough to cause even the most loyal Americans to lose faith in our system. But as Christ once said, and as Sean Hannity says on a daily basis during his television program, "Let not your heart be troubled." Justice may not always be done in this world, but rest assured that it will be done in the next.
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