Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Does father's pain trump free speech?

Does father's pain trump free speech ?
      This article was about a marine who was killed in Iraq in 2006. The Westboro Baptist Church protested at the marine's funeral, attributing the deaths of marines in Iraq and Afghanistan to God's punishment for American "immorality" and tolerance towards abortion and homosexuality. The marine's father is suing the church for $5 million.
      This brings up an interesting question: did the church have a right to express their views at the marine's funeral, even though their expression caused more trouble and pain for the marine's father? In my mind, the protesters had a right to say what they believed, but they should not have exercised it.  This reminds me of the Quran burning incident a month or so ago; those who wanted to burn the Quran were exercising their right to express anti-Islamic views. However, the way this was done was offensive to the majority of Americans, and this situation is no different.
      The war in Iraq and the subsequent deaths were not caused by an angry God; they were caused by the Bush administration's meddling where we don't belong , and the church has no right to use the war to push a conservative agenda. Furthermore, even peaceful protest at the sight of a war hero's burial is completely uncalled for and only serves to rub the mourners' faces in the fact that they've lost a loved one.

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