Military Funeral Picketing partially banned, WBC are tools.

[Chairman Miaow]

I don't get why Americans get all twisted up over the amendments. I mean, they themselves are AMENDMENTS. Why would it be so dreadful to amend them? Didn't one of your founding fathers actually say they should be amended? Either way, WBC Should not just be banned from doing what they are doing, but be arrested for the pain they have caused.

 

[Starik20X6]

I'm not American and I know this. The important thing is they can say what they want, they still have free speech, they just have to exercise it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over there. No problems with your first amendment there.

It's scary how many Americans don't seem to know the contents of their own constitution. How do us Aussies know more? It's weird, the only people who bring up the constitution seem to be the ones who don't actually have a clue what it says and/or means.

Seriously though, isn't it illegal what the WBC do? Can't they be charged for harassment or something?

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

What I want to know is why WBC hasn't gotten to the REAL issue, all these godless scientologists hubbarding up hollywood and polluting the minds of our nations youth with the idea that god doesn't exist and that we are all immortal superbeings under the control of alien criminals!
Clearly this is a major assault on American values and decency that, if not quelled, will lead to the destruction of the one correct religion!

 

[Zoe Castillo]

--

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

The WBC are living proof that freedom of speech is overrated.

 

[LordOmnit]

What if the situation was flipped what if a law was passed that said you are no longer allowed to critic the WBC to their face , you can do it anywhere else but you aren?t allowed to say anything to them while they are picketing funerals, what then?
I?d imagine you?d be outraged, and rightfully so. What makes it ok to do it to them ?

Yeah what they do is fucked up and you should call them out on it but censorship only makes them feel more like heroic underdogs fighting for justice.

It's a problem of the manner in which it is done. Freedom of speech isn't actually the impenetrable, "freedom to say anything you want" that many people think it is and neither should it be. If it were we'd still allow Yellow Journalism and Defamation (speaking of USA here and only inasmuch as what the laws say, not what actually goes on).

In the case of WBC, it can be argued that what they are doing is purposefully done to agitate, inflame, and provoke, which I'm pretty sure would make it a reasonable legal defense if one of the funeral processions decided to beat the crap out of them for being jerks.

 

[Padwolf]

I'm sure that if I went there and started screaming at people and told them all that they should die, I'd be charged for something. Why can't the WBC be charged for harassment? They are free to say whatever the hell they want elsewhere. Why don't they get the hint no one likes them?

 

[Doclector]

I'm not sure why the WBC even does this. I mean, if you hate someone or something that much, why not keep away from it?

Exactly. Religious groups are given too much free reign. Preach all you want, but telling people they're terrible and deserve to burn for eternity? That should not be allowed, from street preachers to the WBC themselves.

And why haven't they been arrested for infringing other people's rights? Personally, I think if they come to your town, you should get a group together to simply shout them down, or, if necessary, chase 'em out. They don't deserve the air they breathe, and if they came near me, I'm not sure I could resist tearing them to pieces.

Free speech is a tricky issue, yes, but fact is, we have gotten to the point where we need to cut back certain people's rights because they are using them to abuse the rights of others. It should go without saying that you're not supposed to tell a cancer victim they deserved it, or shout at people through the funerals of their siblings, but WBC do not understand being civil. They don't understand what it is to be a good person. They must be forced to shut the fuck up.

 

[Zoe Castillo]

00

 

[ToastiestZombie]

Nobody should defend the WBC, they have the right to say what they want but that doesn't mean they have the right to picket fucking soldier's funerals! These people are worse than the KKK, yet because people in America have no idea what their rights mean they're still allowed to spread their filth. If any of them came to my town I would literally do anything I could to get them out, they don't deserve to be heard by anyone and no dead soldier deserves a protest against gays at their funeral. It should be as simple as that.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Actually...yes, purely considering freedom of speech, I would allow WBC to embarrass themselves with their BS as long as everyone understood when their own funeral was desecrated (that said, doesn't really work because they'll be dead...but people can still call them whatever they want while they're alive).

But what the WBC does should be at least public nuisance, even harrassment, slander perhaps. It's despicable, and there are already plenty of laws that could be applied to their antics.

Another thing about freedom of speech, it isn't absolute. You can't slander (anyone with money at least), you can't impersonate police officers (and I suspect a lot of other kinds of people), you can't lie in court, you can't give a false name for most official things, etc.

Captcha: taco tuesday. I thought I'd put it here because clearly it's meant for someone who reads this, because it has no significance to me.

 

[SonicWaffle]

WORDS

Liiiiittle bit harsh there. Speaking as a "fucked up aspie", I certainly can tell the difference in context but you're wrong. It is censorship. It may be censorship for a good reason, but it's censorship nonetheless. The censhorship debate is much like the freedom debate; it's clear that free speech shouldn't be limitless, the question is about where we draw the line.

Oh, and I'd suggest you edit your post before a mod sees it and gives you the banhammer.

 

[chadachada123]

I don't see why hate monger picketing at funerals can't be charged under harassment and disturbing the peace. If I started screaming and raving how someone should burn in hell while standing in a public area, I'd go to jail. Yet, it makes it okay and a matter of 'freedom of speech' if a group does it? If you are saying so-and-so should die etc etc, why isn't that considered illegal to do when done in a group?

No you wouldn't, if you were doing it on a public sidewalk. If you were to get arrested for being a douchebag, your charges would almost certainly be dropped unless you, say, attacked your arresting officer or something. There's nothing illegal about being a douchebag on public property. People scream and rave all the time about 'sinners going to hell' in the US without being arrested, be it alone or in a group.

At least, if you're in the United States.

On topic, since most cemeteries aren't public, and most funeral homes aren't public, I don't even see how funeral picketing could possibly be an issue except in cities where the sidewalk could actually be within eyeshot of the funeral.

Getting the feds involved is completely unnecessary. If the WBC cause problems, it's because you picked the wrong damn funeral home or cemetery to bury your friend at.

 

[Zoe Castillo]

99

 

[SonicWaffle]

I am positively shocked no one has gone Rambo on their asses yet.

I'm shocked that there haven't been mass counter-protests from Christians yet. I've seen parades by Muslims opposed to terrorism, and yet I've never seen any group of Christians rock up at a funeral to - for instance - pray for the WBC. In my opinion, that's what will hurt them the most. Just have hundred of their fellow Christians between them and their target, and whatever hateful slogans they yell these counter-protestors can just assure them that Jesus will forgive them if they stop this behaviour. Don't threaten, don't yell, just tell them Jesus loves them and will forgive them for what they're doing.

Too late for many of the older ones, I suspect, but it'll certainly get the message across to the younger ones and teenagers that what they're doing is non-Christian. Drive away the young ones, force them to re-assess their lives and beliefs, and I bet you'll see a lot of them leaving the church. It'll die as its members do, without any new blood to keep it going.

 

[Lionsfan]

I don't see why hate monger picketing at funerals can't be charged under harassment and disturbing the peace. If I started screaming and raving how someone should burn in hell while standing in a public area, I'd go to jail. Yet, it makes it okay and a matter of 'freedom of speech' if a group does it? If you are saying so-and-so should die etc etc, why isn't that considered illegal to do when done in a group?

Not in the US. In pretty much any big city in the country, or in a lot of college towns, you can always find some Religious folks on a corner talking about how we're all godless or on the path of sin