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Thursday, October 07, 2010

Right vs. Wrong

So unless you've been hiding under a rock lately - you have undoubtedly heard about the Supreme Court case of Snyder vs. Westboro Baptist Church ....

quick rap up ....

Mr. Snyder lost his son in the Iraq war ... during his funeral - not sure if it was the funeral home or outside the cemetery - the WBC was protesting with signs that read 'God Hates America' and several anti-abortion & anti-gay slogans ...
Snyder sued the church for invasion of his privacy during his time to grieve and was awarded $5 Million!  WBC appealed and the local circuit court withdrew the verdict saying that WBC was protected by the 1st Amendment right of "Free Speech" ...
Snyder is appealing to the Supreme court to have the judgement reinstated ... not so much for the money but to protect the families of those soldiers who gave their lives for their country.

Fox News yesterday was able to get their hands on the briefs filled by both parties, and read part of them on the air ...

" this court has recognized a survivor's right to privacy in protecting the memory of the dead thus Mr. Snyder had a substantial privacy interest in attending his son's funeral without unwanted interference.  The Phelpses' conduct during Matthew Snyder's funeral caused Mr. Snyder serious emotional & physical hardship and hindered his grieving process .... [and] therefore interfere with Mr. Snyder's privacy interest in an intolerable manner"
Supreme Court Briefing of Albert Snyder

" [Mr. Snyder] made himself a limited purpose public figure when he spoke to the media extensively immediately after his son's death and when he sought out the media for more coverage immediately after his son's funeral.  And he has made expansive use of the media and been wildly successful in sersuading the entire country that his son is a  hero and WBC is a villan whose words should be utterly disregarded, thereby enjoying all the benefits of a public figure."
Supreme Court brief by WBC & the Phelps'
So let me get this straight ....


because this man was asked about his son .... this made it 'free game' for the protesters to make this poor man's life a misery????


And because AFTER the funeral -- after they had already did the protesting yet continued to harass this man -- he is the one a fault for going to the media to try to get a little help in the matter because obviously nothing else was working???


WTF is that all about??


Are they delirious?????


There is right ... and there is wrong .... and the Church is supposed to help teach the difference ... if I were a parent, I would run with the kids for the doors!


just because this man was not a member of their church did NOT give them the right to add to this family's pain ... and then to continue it over a period of time to the point to where the stress of it began to harm the father's health (my understanding of other reports is that it wound up aggravating his asthma, which can be triggered by emotional stress)....


There is a time and place for everything (WBC might remember that bit from their BIBLES where they get their ideas of what God wants) .... and - I'm sorry - but I can not think of a single funeral where protesting would be the right-thing to do.


WBC did it SOLELY for the purpose of getting media coverage for what their beliefs are .... they are the ones who had sought out the media attention before Mr. Snyder did ... they are the ones who did whatever they could to be sure that they had media coverage and did not care one iota about the welfare of the family who they intruded upon.


There was no "Freedom of Speech" here --- this was a media whoring at someone else's expense.


There was nothing that this single soldier or his family did that had anything to do with what the WBC was protesting ....


Matthew Snyder was NOT gay .... he had NOT had an abortion .... he was NOT America ....


These people USED Matthew Snyder's funeral for their own purposes -- did not leave when requested nor were they respectful in their manner ....


I'm sorry ....


I think the Court should rule in favor of Mr. Snyder ... while I believe in the Freedom of Speech clause of the Constitution --- I believe this is more of a matter of Right Vs. Wrong.

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