The recent Supreme Court ruling supporting the right of the Westboro Baptist Church to peddle their hate-drenched vitriol at military funerals has my approval.
Note that I said the ruling has my support, not the actions of some so-called Christians who seem to relish tormenting the families of servicemen and servicewomen at funerals.
Here is a New York Times editorial.
So why do I support the Church's right to engage in 'hurtful' (a misnomer if ever there was one) speech? Because it is their First Amendment Right, and I think the First Amendment with its protection of religion, assembly, press, petition, and speech (RAPPS) is one of the most remarkable statements humankind has ever produced.
I've had experience with the First Amendment. When my younger siuster Ann was murdered by five Saudi Arabian hatemongers on 9/11, little did I realize that I would soon be drawn into a First Amendment controversy.
Ann was on the plane that was crashed into the Pentagon. One of my faculty colleagues at the University of New Mexico, whom I did not personally know, commented to his class,"Anyone who bombs the Pentagon has my vote." As expected, there was an outcry for his firing, censure, or suspension. I actually came out in support of his right to say what he did, and wrote a letter to the Albuquerque Journal to that effect. Columnist Jim Belshaw then wrote an article about what I had done, and how difficult it must have been for me to support the professor's right to say what he did. It was.
Belshaw later told me that he received a lot of comments about me his column, many of them quite negative. It was obvious that people could not distinguish between my support for someone's right to say something and support for what he actually said. I don't have to like what you say to support your right to say it. I spoke out because I had a vested interest in the situation:
Belief in and support of free speech are always easy when the speech is something with which you agree. But when you encounter something that is so repugnant, so heinous, and so contrary to everything you hold sacred, well, that is when supporting free speech is tough to do. But to me, that's when it really counts. How hard is it to accept something that corresponds to what you think is right? That's a no-brainer. It's the opposite that's difficult.
The First Amendment was really designed for fringe groups like the Westboro folks. If their speech is not protected, what might happen next? The Founding Fathers knew exactly what they were doing when they wote those 45 amazing words:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
I supported free speech on 9/11 and would do so all over again.
And if you picket or protest against the Westboro Baptist Church, I'll support your right to do so peaceably.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," -- Evelyn Beatrice Hall
“Thank God for Dead Soldiers” and “Fags Doom Nations.” -- some of the signs displayed at military funerals by the Westboro Baptist Church
Recent Comments