Freedom of Speech Just Sucks Sometimes, eh? I've seen this post lately making the rounds on Facebook: So the US Supreme Court has ruled that you have the right to protest military funerals. I invite you to start your protest in my front yard, and we can see If your First Amendment right is better than my Second Amendment right. Re-post If you're a vet, love a vet, or just support vets! That was a ruling from the United States Supreme Court back in March. Why a post like this is suddenly making the rounds on Facebook, I don't know. I don't take it literally and don't think anyone should either. Its a not so clever play on the Amendments. I think its trite. Before someone starts to think that I somehow supported the Westboro Baptist Church protesting Military Funerals, slow down. I do not support that church or its apparent mission to protest at funerals all across the land that involve US servicemen. I...DO...NOT...SUPPORT...THEM... I'm not very keen on Churches in the first place, but these guys are way off the beaten path. I find them disgusting, un-American and unlike most Christians I ever met. I'm glad that most people look at them as fools or a cult like organisation. This piece isn't about me trying to defend their message. What I find interesting is that the people that are posting it to their status updates on FB are doing so, I imagine out of a sense of support for ... Click here for more...
I think people should be allowed to protest military funerals, as long as the protesters remain quiet and respectful about it. A funeral that glorifies military service and uses the dead soldier as a "martyr" is a fair target for protest. But there is also the grieving family. So big signs that express oppossing views are acceptable, but not shouting (certainly no megaphones should be allowed) that interferes with the funeral. The protesters should also stay at least 20 meters away from the funeral, so they are vissible but at the same time are not interrupting the funeral. There should be specific city ordinances governing the appropriate behaviour of funeral protesters.
It's an intrusion on the grief of family and friends, it's disrespectful of the sacrifice the deceased made (whether in a good cause or not) and it lowers the tone of political discourse in this country yet again. There are a lot better ways to make a political point, so I don't see why this sort of garbage behavior is either necessary or desirable.
No one should protest a military funeral as we are not extremist who use the funeral to make martyrs but as a sine of respect for those who gave there lives for their country and its citizens.
