Spring Break
Westboro protests stretch limits of free speech
Ed BOARD
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: OPINION
Sometimes, it takes the worst in humanity to bring out the best in people. In the days following the horrors of the Virginia Tech massacre, the bereaved have united behind stories of heroism. Dr. Liviu Librescu's particular act of selflessness - holding the crazed gunman back while his students escaped, before he himself succumbed to the murderer's bullets - is a testament to the strength of the human spirit, and gives us inspiration in this time of grief.
However, as heroes emerge, so do villains.
According to their Web site, the vicious psychopaths at the Westboro Baptist Church are planning to picket at the funerals of the Virginia Tech shooting victims. Their justification is that God apparently sent the gunman to kill the students to punish America for its acceptance of gays.
As journalists, we revere the First Amendment, which includes the freedom of speech. But it is reprehensible, horrible people like this who put our faith in that tenet to the test.
Westboro Baptist Church, led by its number one maniac Fred Phelps, is the same group that led protests at the funeral of hate crime victim Matthew Shepard, as well as at the funerals of United States soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also claimed that the Sept. 11 attacks and the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia were acts of God in retribution for our sinful acceptance of homosexuality.
As absolutely vile and reprehensible as their views may be, the members of the Westboro Baptist Church have the right to say what they want. However, we also have the right to call them out for what they are: crazy, misanthropic and evil. Freedom of speech works both ways.
However, as heroes emerge, so do villains.
According to their Web site, the vicious psychopaths at the Westboro Baptist Church are planning to picket at the funerals of the Virginia Tech shooting victims. Their justification is that God apparently sent the gunman to kill the students to punish America for its acceptance of gays.
As journalists, we revere the First Amendment, which includes the freedom of speech. But it is reprehensible, horrible people like this who put our faith in that tenet to the test.
Westboro Baptist Church, led by its number one maniac Fred Phelps, is the same group that led protests at the funeral of hate crime victim Matthew Shepard, as well as at the funerals of United States soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also claimed that the Sept. 11 attacks and the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia were acts of God in retribution for our sinful acceptance of homosexuality.
As absolutely vile and reprehensible as their views may be, the members of the Westboro Baptist Church have the right to say what they want. However, we also have the right to call them out for what they are: crazy, misanthropic and evil. Freedom of speech works both ways.
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