Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Free Speech Run Amok?

Anyone here care to weigh in and vote on the controversy going on over at The Blaze?

The Blaze - Vote & Comment: Should Supreme Court Allow Westboro Baptist’s Funeral Pickets?

My response:

Christinewjc
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 12:31am
I voted that the family of the fallen soldier deserves the right to have a peaceful funeral for their loved one. What I want to know is where does the right to “freedom of association” come in? Can’t the court use that as a reason why the family at the funeral has free speech rights over and above the vile spewing of hate-filled rhetoric by these crazy DEMOCRATIC LEFT-WING FAKE “Christians” who defile all that is holy and righteous? They do not live lives according to what is written in God’s Word, the Bible. They certainly do not follow the lead of Jesus Christ, the Great Commission, or the true Gospel!

Would this crazy group be allowed to barge into a public school and spew their hatred?

Would these idiots be allowed to scream their nutjob heads off outside someone’s house in the middle of the night without being handcuffed and hauled away by the police?

I’m sorry. This is “free speech” run amok. They are guilty of disturbing the peace of a private funeral service.

Hat Tip:

The Blaze

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen!

Christinewjc said...

Thanks for that Amen! Madmath1! I was just about to close my browser for the night and saw your comment awaiting moderation!

Wonder what the court will do in this case. These days, we never know whether or not they will do what is right.

GMpilot said...

Westboro Baptist has been doing this and other despicable things for years, but this is the first time I've known other Christians to comment on it. Most seem appalled that such people exist, who cloak their hatred with a halo.

I don't understand why. Like other Christians, they acknowledge the majesty and power of God, and they agree that homosexuals should die, just as God commands.

Be that as it may, even convicted murderers deserve to be buried in peace. No one should have the right to disrupt a funeral service. Westboro has the right to exercise their First Amendment privileges—but they do not have the right to make anyone listen to them. Let them hold their protest at a minimum distance from the gathering...preferably in the next county over. I have been to a few military funerals, and I would not look kindly upon their antics if they showed up.

Anonymous said...

This is about Exodus International following Christ:

Matthew 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- A Christian group encouraging gays to change their orientation has decided an event for U.S. high school students is divisive, its president said Wednesday.

"All the recent attention to bullying helped us realize that we need to equip kids to live out biblical tolerance and grace while treating their neighbors as they'd like to be treated, whether they agree with them or not," Chambers said.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/10/07/Group-gives-up-student-anti-gay-day/UPI-17821286428231/

Sosthenes

stevex09 said...

Simply put, we've gone from what's the moral and right thing to do, to what's the legal thing we can do and get away with it ...
I'm sickened by people like this that use and enjoy all the benefits America has to offer, and that's been made possible by the young men and women that gave their lives in defense of freedom. I'm also sick of people that pick this stuff apart and spout off legal b.s simply to show everyone just how "smart" they are.

Unknown said...

GM,

You raise some interesting point. Distorted, misinformed, or altogether false, but interesting.

"they agree that homosexuals should die, just as God commands."

Except that God never commanded Christians to kill homosexuals. If he had, we would probably be going after them with the same glee that Muslims exhibit in the dreary corners of the world they dominate. As it is, the people doing the protests are a lot like you: Making noises like a little yappy dog safe behind a fence.

Now, it is true that God ordered the Israelites to execute those guilty of homosexual activity as a warning against the destruction caused by sin when they were in the Promised Land. This was hardly singling them out, since any number of sins would get you the same penalty. The Jews were supposed to be a living lesson to the world of the costs of sin. They muffed it. God will take care of that in His own time.

If they were really interested in glorifying God, I tend to think that they would be following the template set by the prophets of old. They didn't come to make misery for the victims of sin. They were in the face of the leaders who brought the nation to sin. Supposedly the church protest is that the families are being punished because our country tolerates homosexuality. If that were the case, and they really wanted to make that point, the church would be out protesting the president and congress, not people at a funeral who have nothing to do with the policies.

I despise what the "church" is doing, but at the same time I pity them. God placed a special warning in the third commandment about those who use His name in vain. By promoting a web site that associates God wrongly with hatred, they are bringing great judgment upon themselves.

GMpilot said...

Mr. Baker,

The Westboro clones do believe that homosexuals should die. According to the KJV, the exact phrase is ”...they shall surely be put to death...” If you can reinterpret Lev. 20:13 so that it says something different from what it actually says, you have a great future behind you.
The only reason God never commanded Christians to kill homosexuals was because Christians did not exist when that law was issued. That hasn't stopped some Christians, of course.

That the WBC seems to despise everything about modern-day America except the First Amendment is hardly worth mentioning, because no one knows or cares what else they hate. Gays, and their existence, are what they're loudest about now.

”By promoting a web site that associates God wrongly with hatred, they are bringing great judgment upon themselves.”

God has been known to demonstrate (and even pronounce) his hatred for this and that, so that argument is vapor. But the Phelps 'church' doesn't have to wait for God's judgment. They're getting that judgment now, from a great many True Christians© and even scoffers like myself.
Few things are worse than hatred wearing a halo.

Unknown said...

GM,

"If you can reinterpret Lev. 20:13 so that it says something different from what it actually says"

There is no need to since that command was given specifically to Jews living under Mosaic Law and living in the Promised Land. If you go to the end of the chapter, the summary line if you will, it states that the people who inhabited the land before the Jews did such things and that's why they were driven out, and the Jews were warned that they too would be driven out if they continued. The commands were quite specific.

"The only reason God never commanded Christians to kill homosexuals was because Christians did not exist when that law was issued."

Wow! You must be some kind of psychic to be able to read the intent and predict the actions of a God that you don't even believe exists! At any rate, your conclusion has no logic, as Christ had every opportunity to issue such statements and never did. Indeed his purpose as he put it was "to save men's lives, not destroy them."

"That hasn't stopped some Christians, of course."

Of course, none of that explains why atheists, who supposedly believe in neither God nor his commands, are right up there with Muslims when it comes to executing, imprisoning, and persecuting homosexuals. Kind of blows a whole in their general thesis that religion causes mindless hatred of gays when gays get the best treatment in lands where Christianity is most prevalent.

"God has been known to demonstrate (and even pronounce) his hatred for this and that, so that argument is vapor."

Only in the minds of people such as yourself. God has proclaimed repeatedly that he hates sin. He has also made every provision for the sinful to turn to him, thereby demonstrating his love. By proclaiming "God hates fags," on their website, the church makes a mockery of that love. As do you. You both will share the same judgment, and are therefore both equally worthy of pity.

"Few things are worse than hatred wearing a halo."

The hatred you bear is no better. It simply relies on a different justification.

Unknown said...

Hi GM,

"If you can reinterpret Lev. 20:13 so that it says something different from what it actually says, you have a great future behind you."

No need. It says what it says Jews living in the promised land are to do to punish sinful behavior. There were any number of sinful acts that merited the same punishment, so it's not as though homosexuality is singled out. And like homosexuality, Christians were never ordered to execute judgment for those offenses either.

"The only reason God never commanded Christians to kill homosexuals was because Christians did not exist when that law was issued."

Your ability to predict the motives of a diety that you don't believe in is as remarkable as it is authoritative. As in not at all.

"That hasn't stopped some Christians, of course."

Neither has it stopped Muslims to this day, and atheists in far greater number. In point of fact, no organized groups have provided greater tolerance and protection for those who chose a homosexual lifestyle than Christians.

"God has been known to demonstrate (and even pronounce) his hatred for this and that, so that argument is vapor."

And if you examine the this and that, the hatred is directed at actions. He demonstrated his love for all people by dying for them and giving them the ability to be saved from the punishment their actions deserve. Not his actions. Their actions. I'd say that's quite a deal.

"They're getting that judgment now, from a great many True Christians© and even scoffers like myself."

More to come. For them, and for you.

"Few things are worse than hatred wearing a halo."

Hatred is hatred. It comes out no worse hiding behind a Bible than what you demonstrate. A hateful person hates. That you have a different excuse makes you no better.

Unknown said...

Sorry about the approximate repost. I thought the web ate my first response.

Christinewjc said...

No worries, Gary. I was gone all day, drove a total of 5 hours during my trip, and was so tired last night when I came online briefly to release comments that I didn't notice that the two posts were so similar!

I had two bizzare comments from some new commentators, so I held them up from publishing until I could do some research on them. The one written by "Anonymous" on this post is something else! I hope that you and others will add comments on it!