Day 44 Dad

In 2006 Lance Corporal Mathew Smith was laid to rest, a marine who died serving his country in Iraq. On that morning members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka Kansas, picketed the funeral. Their beef is that they believe that soldiers are somehow dying to protect gays. Albert Snyder, Mathew’s father has been engaged in a long court battle with the group that has now found it’s way to the Supreme Court. The issue is whether the 1st Amendment which grants them freedom of speech supercedes the need for privacy of the family of this marine.

“"This case is about a little church in Topeka, Kansas, engaging in public speech on a public right-of-way, about issues of vital public interest and importance," lawyer Margie Phelps wrote to the court defending the protests. She is also the daughter of church founder Fred Phelps and will argue the case before the justices.”

“Westboro's website says the legal dispute is about the "sovereignty of the Living God" and that those who fail to live up to God's standards should be punished. Phelps explains that their decision to picket funerals "is to use an available public platform, when the living contemplate death, to deliver the message that there is a consequence for sin." That sin in their view is homosexuality and all government policies they think support homosexuals.”

While I am all for the freedom of speech at some point common sense must start being a part of our normal daily lives. While the constitution does protect the freedom of speech it does not however protect the outright abuse of freedom as practiced by this “little church from Topeka”. Just as you will see me write and rail against those on the left who don’t understand that all of our freedoms granted under the constitution are subsequently protected by our military. Again the only reason they have the freedom to be the idiots they are being is due to a long military heritage that has shed too much blood to protect to have these loons denegrate their memory.

Where is our country going? What are our soldiers fighting for – for this? To be protested, to be thought of as less than a hero because you fight for all people? Jesus said, “what you do unto the least of my brethren you do unto me!” Do these idiots not even follow the bible or do they believe that people who are gay are less than human? What a sad testimony to the way they live their lives to not even know that Jesus was about love, not hatred. What about “Judge not for ye shall be judged”? Who do they think they are? It appears to me that Reverend Phelps thinks that he is above god, and can single-handedly decide what God’s interpretation should be, I think we call this heresy.

Martin Luther King, said in the I Have a Dream Speech that he could see a day when blacks were judged on the content of their character and not the color of their skin.” I have often said that this is one of the most incredible statements made by man in the history of the world. It has so many applications, anyone gay, straight, black or white, young or old, Democrat or Republican should be looked at via the content of their character and not the word that defines them. If we as a society could get to this point then the rest would fall into place.

Unfortunately we have not reached that point, we still label others, and seek fairness without first defining fairness. For without definition there is not fairness there is no justice there is no law. The definition begins with our constitution and it’s application through common sense which has become a rarer commodity than the dodo bird. I continue to be sickened by the utter arrogance of so many who feel they know better, they and only they know how the rest of us should live. Freedom is of choice not freedom from choice, in all forms.

Shame on these mis-guided people from the Westboro Baptist Church, may God forgive them for the harm they seem to want to portend onto others.

You are superman, I love you Zach!