Funeral Protest Pro/Con - You May Not Like It but the Alternative Is Worse
Funeral Protests Pro/Con
You May Not Like it, But the Alternative is Worse. Funeral protests have been an issue for years. During this most recent war, as soldiers were coming home to be laid to rest, Westboro Baptist Church made headlines by protesting at the funerals of fallen soldiers. During the services, members of the church would gather outside of many of the military funerals waving signs that had offensive messages on them such as, “God Hates You”, and “Thank God for Dead Soldiers”. The members of this church believe that the death of the soldiers is God’s punishment for the tolerance of homosexuality in the United States. Last year the U.S, Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects these groups and any others who want to protest at a funeral. The First Amendment was written with a specific purpose and I have to agree with it, however I feel that a person being laid to rest should also have the right to have this done in peace, without another person or group forcing their religion upon the proceedings. The First Amendment was written into our Constitution because our founding fathers were familiar with government suppression of political speech. Before the American Revolution, England imprisoned, exiled, and killed men and woman who spoke out against the “Crown”. This continued in the very earliest years of colonization of the United States until The Free Speech Clause of the Constitution was drafted to save those who disagreed with these policies, of a similar fate. Our U.S. Constitution gives us more freedom to voice our opinions than most, if not any other country. There are however some areas which is not equal under the amendment, they are as follows: Speech that incites illegal activity, subversive, fighting words, obscenity, pornography, commercial speech and symbolic expression. Each of these areas has been greatly debated, such as what makes something obscene, or pornographic. Artists have the freedom to paint nudes and display
You May Not Like it, But the Alternative is Worse. Funeral protests have been an issue for years. During this most recent war, as soldiers were coming home to be laid to rest, Westboro Baptist Church made headlines by protesting at the funerals of fallen soldiers. During the services, members of the church would gather outside of many of the military funerals waving signs that had offensive messages on them such as, “God Hates You”, and “Thank God for Dead Soldiers”. The members of this church believe that the death of the soldiers is God’s punishment for the tolerance of homosexuality in the United States. Last year the U.S, Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects these groups and any others who want to protest at a funeral. The First Amendment was written with a specific purpose and I have to agree with it, however I feel that a person being laid to rest should also have the right to have this done in peace, without another person or group forcing their religion upon the proceedings. The First Amendment was written into our Constitution because our founding fathers were familiar with government suppression of political speech. Before the American Revolution, England imprisoned, exiled, and killed men and woman who spoke out against the “Crown”. This continued in the very earliest years of colonization of the United States until The Free Speech Clause of the Constitution was drafted to save those who disagreed with these policies, of a similar fate. Our U.S. Constitution gives us more freedom to voice our opinions than most, if not any other country. There are however some areas which is not equal under the amendment, they are as follows: Speech that incites illegal activity, subversive, fighting words, obscenity, pornography, commercial speech and symbolic expression. Each of these areas has been greatly debated, such as what makes something obscene, or pornographic. Artists have the freedom to paint nudes and display