U.S. Common Sense

Who speaks for God? Who has God on their side? Who knows what God feels? Well, if you were a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, you would claim that you do. So, my “Baptist” friends, do you know that God doesn’t seem to like you right now and sees fit for you to be punished?

For those of you who have not heard of Westboro Baptist Church, the are the organization that seeks out military funerals to protest, usually holding brightly colored signs that say “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” or “God hates f–s.” The church is headed by the Pastor Fred Phelps who preaches a message of hate (literally) against multiple groups, including gays, transsexuals, Jews, and Muslims. Their actions have caused them to be labeled as a hate group by multiple civil rights organizations, and many of the members (much whom are members of the Phelps family) have criminal records for various misdemeanors stemming from their protests.

So what happened that caused God to punish those who speak for him? In March 2006, the church organized a protest during the funeral procession of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder. In their typical flair, the group held up their colorful signs with their “blunt” words to protest the Iraq war. Unknowing to them, the father of the slain soldier was not going to let them get away with insulting their family on that important day. In June 2006, Mr. Snyder sued the Phelps family for invasion of privacy, defamation, and emotional distress. On Halloween, the court found the church guilty and ordered to pay $10.9 Million in compensation.

Of course, the family with appeal the ruling and might get the punishment reduced, probably claiming that the First Amendment protects their right to free speech. Knowing this, the Judge instructed the jury to decide “whether the defendant’s actions would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, whether they were extreme and outrageous and whether these actions were so offensive and shocking as to not be entitled to First Amendment protection.” The jury obviously gave their answer by finding the church guilty. Will the church find a friendly ear during the appeals? I doubt it, but they might come up with a convincing argument yet.

So who speaks for God? I don’t know. Maybe the guy down at the street corner with the placard saying “The End is Near” does. However, if the Westboro Baptist Church does, and they know how God feels, maybe they knew this was coming and will accept Gods wishes and pay the Snyder family the $10.9 Million ordered by the court. After all, it’s Gods wishes, right?

In a related topic, there are a few brave individuals who travel around the country to “defend” the fallen from the protestors.  This group is the Patriot Guard Riders.  They show respect for our fallen soldiers by shielding the family from the protesters.  Presidential candidate Steve Adams rides with the Patriot Guard Riders.