Every day we are bombarded with ideas, speech, and rhetoric that we profoundly

disagree with and are even offended by.  Many of you have no doubt witnessed the

fire-and-brimstone rhetoric of ‘brickyard preachers’.  These brickyard loonies seem

tame in comparison to the Westboro Baptist Church.  Soon, the Supreme Court will hear

a case between the Westboro Baptist Church and the family of a soldier killed in

Afghanistan that will test the limits of our freedom of speech and may have

disastrous consequences. 

They may be only one small congregation, but they sure do get around. For those who

haven’t heard of the Westboro Baptist Church, they are a group of Christians, under

the leadership of Pastor Fred Phelps, who flies around the country protesting

schools, churches, Lady Gaga concerts and, most egregiously, the funerals of U.S.

soldiers. These particular Christians are upset over what they see as the tolerance

of gays and lesbians in the United States.  Thus, they celebrate the freedom

protecting deaths of U.S. soldiers.

The father of a slain veteran whose funeral was picketed sued the Church and was

awarded damages in a lower court.  Westboro raised an appeal and subsequently won. 

Soon the Supreme Court will decide the case.  Will they decide to curb the right to

free speech out of respect for the dead?  If the Supreme Court can find the rationale

to permit the selling of pornographic videos that depict the murder of animals, then

it seems unlikely they would limit free speech in the case of the Westboro Baptists.

The first amendment not only concerns speech but also the right to peaceably

assemble. In the case of the National Socialist Party of America v. Village of

Skokie, the Supreme Court upheld the right of Neo-Nazis to stage a rally in the town

of Skokie, Illinois, which had a large Jewish population that included actual

Holocaust survivors.  If free speech and assembly can allow that to happen, then it

can allow the Westboro parishioners to assemble and protest as well.

The Supreme Court could make an exception to free speech regarding funerals, but if

they do rule in favor of the soldier’s father then they will probably cite the

church’s speech as hate speech and harassment.  I truly hope this is not the verdict.

Imagine the reverse case.  It would be a shame if it was illegal for non-Westboro

Baptists to protest the disgusting views of the Westboro church outside their Sunday

services.  This judicially imposed stalemate would force fringe beliefs further

underground, further from the scrutiny of the marketplace of ideas.  If fringe

elements are allowed to retreat into the shadows and fester, then potential members

will be shielded from any criticism or ridicule, which may actually strengthen their

numbers. 

We have to tolerate speech that we find distasteful, vulgar and offensive.  If the

court rules that offensive speech is grounds for harassment, our society will become

even more politically correct and bland.  If this standard were applied in the past,

many good ideas like abolition, civil rights, and gay rights would never have caught

on.  The sword cuts both ways.  If you decided to stifle speech that you consider

offensive, those same tools can be applied to ideas that you personally hold to be

correct and just.  

The way to fight Westboro is not to censor them. We need to show up to their protests

with more people and better ideas.  I truly feel for the family of the slain soldier,

but if they limit our freedoms in his name, that to me would be directly opposed to

what our military fights for.  So next time a brickyard preacher or a fellow student

hollers something you find offensive and wrong, please exercise your freedoms by

hollering back, not running to the courts.