The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that anti-gay protestors who picketed funerals of U.S. soldiers are entitled to their free speech. But does this freedom come at the price of basic human decency?
Honestly, I’m really not sure what to think about this.
An 8-to-1 majority affirmed a lower court judgment that threw out damages awarded to Albert Snyder, who first sued Westboro Baptist Church for emotional distress he endured after the church protested at his son’s funeral. His son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, died in Iraq in 2006.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said today’s ruling is a narrow decision, dealing strictly with Westboro’s picketing activity.
“Speech is powerful,” Roberts wrote. “It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and — as it did here — inflict great pain.”
“On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. As a nation we have chosen a different course — to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate,” he said. “That choice requires that we shield Westboro from tort liability for its picketing in this case.”
Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of the United States, and certainly, silencing people’s views often ends up backfiring. It’s like suppressing negative thoughts. For awhile, things are ok, but in the end, whatever was pushed down returns, often more forcefully. Marginalized and fringe groups who are shut down sometimes end up turning to violence, feeling that killing people and destroying things are the only ways to get heard. So, I tend to align myself with efforts to allow people to speak.
At the same time, our government and courts don’t have the same allegiance to free speech when it comes to people whose views are seen as “a threat” to government policy in some form. Just last fall, several peace activists here in Minnesota were arrested on trumped-up charges linking their public actions to terrorist organizations, and threatening them with jail time. That’s just one example. So, I find it hollow to listen to powerful people defend the rights of Westburo Church members to spread hate at funerals of all places when others’ speech is less respected by the law.
In addition, whenever one of these decisions occurs, there seems to be a lack of connection made between freedom of speech and the fact that with freedom comes consequences. Saying Westburo should be free to say whatever they want without fear of tort liability is kind of disturbing. It can send a message that speech has no real consequences other than people getting angry and upset at you.
And let’s move beyond that to the fact that they are doing these protests at funerals; that this mostly single-family “church” is appearing at an intimate event where they have zero connection to the people there — who are grieving, who are suffering, who are viewing the event as part of their healing process — and they are using this event to spread vile hate messages. If funerals are now public events open to anyone who has an axe to grind about anything, well, I find that deeply troubling. I don’t think this court decision explicitly says funerals are public and wide open, but it certainly could be interpreted that way going forward.
So, I’m torn. How about you?
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It is heart wrenching to me that families are denied privacy in their grief and that this group was able to make a public spectacle of a sacred ceremony. While I too believe in the right of free speech I don’t believe I have to allow hatred into my private world. Shouldn’t a funeral be part of that?
Unfortunately proving that teaching children hate is abuse is very difficult. Emotional harm ,and neglect are not easy cases to make.
I hope the families of these young men are able to remember their strengths and the light they brought to this world in the short time they spent here. I hope that the voices of good are louder than those of evil and we drown them out.
It’s hard to be truly shocked nowadays — and that’s not a good thing — but the actions of the protestors from Westboro Baptist Church have really shocked me. I have also come across other photos of the protestors holding signs which say, “Matt in hell”, referring to the poor young man who was beaten to death. My heart goes out to this young man’s loved ones. To subject them to this anti-gay venom on the day of his funeral goes beyond all decency.
And I agree with Chris that indoctrinating children into this religious insanity and atmosphere of hatred is child abuse. I find these people frightening — and what a sad thing it is that the courts, in upholding freedom of speech, have to deal with groups that promote and practice this hatred.
Hi Christopher,
There’s never been a case where I have stood on the side of banning speech or censoring books (or other written material). And although I’m still torn about the Westboro case, I still think their speech should be protected. In some ways, I hope this case might be useful for people defending themselves when the U.S. government tries to pull a “you’re speech is a threat” kind of crap it likes to do.
No doubt what the Westboro leaders have done with their children is awful. Abuse feels like too weak a word in this particular situation. Years ago, I worked with a kid who spent the first seven years of her life in a family where she was ritually abused as part of a cult. I spent three years as part of her counseling team – she made great progress – but the damage was still there. Trust was hard to come by.
I don’t know what else is happening to these kids at home, but if they ever decide to try and run away, or leave when they are adults, it’s going to be hard for them.
Nathan
I agree Nathan that it is hard to accept the court’s decision in light of the general hypocrisy the establishment shows in terms of freedom of speech. However, taken as an individual case I believe they made the correct decision.
The right of free speech comes with a cost. Those of us who are sane have to listen to and sometimes be deeply disturbed by the delusion rantings of the fringe elements in our society. That’s a part of the price.
What I find most disturbing is the incredible delusion and twisted sense of morality in these Westboro Baptist Church followers that is allowed to be perpetuated through children. The image above of those children holding those hate speech signs is a strong indication of child abuse. It is my belief that teaching children to hate and/or indoctrinating them into fundamentalist belief systems (ala Mormon polygamy, or fundamental Islam or Christianity) is child abuse. Children being indoctrinated by such groups are kept from alternative views, sectarian or otherwise, as their minds are developing and are not afforded the right to choose what they want to believe.
Many a zealot knows that if you get the children early enough you get them for life.
I don’t believe it is a parent’s right to indoctrinate their children (which is done mostly through fear) to hate Jews or Muslims or gay people or Christians or Democrats or anyone else. It is this indoctrination that perpetuates hate in our societies and is one of several factors holding our species back from evolving into our loving and kind potential. These deluded Westboro Christians I would consider Hypochristians and I believe their children should be removed and they should be arrested for abuse and a criminal lawsuit should be brought against them and all organizations and their leaders that force one view point such as this on children. It is unconscionable what they are doing.
As the Buddha said. “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.”