As host of a current events radio show, one of the things I like to do is take a hot topic in the news and turn it into a talk topic on my show.
The crusade of Shirley Phelps-Roper is no exception. As reported in The Examiner, Ms. Phelps-Roper?s church, Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., likes to protest funerals of U.S. servicemen. She and the other followers of her father, the Rev. Fred Phelps, believe that God punishes the United States for tolerating fornication and homosexuality by killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
They protest funerals by waving signs with phrases like “Thank God for I.E.Ds.” IEDs are improvised explosive devices ? the kind Iraqi rebels use to kill American soldiers.
I find Ms. Phelps-Roper?s message and her method of conveying this message utterly abhorrent. The majority of callers to my radio show did, too.
“I find you to be a sick, sick woman,” said John from Baltimore. “I hope that people go and protest your home, your law office and your church and we?ll see how you like it.”
“And I defend your right to do that,” Ms. Phelps-Roper said. “Protest all day every day if you want. That?s what this country is about ? having the right of free speech.”
“What about the firemen who died protecting our country on 9/11?” said caller Officer Claude. “They, and our soldiers, gave their lives so that you have a right to speak.”
“They are all going to hell,” said Ms. Phelps-Roper. “Get with it!”
Twenty-nine states, including Maryland, regulate funeral protests. The laws state protesters must stay on a public thoroughfare, or anywhere from 300 to 400 feet from the funeral itself.
A distance of 300 feet from the funeral itself ? the distance in Maryland?s law ? and a requirement that the protests occur on a public thoroughfare should be minimum requirements. The hateful, disgusting message she conveys should and must be regulated by states to ensure that overbroad laws do not allow her group to actually enter the funerals themselves.
If there is one area in which I agree with Ms. Phelps-Roper, it is protecting the right of free speech.
“You may not like my message, but we have this thing called a First Amendment in our Constitution that allows me to transmit my message,” Ms. Phelps-Roper said.
Though few people agree with Ms. Phelps-Roper?s message, her church, like everyone in America, has the right of free speech ? and yes, sadly, even at funerals.
Despite her despicable behavior, we can take comfort in the fact that without the noble service of our soldiers, we might not have the right to debate speech, whether we agree with it or not.
Tom Moore hosts the AES Tom Moore Show Saturdays 10 to 1 1 p.m. on AM 680 WCBM. His Web site is: www.tommooreradio.com.
