Upholding the Right Not To Be Offended

The First Amendment protects even the ugliest forms of speech

Steve Chapman

Editor's Note: Steve Chapman is on vacation. The following column was originally published in January 2006.

It's hard to describe the views of the Rev. Fred Phelps without feeling soiled by the association, but I'll do it anyway. He attests that God is disgusted with America's tolerance of homosexuality. In his view, the Almighty is punishing the nation by using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to kill American troops in Iraq. God wants our soldiers dead.

Phelps, pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., is not content to deliver this message to his congregation. He also communicates it in the least welcoming venue he can find: the funerals of men and women who died in combat. He and his parishioners have staged protests at more than 60 military funerals, holding signs with messages like "Thank God for IEDs" and "God Hates Fags."

These vicious demonstrations have elicited a predictable but mistaken response: demands that they be outlawed. Kansas passed a law banning such protests for one hour before a funeral begins and two hours after it ends. As lieutenant governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn pushed a law requiring demonstrators to stay far away from such a service.

Quinn sees the issue as simple. "No grieving military family should be subjected to vile epithets and signs at the funeral service of their loved one who has made the ultimate sacrifice for our country," he declared. The bill, he said, would merely uphold "the First Amendment religious rights of families to bury their dead with reverence." READ MORE REASON