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Jewish World Review March 7, 2011 / 2 Adar II, 5771 Not in the First Amendment: the Right to Bully By Mitch Albom
And then you talk to the father. You can patiently explain why even hateful protest must be protected. And then you talk to the father. You can boast of how America's freedom of speech inspires robust debate on sensitive topics. And then you talk to the father. And you're not so sure. Five years ago last week, As most of us would want to do. Enter another family, the Phelps family, members of the Westboro chose Matthew's funeral in "They positioned themselves 30 feet from the main entrance," You're so sure of principle. And then you talk to the father.
A RIGHT TO GRIEVE IN PEACE?
Only Justice Instead, the Westboro kooks turned that moment into something else. They picketed. They chanted. They screamed "God hates fags." "When I went back to work, people came up to me and said I didn't know your son was gay," What right does Westboro have to slant a private citizen's funeral that way? Do the ideals of robust debate and varying points of view really apply to pure, unadulterated hate -- the kind Westboro spews, claiming our children are raised for the devil and that God hates America? Sure, there is sanctity to the First Amendment. But isn't there sanctity to a funeral, to a family's right to grieve in peace? You think it's all about principle. And then you talk to the father.
A RIGHT TO BULLY OTHERS?
"The government has no problem sending our young men and women to wars, they come back in body bags, and they can't have enough respect to protect the families?" Snyder asks. "I've been through this for five years with these (Westboro) people. They say now their pickets are going to quadruple. Well, I've got news for them. Eventually, they're going to pick the wrong funeral. …They're gonna do the wrong one, and somebody's gonna show up with a gun … and heaven forbid someone innocent is shot….. " "The saddest thing? I had a parent tell me today that their kid came home from school and said, 'I guess we can bully anyone now, because it's free speech.' That's what the Phelpses do. They bully people at the worst time of their lives." The easy thing in a newspaper is to say you understand, nod your head sympathetically, but support the sacred right of free speech, which, after all, is a cornerstone of what we do. Some in our business even don a cape of nobility when defending it. But the You can talk all you want. Then you listen to the father. And you know this is wrong.
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