The Westboro Baptist Church is likely one of the most hated groups of people in America in recent years, but everything that they do, according to U.S. law is completely legal. Many steps have been made to stop the group from protesting at the funerals of soldiers, children, and even famous people. And now, there's a very popular petition in place that could silence them for good.
Officials with the Westboro Baptist Church have said that they plan to protest a Holland Marine's funeral on Saturday, August 11th.
In statements, they have claimed that the deaths of US soldiers are God's way of punishing the country for accepting homosexuality.
On Monday President Barack Obama signed a law requiring protesters be at least 300 feet from military funerals, two hours before and after the events. Violators could face fines and up to two years in prison.
There is no religious organization in the entire United States that stirs up more emotion and controversy than the Westboro Baptist Church. The "church", and I use that term loosely, are best known for protesting the funerals of fallen soldiers while holding up signs saying that their deaths are deserved. For more than twenty years, Fred Phelps and his weirdo family have crisscrossed the country, picketing funerals, condemning homosexuality and spurring counter-protests. Not surprisingly, the tone at these demonstrations is usually pretty hostile. But that all changed when they decided to protest outside of a Foo Fighters concert in Kansas City.
Freedom of speech has more than one side to it. Not all speech is intelligent or responsible.
The Westboro Baptist Church is best known for picketing soldiers' funerals. They have plans to picket Betty Ford's public memorial services in both Palm Desert, California and Grand Rapids. They will be at the Grand Rapids memorial service at 1:00 on Thursday.
