Saturday, two soldiers from Tennessee, the latest casualties of our failed policy in Iraq were buried. Protesters showed up at the funeral, claiming the soldiers were killed as punishment for what the United States has done.
What? Were these protesters, who would not even allow the burial of the dead to proceed with dignity, anti-war protesters?
No, in fact anti-war protesters do show respect to the dead, and to the people who are attending funeral services for them.
The protesters were members of an anti-gay church which is claiming that the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq is punishment for the fact that gay people live in America.
The Rev. Fred Phelps, founder of Westboro Baptist in Kansas, contends that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting a country that harbors gays.
Rev. Phelps and his congregation (which the article says is mostly related to him) have, of course, because of the sacrifice made by American soldiers during the Revolution, the right to say what they want, no matter how repulsive it is. And they did apparently go through proper channels to get a protest permit.
They had the legal right to do as they did, but this is the height of despicability.
The article goes on to say: The church members carried signs and shouted things such as “God hates fags” and “God hates you.”
And war supporters spend their time condemning Cindy Sheehan for wanting to know if a President who takes month long vacations while Iraq falls to pieces, could spare half an hour.
I'm glad you got a good grade (would you be chewing me out though if you got a bad one?) It sounds like you did the work you needed to do.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the original article, the people there thought that this was way over the line.
It is sad to me that there are still people who think this way. I imagine that this week Pastor Phelps is probably blaming Hurricane Katrina on gay people too.