News From The Fringe

Last week, the Federal Appeal Court in Richmond Virginia ruled that the protests conducted by the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka Kansas were protected speech accroding to the First Amendment. This case had originally been brought by the family of an American soldier killed in Iraq. The funeral was picketing by members of this church carrying placards that indicated their joy over the young man's death and their belief that his death was part of God's judgment on America.

A judge was quoted as saying: "Notwithstanding the distasteful and repugnant nature of the words being challenged in these proceedings, we are constrained to conclude that the defendants' signs and [what it has on its Web sites] are constitutionally protected," Circuit Court Judge Robert B. King wrote in the majority opinion.

This is the church that revels in its hate-filled rhetoric against homosexuals, those who do not condemn hmosexuals as they do, Jews, Catholics, and other Christians and ministers who do not preach as their minister, Fred Phelps, does. I was one of the ministers condemned by Rev. Phelps when I was in Kansas. I suspect I am still on their enemies list.

I had planned to share some of their rhetoric about the places they plan to picket from the website, but I could not bring myself to post the quotations. If you are interested, you can find it.

In their comments are the following observations:
** God hates the world.
** President Obama is the Anti-Christ and became president as part of God's judgment on America.
** President Obama will soon turn on the Jews and begin killing them.

While I recognize their constitutional rights to free speech, I still despair that someone spews forth so much hate in the name of God.