Illinois' "Let them rest in peace act" signed into law.

[jlmiracle 7]

Quote

>So you are in favor of allowing rude people to interrupt and interfere
> with a family's grieving and their respectful burial ceremony of their
>loved one?

I am in favor of the First Amendment, which states that people's right to assemble in public wherever they choose and say what they want shall not be abridged.

What about right from wrong. Protesting at a funeral is WRONG. They hold up signs that are wrong and outright lies.

I really doubt our forefathers had this "right to protest at funerals" in mind when it was written.

j

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

[jlmiracle 7]

Quote

>I can punch them in the face harder than they can punch me.

And then they shoot you in self defense, and they will walk. Or they record everything in great detail, get the police to arrest you, and turn your assault into the biggest case since OJ Simpson. In either case, they will get all the press coverage they will ever want. Consider if that's the legacy you want to leave behind.

They WANT violence. They are praying every night for someone like you to come along and give them everything they ever dreamed of. You really want to give them that?

No Bill, they want you to hit them so they can sue you to fund their way to another protest.

Do they really have the right to preach and teach hatered in public? School teachers are fired and repremanded all the time for saying the wrong thing, I don't understand why is okay for this thugs to do what ever they want.

j

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

[billvon 2,400]

>Protesting at a funeral is WRONG. They hold up signs that are wrong
>and outright lies.

Absolutely. So is the KKK. So are the people who think homosexuality should be illegal. But since this is the USA, they get the right to speak their minds in public.

Your commitement to the constitution is not tested when you see someone protesting for peace, or someone protesting something you hate. It's when you see something that makes you steaming mad, something that you find vile and hideous. If, when that happens, you decide that the constitution is more important than your gut instinct, then it will survive.

>I really doubt our forefathers had this "right to protest at funerals"
>in mind when it was written.

I don't think they were as shortsighted as you think. They did, after all, have funerals and political protests back then as well.

[billvon 2,400]

>they want you to hit them so they can sue you to fund their way to
>another protest.

That too. One of their stated goals is to get publicity.

>Do they really have the right to preach and teach hatered in public? >School teachers are fired and repremanded all the time for saying
>the wrong thing, I don't understand why is okay for this thugs to
>do what ever they want.

Cause the right to free speech (even if it's vile) is protected; the rights of teachers to get paid by the government to say whatever they want is not. (Note that a teacher can SAY whatever he or she wants; they just might not get paid to do it.)

[Andy9o8 0]

Quote

Quote

>So you are in favor of allowing rude people to interrupt and interfere
> with a family's grieving and their respectful burial ceremony of their
>loved one?

I am in favor of the First Amendment, which states that people's right to assemble in public wherever they choose and say what they want shall not be abridged.

What about right from wrong. Protesting at a funeral is WRONG. They hold up signs that are wrong and outright lies.

I really doubt our forefathers had this "right to protest at funerals" in mind when it was written.

j

Well, yes, more or less, they did. No, not specifically the right to protest funerals as such, of course; but nevertheless, the First Amendment does not distinguish between truthful and untruthful speech. It is SPEECH that is constitutionally protected from being restrained, not just truthful or inoffensive speech. In the US, thanks to the First Amendment, although you may sue civilly for slander or libel, you cannot criminalize it, nor can you restrain it prior to or at the time it occurs. That effectively gives the US probably the broadest freedom-of-speech laws of all the Western-style democracies, at least in theory. (In practice, too. For example, in the UK you can sue to prevent publication of a slanderous book or article; in the US that could never happen. You have to allow the slander/libel to occur, and only then can you sue for the damages it causes.)
Remember, that a lot of oppressive governments persecute political dissidents on charges of “slandering the state”. Thank God, and thanks to the First Amendment, that ought not to be able to happen in the US.

Popular, polite and approved speech needs little protection. It is the unpopular speech that needs protection. TRUE freedom of speech means that that freedom MUST extend to extremely unpopular, highly offensive, often-time morally repugnant speech, conveyed in an obnoxious fashion – otherwise, the “freedom” is just a slogan, with little real meaning.

OF COURSE those assholes protesting at funerals is morally wrong. But unless it actually interferes with or impedes the funeral – and that means something more than just being disgusting and highly offensive to people driving in and out of the cemetery gate – it is not illegal, and it is constitutionally protected.

[briguy 0]

Quote

School teachers are fired and repremanded all the time for saying the wrong thing, I don't understand why is okay for this thugs to do what ever they want.

this is the biggest apples to oranges comparison i've ever read on the internet.

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[steveorino 7]

totally agree, Mike.

steveOrino

[mikeat10500 9]

I did not think it up myself...I must admit...found it in a fortune cookie.

4. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped,
your strength exhausted and your treasure spent,
other chieftains will spring up to take advantage
of your extremity. Then no man, however wise,
will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.

...boy named Tzu

-----------------------------------
Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1
Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.