A quarter million people petition for the Westboro Baptist Church to be reclassified as a hate group

[Strazdas]

I believe in giving people a fair shake, so I listened to One, ONE speech of theirs, beyond that I have never given them an audience, and to be fair if they decided to come preach at me they would have a matter of seconds to get off my property.

And if liberals went to peoples funerals and yelled hate at the family I would agree with locking those people in their homes too.

I would also be happy with killin them, but we sadly cant do that, labeling them as a hate group is the best we can do for now.

so, your worse than the people you try to get banned. go sit in the corner.

Actually I am not. I dont go to WBC funerals and laugh and yell hate at them, they PRAY that gays, soldiers, ect will die. So if you are so foolish as to believe one person quietly wishing they would die is worse than people who celebrate when people die and yell at their funerals.... then you are truly a sad, sad person.

They think that god wants them to die, however they are agasint violence on thier part. you on the other hand have stated that you want to kill them, which makes your stance worse in relation to current society.
I personally want great many people to be dead, but at least i admit im a terrible person.
and yes im a sad, sad person, what of it? your going to put me into the "Sad group" as well?

 

[Compatriot Block]

I think they should be reclassified as an abusive home, because those poor kids are being brainwashed in the most literal sense of the word.

I know that some users on this website have a hard-on for playing devil's advocate, but just this once I'd like to see people agree that regular tax-paying citizens shouldn't have to fund their vitriol.

I know it's a cliche argument, but I think anyone who's loved one's funeral was protested would see the matter differently.

 

[Scorpid]

Looking at the Wikipedia entries for both "Hate Group" and "Hate Crime" (which are admittedly not the most reliable sources), there's nothing that Westboro Baptist Church has done to fit the criteria of hate group and I can't recall any actions they have done which would qualify as hate crimes.

Granted, I would love to see the WBC officially acknowledged as a group of terrible individuals (bumper stickers would do the trick), but the WBC has only voiced their opinion in a non-violent matter and has not advocated harming individuals. From what I'm reading, they can't be classified as a hate group, no matter how unlikeable they are.

This. Were they here in the UK they could probably be taken down on charges of inciting hatred as has been done (I think exclusively) with prominent jihadists. Your constitution wouldn't allow such laws though. The price of free speech is that despicable people get to air their views the same as people with something constructive to say. /platitudes

I propose a different petition where everyone agrees never to read, watch, or comment on anything the WBC does. Of course, just by posting this I've broken that

I agree completely with this dude. WBC isn't a religion or christians their just trolls and it's all they do. By the media paying attention to them, it incites them to do more of it... but then again Sandy Hook has shown that the media could give two shits about what is moral and immoral as long as people sit down to watch. I disagree with them being classified as a hate group because they've only used speech. We shouldn't say "Oh you're a hate group because I disagree with you." It gives the US government more precedents to curtail freedom of speech when they feel like it.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

OT: Good. They're a group centered around hate, which is very public about said hate, and very vocal about said hate. Ie. Hate group.

To the folks arguing against this on the grounds that it somehow supplants free speech...

What is your opinion on the KKK? Should they be classified as a hate group? Why or why not?

 

[Strazdas]

Oh I will freely admit that I am a terrible person, I just say that the WBC assholes are worse than me. And current society is over rated. And no, I shall not put you in a group, I shall tell you tyo go sit in the corner like you told me to do, until you cheer up

touche, well played.

So let me get this strait here, just incase i'm missing something.

People petitioning that the gov. removes WBC's tax exemption for being a hate group is censorship? If you believe that is the case, then I don't think you actually know what censorship is.

being labeled a "hate gruop" is a but more than "removing tax exempt".

 

[Zen Toombs]

I propose a different petition where everyone agrees never to read, watch, or comment on anything the [[REDACTED]] does. Of course, just by posting this I've broken that

Sure, I can get behind that. I'm not exactly sure who we're ignoring, but I believe we can succeed in ignoring them to death!

Well, I'm glad for you that you're the sort of person who can ignore any comment that other say to you.
But others are not like that. Humans are a social species and, as such, many people can be significantly effected by words. There's little they can do about it, it's a matter of the way their brains are built, and those laws are made to protect them.

That's.... quite the argument for censorship. "Daddy knows best, I think bad things would come of you hearing this so I won't let you get close to it".

Don't get me wrong, I'm for Harassment Laws. There is a difference between saying what you believe/protesting for what you believe and aggressively forcing your beliefs upon others. In the first case, the listeners have the opportunity to walk away, even if their feelings are hurt. In the second, listeners don't have the opportunity to walk away.

 

[Maze1125]

For the most part, yes. But that doesn't mean that near-by circumstances shouldn't also be considered.
Banning protests near funerals does not ban the act of protesting on the streets.

it does. baning protests on streets near funerals is baning protesting on streets. not all of them, but still.

Children aren't allowed in schools in the evening unless there is some kind of event.
Does that make the statement "Children are banned from schools!" true? No, it does not.
Equally, banning protests at specific times and for specific reasons, does not ban protesting.

Don't get me wrong, I'm for Harassment Laws. There is a difference between saying what you believe/protesting for what you believe and aggressively forcing your beliefs upon others. In the first case, the listeners have the opportunity to walk away, even if their feelings are hurt. In the second, listeners don't have the opportunity to walk away.

Yeah, I can see now, you're totally right.
All the people who get upset by those protests should just walk away, ya know, from their loved-one's funeral...
That makes sense. It's clearly their own fault if they get upset...

 

[Jfluffy]

I definitely think they should be labeled as a hate group. Aside from WBC's actions; I can't help but think that if something isn't done in the legal world to knock WBC down even in the slightest, WBC could piss off the wrong person(s) and said person(s) would exorcise their Second Amendment rights on WBC's First Amendment rights. But that's just speculation on my part.

 

[Zen Toombs]

[snip] banning protests at specific times and for specific reasons, does not ban protesting.

Don't get me wrong, I'm for Harassment Laws. There is a difference between saying what you believe/protesting for what you believe and aggressively forcing your beliefs upon others. In the first case, the listeners have the opportunity to walk away, even if their feelings are hurt. In the second, listeners don't have the opportunity to walk away.

Yeah, I can see now, you're totally right.
All the people who get upset by those protests should just walk away, ya know, from their loved-one's funeral...
That makes sense. It's clearly their own fault if they get upset...

Your sarcasm is duly noted. However, as you said, banning protests at specific times and at specific places does not ban protesting. We already have laws in many states that prevent any form of protesting within a certain distance or within a certain time of a funeral. People don't have to "walk away" from a loved-one's funeral, because any protests are a distance away. The man who sued the WBC because they protested his son's funeral never saw the protests in person, he only found out about the protests from news articles.

It is not their own fault they got upset, but it is their fault if they look for things that make them upset. If our laws do not protect funerals enough, then strengthen those laws. But you cannot ban someone for the content of their speech without an extremely strong reason, and the speech upsetting someone is not a strong enough reason. For almost anything that is said, there is someone in the world who finds it deeply offensive to their core.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

america takes its free speech very seriously

in this case, I would be more interested in asking what the legal consequences of classification as a hate group are than in asking whether the WBC is a hate group (because it definitely is)

on the WBC: wait for the patriarch to die. he is old and weak. it will not be long. the organisation will collapse without him. it is his hate and energy that sustains it, and nothing else.

fred phelps is the closest america has ever gotten to a sith lord

 

[chozo_hybrid]

They have right to free speech, but that means they also need to face the consequences of said free speech.

They had a bunch of people with protest signs with some of the most disgusting things to say about a man who had passed away outside a funeral. A friend of mine knew who died, insulting his memory and those attending, just because he was gay. This was in New Zealand, so we have them here too. I didn't know the man, he never hurt anyone and was loved by a lot of people from what I understand.

But if that isn't something a hate group does, I don't know what is.

 

[mattttherman3]

Not really any difference between these guys and The KKK or Neo Nazis so I hope it does happen.

 

[redmoretrout]

If you have to resort to it then you're practically admitting "Yeah, you're right, we should shut these people up, but I'm scared of what might happen after if you do." It's basically admitting that you have no real reason to claim these people should be allowed to say what they want.

Except that precedence has a very real and powerful impact in all court proceedings. It is not simple scare mongering to concern oneself about the future consequences of actions in the present. On the contrary it is both prudent and practical to worry about the road ahead. Which is why the slippery slope argument should not be so easily dismissed.

 

[jimbob123432]

I'd like to participate, but my web suit isn't equipped to handle this intense of a flame war...

 

[triggrhappy94]

Can we do what we did to the KKK and make it legal to fight them with State Troopers.
It's not like they can organize a second NRA.

 

[JohnReaper]

here's an idea. how bout the next time one of these fucktards dies y'all get together and picket their funeral. maybe make some signs that says "god hates churches who hates fags" or "there is no god" or whatever you think would piss them off the most cause i would actually love to see what happens lol

THIS THIS THIS THIS

Captcha is Good night..... LOL

 

[JohnReaper]

Oh, look, i got people that agree with me for once. how sweet.

Banning them isn't about hate. It's about the fact that they cause harm to others, non-physical harm, but harm nevertheless.

Quite frankly, it is absurd that America has let this continue for so long, any other country would have had those cult leaders locked up years ago. They've gone beyond free-speech into pure harassment a long time ago.

then what is it about? you dont like them - ban. isnt that hate? you posting this post can cause psychological harm to me if i let it, you disagree with me my world is shattered, ima go buy a gun and go on a rampage (too soon?). what they are doing is far from what you could measure as psychological harm. and when you cant measure it you cant prove it.
quite frankly, it is absurd that america has allowed freedom to overtake order, i agree, but thats what it stand for for better or worse and going back on it now just to punish few people is not going to look good.

[

You good sir....I was at a funeral for a suicide. My Cousin who I was very close to, And someone tried to come to the funeral and declare he was in hell. I felt my heart almost snap. right before I told him to backthe fuck off and get out.

Same concept applies. At a funeral your already raw to the world. and when someone comes along to make a POINT of YOUR family Members Death. I doubt you will stand by and go, "he has a right to say that." Would you.

I would give you a more verbal tounglashing but I would get banned.