A host of scholars and First Amendment groups have filed briefs in support of the Westboro Baptist Church, not because they agree that God hates gays, as the church likes to claim, but because the love free speech.
I doubt this will sway many people, who just can't seem to look past the facts of the case to the principle involved.
Please, forget for a moment the facts of the case - the detestable rhetoric of Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist church, whose handful of members protest at military funerals, claiming solders' deaths are God's punishment for our society's tolerance of homosexuals. Forget the natural sympathy for Snyder, whose son, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, died serving his country killed in Iraq.
And consider, just for a moment, the principles at stake.
No matter how hard you try to be fair, it's hard to forget the hateful speech spread by Phelps and the family members that constitute most of his pathetic congregation. But remember, your own First Amendment rights are only as extensive as those you are willing to extend to speech you find despicable. Speech that doesn't offend us doesn't need the First Amendment, so if free speech means anything, it means learning to tolerate despised free speech from those we despise.
Of course, Albert Snyder has rights, too. Many would say he has a right to bury his son in peace and privacy. That's why there are both state and federal laws keeping protesters a certain distance from funerals, just as there are laws keeping abortion protesters a certain distance from the entrance to clinics.
By all accounts, Albert Snyder never even saw the protesters until after the funeral when he saw them on television. So this isn't a case of conflicting rights. It's a matter of an understandably upset father trying to silence those who would politicize the death of his son.
Matthew Snyder deserves our honor; his father deserves our respect. But the country Matthew gave his life for stands for the genuine freedom to speak, to assemble and protest. It gives us all the right to practice our religion, even Fred Phelps.
It would be sad, indeed, if his father's lawsuit is allowed to undo that sacrifice.
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