The sick and pathetic cretins from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas are still at it. They have been going to the funerals of American soldiers and protesting. They say that the soldiers are dying because God is angry that America tolerates homosexuals.
But they will not be protesting at the funeral of Cpl. Nathan Goodiron, of the North Dakota National Guard.
Cpl. Goodiron is a Native American from the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. On the reservation, he was known as Young Eagle. He was killed in Iraq on Thanksgiving Day by a grenade thrown at the vehicle he was riding in.
On friday, tribal leaders from the Three Affiliated Tribes passed a resolution barring the church members from protesting on reservation land. Tribal police have been instructed to not allow the protesters onto the reservation.
Tribal chairman Marcus Wells Jr. said, "We will not tolerate any harassment that is intended to provoke ill feelings and violence. We recognize and respect the right to free speech and the public's right to assemble, but we want everyone to know that the Three Affiliated Tribes, as a sovereign tribal government, has the right to regulate any person or persons who harass or show disrespectful conduct toward our members, within our boundaries."
I have always been a supporter of free speech -- even hate speech as conducted by this venemous church. But their behavior at the funeral of our American soldiers is over the line. Free speech has never been absolute. You can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater, and you shouldn't be allowed to protest at the funerals of our brave American soldiers.
I have been against the war in Iraq since before Bush ordered the invasion, but I would never dream of protesting at a soldier's funeral. There is such a thing as common decency. These "christians" should know that.
I have to wonder if they are really Baptists. Is the Westboro Baptist Church a member of any Baptist Convention? If not, I would think a lawsuit would be in order to prevent them from calling themselves Baptists. After all, they are damaging and smearing the reputations of decent Baptists everywhere.
I know that given how the first amendment has been interpreted throughout history, it's impossible for us to stop people from protesting at these funerals. But yes, it is indecent and un-Christian to do so, and I'm quite pleased that this tribe would responsibly use their powers as a sovereign entity to prevent it, even where our own government cannot. You will not find people who are more willing to serve in their country, and give more respect to people who have served (their own and others) and it does not surprise me at all that they'd be unwilling to tolerate "protests" from these intolerant idiots.
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