Funeral Protests
Thursday, June 1st, 2006Never let it be said that I’m too stubborn or hard-headed to change my mind about anything.
(aside: Yes, I lied when I said I wouldn’t be around LJ much, apparently I can’t sleep until I blog tonight. I really, really ought to be sleeping).
Anyway, remember a few weeks ago when I blogged about these proposed laws to ban protests at funerals? At the time I said, “I don’t think this is a free speech issue, I think it’s a right of association issue and a law which essentially creates a temporary “private” space is a good idea.”
Well, this article convinced me that I hadn’t given enough thought to the topic. Yes, banning protests at funderals does chip away at first amendment rights. The ACLU agrees. I can’t imagine that anyone working for the ACLU is the least bit happy about standing up for the Westboro Baptist Church, either.
My other point from my previous blog still holds, though. It’s fundamentally offensive that as long as the Phelps Clan (gothatesfags.com) were targeting the funerals of AIDS victims, queer leaders or gay-bashing victims their actions were considered in ill taste but not a legislative priority–but once the hatemongers started targetting military funerals it became a priority.
Now I’m going to say something certain to piss some people off… soldiers and members of our armed forces aren’t more deserving of special honor and respect just because of their jobs. They are entitled to the same amount of respect and honor given to anyone who lives a life of service to others… pastors and priests, doctors and nurses, police and firefighters, teachers and mentors, civil rights leaders and journalists, volunteers and philanthropists. The line “they risk their lives to defend you” gets old and unconvincing after a while. Yeah, I get it, troops are good. But (some) troops are also flawed, selfish, ignorant people who wouldn’t give a shit if they saw me bleeding on the sidewalk. When you get right down to it, in some cases, I personally feel more obligation to honor people like Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Harvey Milk, Che Guevara, Hussam Sarsam, among others, than some random 20-year-old kid who I know nothing about beyond the fact he got blowed up.
Anyway, now that I’ve certainly upset/offended some of my friends who have ties to the military, I’m going to bed and can’t promise when I’ll be back.
