congress bans funeral protest

If it were a funeral I was running, I'd get a fleet of poofters to fag off to really loud george michael music right infront of them.

I don't see why someone just doesn't sue them for slander.

I'll wait till one of their deaths. Grab everyone they've upset, and protest with signs saying like "God says LOL OWNED" or "Musta been a fag".

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Originally Posted by Calliander

Limiting free speech benefits no one. If you can't handle what other people are saying, perhaps you're too coddled.

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The thing is, these are goddamn funerals. I know if I had a son who was killed and people showed up at the funeral stirring shit up while I'm trying to pay respects, a protestor would end up with a tree limb through his skull.

I'm all for free speech. And yes, the current government scares the hell out of me with the shit they pull. But you have to be human. You have to protect people mourning at a funeral. I think parents and loved ones have the right to say goodbye in peace.

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Originally Posted by Cheebs

I think parents and loved ones have the right to say goodbye in peace.

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They certainly deserve as much but its not a "right" as the one we are talking about here. I know you certainly didn't mean it as such but lots of people push their agenda by saying this or that is a "right".

Now, the protesters have a right explicitly defined in the Constitution and the government has no business infrining on that.

It kind of sucks from a humanist POV but these sort of things must be allowed in a free nation. You can't say, "well on one side we have these poor people that lost their kids and on the other side we have evil hate-filled slime, so we'll take away the rights of the slime".

I dunno. It was said above that you can't yell "fire" in a movie theater because bodily harm can occur from the ensuing panic.

Seems to me bodily harm can just as easily occur protesting a funeral. Funerals are emotionally charged already. People are broken up to begin with. I'd say it's hardly "non violent" to throw a metaphorical match into that powder keg.

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Originally Posted by Cheebs

I dunno. It was said above that you can't yell "fire" in a movie theater because bodily harm can occur from the ensuing panic.

Seems to me bodily harm can just as easily occur protesting a funeral. Funerals are emotionally charged already. People are broken up to begin with. I'd say it's hardly "non violent" to throw a metaphorical match into that powder keg.

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Any protest has elements of a powder keg. Like when thousands protested the RNC in 2004. It is ridiculous to use that reality to crack down on the right to protest. It just cannot happen.

"hippies protest Bush" - well the lobbyists on K Street feel threatened, shut it down! Etc.

Its not even a matter of "slippery slope", its a matter of making sure rights are protected. Like I said the godhatesfags people have a right to protest. That cannot be infringed. Even if what they say is hateful.

And its not even the same thing - yelling "fire" is LYING. Similar to slander, LYING. Not the same.

Damn it, I guess you're right. OK, the law is crap when you look at it.

Still, those funeral protestors are just....evil-wrong.

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Originally Posted by IronPlant

I've always hated this line of thinking. It is the big reason I consider myself a conservative if anything. I HATE the idea of using the government as a tool to get your way.

I don't really think that is what the government is for.

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Um. A mostly-conservative congress passed this law.

Anyone that thinks that lessening government prescence is a tenet of conservative/Republican values has obviously had their fingers in their ears for the entirety of this administration.

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Originally Posted by Bacon

Um. A mostly-conservative congress passed this law.

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As Ive said before, its important to distinguish real conservatives from the Bush Cult asswipes current in DC.