I plead the first!

[Cream Soda]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540...20842#36120842
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36449471...me_and_courts/

Dad sues ‘Thank God for Dead Soldiers’ church
Group targeted son’s funeral, saying God punishes U.S. for tolerating gays

YORK, Pa. - Some nights Albert Snyder wakes up at 3 a.m. Other nights he doesn't sleep at all, tormented by thoughts of the hateful signs carried by a fundamentalist church outside his Marine son's funeral.

"Thank God for Dead Soldiers."

"You're Going to Hell."
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"Semper Fi Fags."

Hundreds of grieving families have been targeted by the Westboro Baptist Church, which believes military deaths are the work of a wrathful God who punishes the United States for tolerating homosexuality.

Most mourners try to ignore the taunts. But Snyder couldn't let it go. He became the first to sue the church to halt the demonstrations, and he's pursued the group farther than anyone else.

Wave of support
Now, more than four years after his son died in a Humvee accident in Iraq, Snyder's legal battle is headed to the Supreme Court. And his tireless efforts have drawn support from across the country, including a wave of donations after he was ordered to pay the church's court costs — a $16,500 judgment that the congregation plans to use for more protests.

Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, 20, was not gay. But for the Westboro church, any dead soldier is fair game. Pastor Fred Phelps oversees a congregation of 70 to 80 members — mostly his children and grandchildren. They consider themselves prophets, and they insist the nation is doomed.

As Snyder sees it, Westboro isn't engaging in constitutionally protected speech when it pickets funerals. He argues that Phelps and his followers are disrupting private assemblies and harassing people at their most vulnerable — behavior that's an incitement to violence.

"This is more than free speech. This is like yelling, 'Fire!' in a crowded theater. Somebody's going to get hurt," Snyder said, his voice rising and eyes welling with tears.

Snyder's lawsuit accuses the Topeka, Kan., church of invading his privacy and intentionally inflicting emotional distress. He has the backing of his ex-wife and his two daughters, but Snyder insisted on being the only plaintiff.

Except for the 40 hours per week he works selling industrial equipment, the case takes up nearly all his time. He says it's more stressful than a second full-time job.

Snyder, who lives in York, about 85 miles west of Philadelphia, is soft-spoken and polite. But anger and sadness flare up quickly, with little warning. The litigation has forced him to relive the anguish of his son's death, and his grief is still raw.

"It's still very emotional," Snyder said in an interview at his attorney's office. "It's like I constantly relive this every day, and I just wonder sometimes, when this is all over, what I'm going to do with that void. Will the grieving process begin?"

The fight has taken its toll on Snyder's health. The broad-chested 54-year-old has struggled with clinical depression and diabetes.

Snyder fought back against the church in part because he felt Westboro paid special attention to his son. Several weeks after the funeral, the pastor's daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, wrote in an online diatribe that Snyder and his ex-wife taught their son "to defy his creator."

Tldr;

Guy sues church for bashing his son's funeral. Guy wins. Church appeals. Church wins appeal. Guy has to pay church's legal fees.

[Yuri-G]

Bill O'Reilly is paying the fees, although I think the case being appealed again isn't it?

[Xno Kappa]

This is old news ain't it?
Anyway yeah, as much as I think O'Reilly is garbage he stepped up to pay for the guy's legal fees.

[Rescue]

http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91181 from like a week ago. The case is going to the supreme court now.

[Max™]

"Semper Fi Fags"

So gays are always faithful? Shit, shouldn't that make the church happy?


I need to start a church where it is part of our faith to crack the heads of ignorant motherfuckers with a hammer.

Oh shit, praise Thor!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I2uQkGxIyk...s+Thor+mcs.jpg

[Correction]

shitty tryhard newfag posters on BG are a blight upon our land.

Hey I think I made it better.

[Meian]

I am honestly surprised that so called church hasn't been vandalized in some manner. While I claim to be religious I can not stand the majority of these thick headed people. Always feels like Baptists being the most extreme... least the one about an hour away from my home had an interesting reenactment of Revelations done through various parts of the forest every October for Halloween, as extreme it may have been.

[Diamicles]

I need to start a church where it is part of our faith to crack the heads of ignorant motherfuckers with a hammer.

where do I sign up?

[Max™]

Got a hammer?

[Ivve]

These people are truly fucking awful. I believe in free speech, but I also believe that people should be protected under the law from having private gatherings and ceremonies invaded in this manner. You should be able to bury your loved ones without disturbance. This is one of those cases where their rights are encroaching on someone else's life, and that's just not acceptable.

[Guyverarmor]

Got a hammer?

I would join it in a heartbeat.

Thor for the fuckin win yo

[Max™]

This is one of those cases where their rights are encroaching on someone else's life, and that's just not acceptable.

I... agree with Ivve wholeheartedly...

I think I need a beer.

[Cephius]

I'm sure the supreme court will overrule the decision. Free speech shouldn't apply because the guy was attending a closed ceremony and couldn't simply turn and leave if he didn't agree with what they were saying. It was harassment at best and emotionally damaging at worse.

Beaten by Ivve etc

[Ivve]

I... agree with Ivve wholeheartedly...

I think I need a beer.

I'm sorry, have I ever spoken to you before? Oh, you're the person who doesn't value funerals, right? Think it's a big weird joke because you have Asperger's or some shit and can't connect to other human beings in the way that would be necessary to understand why this is a big deal to some people? I'm not sure why this bothers you in that case. Nothing special about a funeral.

[Qalbert]

I think you're reading too much into it. I think he just found it surprising that he agreed with you about it.

[Rescue]

These retards also showed up last week to picket at the mine blast where 25 died.

[Ivve]

I think you're reading too much into it. I think he just found it surprising that he agreed with you about it.

Why would that be surprising, again?

These retards also showed up last week to picket at the mine blast where 25 died.

These people are absolutely the scum of the earth. I don't have any idea what makes them think that attacking people at a time when they're incredibly vulnerable is going to win hearts and minds to their cause. Their whole schtick seems counterproductive to their actual goal: spreading their message. I know it gets press, but I think that's probably setting more people against them than it is bringing in new people.

[Cream Soda]

It was funny because my uncle drove by a protesting of this sort at a military kid's funeral and he was in his work truck with a trainee. So he rolled down the window and drove by real slow, looks over at the protesters and yells
"I SUCCCK DICK AND THIS IS MY LOVER" The guy he was training just about shit his pants, lmfao

[Qalbert]

Why would that be surprising, again?

I am assuming his surprise is that he typically disagrees with you, I don't know for sure, obviously. I know if someone, whose opinions I typically disagreed with, posted something that I agreed with I would be a bit surprised.

[Guyverarmor]

That's pretty epic Cream Soda, not gonna lie.

Sounds like your uncle is straight bossin'