Church says military funeral protests will continue despite new restrictions
A Kansas church notorious for its angry, anti-gay
protests at military funerals will continue the controversial practice despite
new restrictions in a bill passed by Congress that awaits President Barack
Obama's signature.
"That's really not going to change our plans at
all," Westboro Baptist Church spokesman Steve Drain told CNN on Friday.
"We're going to continue to do that. We're also going to continue to obey
all laws."
Under provisions of a comprehensive veterans affairs bill
that won final congressional approval Tuesday, protesters must be at least 300
feet from military funerals from two hours before they start until two hours
after they end.
Violators could face unspecified fines and up to two
years in prison.
"Protests that encroach upon the funerals and
burials of our fallen soldiers are repugnant and inappropriate -- and they
undermine the respect military families and loved ones undeniably
deserve," said a statement by retiring Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, who
sponsored the provisions.
Snowe, who has complained about the partisan divide in
Washington, expressed gratitude to Congress for passing the bill "to
protect the solemn moments of military funerals from outside disruption."
The Westboro church, led by pastor Fred Phelps, believes
God is punishing the United States for "the sin of homosexuality"
through events including soldiers' deaths.
Members have traveled the country to protest at military
funerals and other events, evoking outrage by shouting at grieving families and
displaying such signs as "Thank God for dead soldiers," "God
blew up the troops" and "AIDS cures fags."
"The Lord has just granted us another round of
preaching opportunity here," Drain said, accusing Congress of enabling
homosexuality with its attempt to "keep Bible preaching away from
funerals."
Funerals are one of the few events where "people
will take a really serious look at really moral matters of heaven and
hell," Drain said. The purpose of the church's protests was to influence
the people attending the funerals, he added.
"If you flip off God, if you disobey the standards
of God, you will incur God's wrath," he said. "What we're trying to
do is get people to wake up and smell the coffee."
The new restrictions expand on provisions in a federal
law passed in 2006 that banned protests within 300 feet of national cemeteries
from an hour before a funeral to an hour after it, with violators facing fines
and up to a year in prison.
Last year, the Topeka, Kansas, church won an appeal at
the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that tested the competing constitutional
rights of free speech and privacy.
The case involved a protest by Westboro members outside
the 2006 funeral for Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder in Westminster, Maryland, near
Baltimore.
Snyder's family sued the church in 2007, alleging
invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil
conspiracy. A jury awarded the family $2.9 million in compensatory damages plus
$8 million in punitive damages, which were later reduced to $5 million.
The church appealed the case in 2008 to a federal appeals
court, which reversed the judgments a year later, siding with the church's
allegations that its First Amendment rights were violated. The case then went
to the Supreme Court, which issued a narrow ruling based on the facts of the
specific appeal.
By an 8-1 vote, the high court said members of Westboro
Baptist Church had a right to promote what they call a broad-based message on
public matters such as wars.
A majority of states across the nation have responded to
the protests with varying levels of control over the Westboro church
protesters. In addition, counter-protesters including bikers and even people
dressed as zombies have turned out at some Westboro church demonstrations.
Drain said a legal challenge to the new restrictions was
possible.
"We're keeping our options open," he said.
"Any law that unnecessarily restricts our freedom of religious expression
is always going to be open to challenge."
He added: "That's all we care about here. We've got
to preach."
Church members say they believe U.S. soldiers deserve to
die because they fight for a country that tolerates homosexuality.
The congregation is made up mostly of Phelps and his
family. The pastor has 13 children, at least 54 grandchildren and seven
great-grandchildren.
He described himself as an "old-time" gospel
preacher in a CNN interview in 2006, saying, "You can't preach the Bible
without preaching the hatred of God."
Drain said the freedom of expression fight waged by the
church benefited all of society, including the news media.
"It's in everybody's best interest, including yours,
that those sidewalks remain a platform, a forum for open and robust
debate," he said.
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