1st Amendment? Never heard of it. by Intergalactic Church of the Almighty Rod on The Pipeline at IndieMusicPeople

1st Amendment? Never heard of it.
A double shot of outrage today, you better sit down for this one.

from the AP via CBS' website.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/25/politics/main1654522.shtml
Demonstrators would be barred from disrupting military funerals at national cemeteries under legislation approved by Congress and sent to the White House Wednesday

The measure, passed by voice vote in the House hours after the Senate passed an amended version, specifically targets a Kansas church group that has staged protests at military funerals around the country, claiming that the deaths were a sign of God's anger at U.S. tolerance of homosexuals.

Now I will agree in theory that these Kansas churchgoers are doing some fucked up shit. It's highly disrespectful to the dead to blame their death on "God's anger at U.S. tolerance of homosexuals." That by itself is worth an entry..

"About time the government stiffarmed the religious right." reads the title of a post on another forum that I frequent. Inside this thread the posters were applauding the government for passing such legislation. What the in the nine Hells?!

Here is what is really going on folks and you aren't gonna like it. The Federal government has just passed a law limiting free speech. It doesn't matter what the fuck this lunatic is saying or where he is saying it. Yes this guy is certainly guilty of poor taste in choosing locations and messages to present, but he still has the right to do so as long as it remains peaceful. Our glorious leaders have openly defiled the law of the land yet again, this legislation is clearly unconstitutional.

You see the danger here? As long as this law stands there is a precident in which to judge further laws that will continue to trample the 1st Amendment into the ground. Yet since these laws target an unpopular group, it has support. Where are the petitions? Or is it ok to opress because the target of our oppression is a group we don't happen to agree with? Total bullshit I say!

Like I said before, this Rev Phelps is a nutter for sure. Now because of his poor judgement the elites have been able to sieze more power, this time with the approval of the left. Wake up people this cannot stand.

Here we are on the cusp of memorial day, when we are supposed to honor those that sacrificed their lives for the ideal of freedom, yet the very government these guys helped to "protect" are waving flags with one handed and punching us all in the nuts with the other. Fucking bastards the lot of them.

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Fade to Black

5/25/2006 5:05:43 PM

I totally understand your point Rev and I do agree. But someone out there needs to cap Phelps ASAP. He is the walking personna of lunatic fringe spewing sewage wherever he goes!

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Intergalactic Church of the Almighty Rod

5/25/2006 5:25:29 PM

Well I can't exactly advocate the snuffing out of a life based on beliefs(no matter how stupid they are). That'd make me as evil as the assholes in Darfur rather than just a run of the mill devil.

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chrysesofia

5/25/2006 7:54:18 PM

hey Rev--wish i had more time to get in on your threads. they all rock. this one merits a quick word: if you (anyone) are concerned about the constitutional protection of free speech, do a little research and check out in detail what goes on at your local public library--under the nose and not necessarily with the approval of the ALA, foremost defender of constitional free speech and freedom of information. i'm not saying this as a disgruntled library patron or parent ... i'm putting it out there as a grad student in library science and library employee of several years. chances are that your public library is able to monitor, through the network, any activities you undertake while online at public computers there, and many librarians, with admirable intentions but professionaly confused about whether their responsibility is to protect freedom of information and your constitutional rights or to act in loco parentis (i.e., look out for everyone else's kids, something the ALA does NOT support), use this capability to take it upon themselves to discourage patrons from viewing constitutionally protected free speech online. libraries also (controversially) may or may not use screening software at public computers to prevent your being able to accidentally view something that might be offensive to someone else. ~ these issues are complicated and difficult to take a stand on. i happen to side with freedom of information. libraries aren't child care centers. they're like pharmacies: some of the stuff is good for what ails you and some of it isn't. if you don't know what's in it, don't send a child in alone. but to reconnect with your point: free speech has two sides, like a piece of paper: the right to make the speech, and the right to hear the speech. any instance in which the government legislates against either side of that piece of paper is patently unconstitutional. democracy EQUALS and REQUIRES personal responsibility. i suggest we all (1) grow a skin, (2) learn to deal with each other a little more compassionately and golden-rulerly, and (3) resist governmental attempts (sponsored most infamously by the "right," which title i'm sure they embrace wholeheartedly) to tell us all what's good for us in either respect (e.g., we'd better not be giving or receiving any extraneous speech or information during a funeral!).

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Lyricallana

5/25/2006 11:17:53 PM

In the 60's people were not afraid to go out and sit in the middle of the road or put on massive protests or massive protest concerts.. Today, people are too busy to care, and too scared to stand up ... I mean if a little girl from Texas can say she is ashamed that the President is from her state and that warrants death threats from our Government, what would happen if a bunch of nobodies stood up and said something .. no threats? Just a mass mass murder covered up to look like a mass suicide ?? heh

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5/27/2006 4:31:52 PM

woops!!!
Yes
Huh - long story!

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