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Crowds have gathered outside the US Supreme Court as the justices considered whether the right to free speech protects an anti-gay religious group that pickets military funerals displaying signs that read: Thank God for dead soldiers.
The Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church has disrupted the funerals of US soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for years, claiming the wars are divine punishment because the United States tolerates gays, including in the military.
The group has about 75 members and is led by patriarch Fred Phelps, who has 13 children and 54 grandchildren, many of whom are church members.
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On Wednesday members of the Phelps clan were outside the Supreme Court waving some of the signs that made them so infamous.
Jacob Phelps, 27, and his nine-year-old cousin Daniel both brandished controversial signs. Fags Doom Nations, read one sign. Thank God for Dead Soldiers, read another.
"It's an awesome day when we are going to uphold our First Amendment rights," Phelps said.
Betty Phelps, 57, dismissed military funerals as "political pep rallies."
"It's time the nation focused on that and that's why we are there, to interject some truth and counter the beliefs of the people who go to these funerals," she said.
Media Source : Anonym zu news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/us-weighs-rights-for-antigay-church-20101007-1685r.html
The Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church has disrupted the funerals of US soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for years, claiming the wars are divine punishment because the United States tolerates gays, including in the military.
The group has about 75 members and is led by patriarch Fred Phelps, who has 13 children and 54 grandchildren, many of whom are church members.
Advertisement: Story continues below
On Wednesday members of the Phelps clan were outside the Supreme Court waving some of the signs that made them so infamous.
Jacob Phelps, 27, and his nine-year-old cousin Daniel both brandished controversial signs. Fags Doom Nations, read one sign. Thank God for Dead Soldiers, read another.
"It's an awesome day when we are going to uphold our First Amendment rights," Phelps said.
Betty Phelps, 57, dismissed military funerals as "political pep rallies."
"It's time the nation focused on that and that's why we are there, to interject some truth and counter the beliefs of the people who go to these funerals," she said.
Media Source : Anonym zu news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/us-weighs-rights-for-antigay-church-20101007-1685r.html
