Congress Passes Bill to Restrict Westboro Baptist Military Funeral Protests

Members of Westboro Baptist protest
a soldier's funeral in 2006.

Congress has passed "The Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012," and the bill now awaits the President's signature.

The legislation addresses a host of veterans' issues, including the proposal of significant restrictions on demonstrations at the funerals of military personnel.

Under the new bill, protests may not be staged within two hours prior to or after a funeral, and protestors must maintain a distance of 300 feet from the memorial service.

This legislation is bad news for the psychotic media whores at the Westboro Baptist Church, who regularly stage protests at high-profile funerals, military or otherwise, to spread vitriolic and hateful messages about gays and lesbians, and anyone whom they perceive to be in support of the LGBT community.

Interestingly, not unlike those who have leapt to the defense of Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy, Westboro Baptist Church members claim their "freedom of speech" rights are being violated when limitations are placed on their ability to protest at funerals holding offensive placards and yelling cruel remarks. (To be clear though, unlike with Westboro, no one is attempting to legally restrict Chick-Fil-A's right to express its opinions.)

The U.S. Supreme Court actually sided with Westboro in a 2011 case, upholding their right to stage funeral protests, so it will be interesting to see if the new legislation passes judicial muster.

You can learn more than you wanted to know about the lunacy and malevolence of Westboro Baptist Church at their website godhatesfags.com.

The Powerful Funeral of a Syrian Graffiti Artist

Nour Hatem Zahra - Syrian Activist
Art Work: Courtesy of his friends

When the Arab Awakening began picking up steam last spring, the people of Syria hoped to rid themselves of brutal dictator Bashar Assad in a fairly timely fashion, just as their Arab brethren in Egypt and Tunisia had ousted their corrupt leaders. 

Instead of fleeing in exile or peacefully transitioning power though, Assad and his supporters dug in. They began to arrest, torture, and murder those who opposed them. And when the opposition began to organize mass demonstrations, with protestors in numbers too great for arrest and detention, security forces began to open fire on them.

Nour Hatem Zahra was one of the thousands of Syrian anti-government activists. Known as "the spray man," the 23 year-old Zahra used spray paint and graffiti to spread the message of revolution and opposition. In 2011, he was apprehended by the government, and his anti-Bashar graffiti landed him in jail for two months. Upon his release, Zahra proved to be undeterred, and the defiant artist quickly returned to his work on the walls of Damascus.

Zahra was shot and killed by Syrian security forces last week, an action that has subsequently elevated the popular activist to the status of martyr. The video clip below contains powerful images from Zahra's funeral celebration: anti-government protestors pouring into the streets by the thousands, carrying signs, dancing, chanting in unison, and looking bold, committed, and unafraid.

As I watched the striking images, I came to the realization that this is what revolution looks like.

No Westboro Picket for Jobs Funeral

Apple Co-Founder and Former CEO

The funeral for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was held last Friday, and it was a small private affair.

With the specific time and location of the funeral undisclosed, Westboro Baptist Church members, who had announced plans for another disgraceful "anti-gay" funeral protest, were left all dressed up with no place to go. Tough break for Fred, Margie, and Shirley Phelps, and their dysfunctional band of sadly brainwashed children.

On a personal note, since the only real "win" Westboro Baptist Church can ever have is public acknowledgement of their pathetic hatemongering, I continually struggle with the decision to post anything about them at all. At the same time, ignoring them completely and doing nothing is really hard for me. So, with my apologies, here you go - one more Westboro post. At least this time it was good news.

God Hates iPads? Westboro to Picket Funeral

Shirley (left) and Margie (right) - Faces of Insanity

According to the insane cult wackos of the Phelps family and their Westboro Baptist Church, deceased technology pioneer Steve Jobs has gone to hell. To bring attention to Jobs' evil (and themselves), the church has announced plans to picket Jobs' funeral.

You can be certain they will raise high their patented "God Hates Fags" placards, and I'm sure they are busily wasting their limited brain power, even as I write this, thinking of horrible and kitschy Apple-specific slogans to brandish.

Margie Phelps' iPhone Tweet

Margie Phelps, who serves with her sister Shirley as an operational leader of the group, has tweeted several times - via her iPhone - that Steve Jobs "served self, not God" and "spent his days teaching sin." The Twitter community quickly noted the irony of the iPhone-generated tweets and pointed this out to Phelps who replied - "Rebels mad cuz I used iPhone to tell you Steve Jobs is in hell. God created iPhone for that purpose!"

I always thought the iPhone was heaven-sent, and thanks to Phelps' acknowledgement that God actually created the iPhone, we now have the definitive confirmation.

I don't know how to feel about the folks at Westboro, and I am not sure how one combats such unteachable stupidity, and dare I say, evil. I've ruled out the idea of driving my car on to the sidewalk during their picket and martyring the whole lot of them because I'm not prone to violence (however appropriate it may feel in my gut in this instance).

I am open to any other creative counter-protest ideas that are out there though (like the drive-by concert so perfectly executed by the Foo Fighters).

If Jobs' funeral is near Palo Alto where he lived (and about 15 minutes from where I live), I may well attend just for the opportunity to face down evil, as we celebrate the life of someone who brought so much good to the world.