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The WORD of the Week

Matthew 3:7-10

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Stupid Fact of the Week
There was only one civilian casualty during the three-day Battle of Gettysburg
02 November, 2007
WWJA10.9MDT?
(Whom Would Jesus Award 10.9 Million Dollars To?)

Skipping for a minute the fact that Jesus probably wouldn't end a phrase with a preposition ("TWW... " just doesn't work as well), I'm sure you've all heard (and quite possibly rejoiced) that the Westboro Baptist Church (famous for it's leader Rev. Fred Phelps and his controversial "God Hates Fags" campaign as well as others) has been ordered by a jury to pay $10.9 million in damages to the family of deceased soldier Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder.

Let's also set aside the concept of Jesus suing or awarding damages to anyone, as well as a Christian, or Jesus-like, response to the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church. Basically, ignore the title. I needed something clever and couldn't come up with anything else.

Finally, before I proceed, let me acknowledge what hopefully all of you already know: I do not agree with the message of the Westboro Baptist Church and find their actions, to the extent of my knowledge, in this instance and many times in others, morally reprehensible.

All of that being said, I'm about to defend the Westboro Baptist Church. Here we go.

What is the price of freedom? It's easy (difficult as it may be) to put a figure to it when citizens of the united states are engaged in combat for the sake of American freedom. But apart from the horrible method of counting coffins (new and old), what price are we willing to pay on a daily basis.

Doyle just recently posted on gun control. The price we pay for the right to bear arms is that sometimes someone (otherwise law abiding or no) will abuse that right (whether by accident or direct malice) and another individual or individuals will be injured or killed. But you cannot deny the rights of the many due to the misuse of the few, especially when doing so (as with the right to bear arms) would put the many (law abiding) at a greater disadvantage to the few (those who would take advantage).

Now, in the case above, where the abuse of the right results in a criminal act (if performed intentionally), criminal and/or civil charges may be filed and a judgement may be handed down. Shouldn't the same, then, also apply to the right so speak freely?

The answer is, of course, "Yes." Just as your right to bear arms does not protect you from criminal actions such as murder, manslaughter, and assault with weapon, your right to free speech does not protect the speech you use to conspire to commit criminal acts such as treason, assassination, or grand theft. But does this apply to the Westboro Baptist Church?

I believe the answer here is, "Absolutely not."

During the trial..
"The [Westobro Baptist] church members testified they are following their
religious beliefs by spreading the message that the deaths of soldiers are due
to the nation's tolerance of homosexuality." [source]

This belief is controversial to say the least. It is not held by myself, anybody reading this, or most (if not all) of the mainstream political analysts and religious leaders. But it is their belief. And it is not criminal. So it is protected.

My heart goes out to the surviving family of this fallen marine. The price they paid in the name of their country was a steep one. But the (nearly) $11M price they have demanded from the Westboro Baptist Church for protesting at a public event, an amount that "far exceeds the net worth of the [church]," [source] is not only excessive, but completely unwarranted.

In closing, I'd like to honor the young marine by posting the article, "MD. Marine dies in Iraq Humvee accident," taken from Honor the Fallen's website...
WESTMINSTER, Md. — A Marine from Maryland was killed last week in Iraq in
an accident while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Defense Department
said Monday.

Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, of Westminster, died March 3 after an
accident in the Anbar province of Iraq. The accident did not involve combat, the
Defense Department said. Snyder, 20, was assigned to Combat Service Support
Group-1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, in Twentynine
Palms, Calif.

Family members are still reeling from the news of his death. Julie Snyder,
Matthew’s mother, was too saddened to talk, but she allowed her sister, Cathy
Menefee, to speak for the family. She told The (Baltimore) Sun of his keen sense
of humor and an unwavering sense of responsibility, which culminated in his
decision to join the military. “It’s sounds so cliche, but he died doing what
he wanted to do,” Menefee said. “He always wanted to be a Marine.”

Snyder enlisted on Oct. 14, 2003. He had been based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.,
before being assigned to Twentynine Palms in August 2004 as a generator
mechanic. He was the middle of three children, with sisters Sarah Snyder, 22, of
Hanover, Pa., and Tracie Snyder, 18, who lives with their father in York,
Pa.

Reached by telephone at his home Monday night, Albert Snyder wept. “I just
want it to be over,” the father told the newspaper. “And I want answers. They
said he was the gunnery on top of the Humvee and the Humvee rolled. When is this
senseless war going to end?”

Matthew Snyder, who family members said had an exuberant personality,
enjoyed fishing and playing intramural soccer as a teenager.

David Brown, an assistant principal at Westminster High School where Matthew graduated in 2003, said he was “devastated” upon hearing of Snyder’s death. Brown said he had coached Snyder in an intramural basketball league, from kindergarten through second grade.

“The first image that clicked back in my head was that 6-year-old boy, in
the team picture, with the big green shirt that said ‘Terrors,’ kneeling in the
front row. I can still see the photograph,” Brown said. “I’ve known him as a
much younger child, and as a high school student, so it’s difficult. You see
faces and you hear on TV, but it’s always kind of distant until it comes home.
And now it’s home.”
posted by Rockel @ 2:12 PM  
2 Comments:

  • At 3/11/07 9:05 PM, Blogger InterestingPhysics said…

    c'mon rock.
    the right to bear arms is not the right to shoot someone in the face. Sure; these people have the right to proclaim their message. They don't, however, have to right to invade this family's privacy nor do they have to right to inflict undue distress. (which was what they were found guilty of.)
    This makes me think of the people who defended president Clinton by saying "its none of our business what Clinton does in his private life" as if he was impeached for getting a BJ. He was impeached for lying under oath. Similarly, this church wasn't prosecuted because of what they said; it was more about when,where and how they said it.

     

  • At 3/11/07 10:30 PM, Blogger Rockel said…

    Charlie. Excellent to hear from you and major congrats on the engagement. I wish you both a long and loving life together.

    I believe I was probably a bit confusing with my writing, and for that I apologise, as I most certainly agree with you that "the right to bear arms is not the right to shoot someone in the face." My point was that affording everyone the opportunity to bear arms opened the door for people to abuse that right (the shooting of the face being the abuse, not the right), but that should not be enough to deter us from making the right available. An occasional face being shot, then, is the price. I hope that makes a bit more sense.

    As to what they were actually found guilty of (and I should have posted this originally):
    - $2.9M was for compensatory damages (which is defined as "Money awarded to reimburse actual costs, such as medical bills and lost wages. Also awarded for things that are harder to measure, such as pain ...")
    - $6M was for punitive damages and invasion of privacy (punitive damages being defined as "Money awarded to an injured person, over and above the measurable value of the injury, in order to punish the person who hurt him.")
    - $2M was for emotional distress (defined as "Mental or psychological pain that may give rise to damages in a personal injury lawsuit.")

    As this total dollar amount was (as noted) well above the net worth of the defendent (church), and that over half of the amount was punitive, I find the amount to be excessive.

    My claim that the judgement was unwarranted was based primarily on this staggeringly large figure. Had the church members been arrested and spent a few hours in jail for their actions I would not be writing this post. I realize that people who are otherwise carrying out a "peaceful protest" will flirt with that line of inciting a riot or disturbing the peace and will be hauled off to the slammer. I don't see that as a serious threat to our concept and interpretation of the first amendment. But for a court to hand down the sentence above I feel is just adding a wrong (and an illogical, unconstitutional wrong at that) on top of a (disgusting, tasteless) wrong.

    As to "when, where, and how" the message was proclaimed:
    "when" - was whatever time the funeral was, which only matters because...
    "where" - they were at the funeral, which was a public event (by all acounts). Had the family decided to have a separate private ceremony with private security or some such it would be a different matter. And if invasion of privacy can be invoked for the disturbance of ones personal space in a public arena, Britney Spears would make several Billion a day off of how many photogs invade her privacy.
    "how" - As I have stated before, I find their methods disgusting. However, protesting and picketing has always involved making people feel horrible about eating meat, or destroying the planet, or murdering babies.

     
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Lyrics of the Week

ON THE NICKEL
by Tom Waits

("I'd like to do a new song here. This is eh, it's about downtown Los Angeles on 5th Street. And eh all the winos affectionately refer to it as The Nickel. So this is kind of a hobo's lullaby.")

sticks and stones will break my bones,
but i always will be true, and when
your mama is dead and gone,
i'll sing this lullabye just for you,
and what becomes of all the little boys,
who never comb their hair,
well they're lined up all around the block,
on the nickel over there.

so you better bring a bucket,
there is a hole in the pail,
and if you don't get my letter,
then you'll know that i'm in jail,
and what becomes of all the little boys,
who never say their prayers,
well they're sleepin' like a baby,
on the nickel over there.

and if you chew tobacco, and wish upon a star,
well you'll find out where the scarecrows sit,
just like punchlines between the cars,
and i know a place where a royal flush,
can never beat a pair, and even thomas jefferson,
is on the nickel over there.

so ring around the rosie, you're sleepin' in the rain,
and you're always late for supper,
and man you let me down again,
i thought i heard a mockingbird, roosevelt knows where,
you can skip the light, with grady tuck,
on the nickel over there.

so what becomes of all the little boys,
who run away from home,
well the world just keeps gettin' bigger,
once you get out on your own,
so here's to all the little boys,
the sandman takes you where,
you'll be sleepin' with a pillowman,
on the nickel over there.

so let's climb up through that button hole,
and we'll fall right up the stairs,
and i'll show you where the short dogs grow,
on the nickel over there.
45113638_202b79dc11
"We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe,
by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are,
but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it."
 -- Madeleine L'Engle, "Walking on Water"