The Right to Bigoted Speech

As is often the case, I was looking through my old e-mails looking for one thing in particular and I found something else that I had meant to make use of but had forgotten about. My inbox is sort of a dead letter office for articles, e-mails, etc. that I find meaningful but don't know what to do with. This time, I came across a column by Bill Tammeus that I had e-mailed myself. This one came out several weeks ago and was his response to the recent verdict against Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka.

Tammeus' column is worth reading, because he opposes the verdict and expects Phelps and his gang of buffoons will win their appeal. Tammeus has been a target of this group of bigots himself, so I imagine it can't be easy for him to support their right to free speech. I find myself in great sympathy with Tammeus--who expresses his disgust for the group of so-called Christians but supports their right to express their beliefs. I really just want their hatefulness to go away, but only by facing such bigotry out in the open and in the light of day can it be overcome. Besides, as he points out, once society starts down the path of outlawing certain kinds of speech, then it is a that much closer to outlawing the legitimate expression of ideas that may simply be unpopular. Let Phelps, his goons and his brainwashed offspring have their say, so their words can be revealed for what they are: hateful idiocy.

Anyway, check out Tammeus' column. It's well worth reading.

Grace and Peace,

Chase