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The Wright Perspective℠
Social Commentary from the C-Suite to Main Street℠
A Blog by Gary Wright II
Supreme Court ruling allows protests at funerals
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
In a decision of 8 to 1, the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Kansas church that holds protests at funerals. I'm not mentioning the name because I don't want them to get any more publicity. I didn't want them to lose their right to free speech, but I think protests at funerals are beyond disgusting. I think a fair compromise would be a law that make protests illegal within a certain radius of a funeral.
I'm a veteran, and nothing pisses me off more when they protest the funerals of our fallen soldiers. They should be honoring the soldiers who died giving them the right to free speech, not disgracing their burial. You only get one chance to bury a loved one. These protests mar the dignity of the ceremony and they create deep emotional scars that will last forever in the memories of these families. Losing someone we love is hard enough, and it is unconscionable that someone who considers themselves a "church" would commit such a horrible display of self-righteous indignity.
I have to be honest - my first reaction is to travel to Kansas and give the entire Phelps family a "personal introduction to their god." The one group on this earth that you don't want to piss off is a bunch of already unstable veterans. I know violence is not the right answer, so me must seek another solution.
An elder from my tribe taught me a valuable lesson: Hate is easy, but it is wrong. If we respond to hate with hate, then the hate only multiplies. When you respond to hate with love, they cancel each other out.
I think our youth have already found the right response for these groups. "Angels" have shown up at some of these protests and used their wings to shield the view of the families to keep them from having to see these people.
The students at Wilson High School in Long Beach had a great idea. They protested the protesters and simply drowned them out with their own voices.
If this group holds a protest in your area - will you help drown them out?
Best regards,
-- Gary Wright II