The Westboro Baptist Church - Hate Group or?

[Soon]

Originally Posted by Rufusboi

Even though I dislike what they do and say as long as they are not being physically violent, bombing gay bars etc I see them as harmless. The worse of the worse are the crazies that kill abortion doctors and bomb clinics. Phelps knows what lines to stay behind. And I dislike Phelps as much as anyone, but I'm on the side of free speech on this. The worse thing we can do is limit speech. I think the Arizona law is far far worse than Phelps. I think DOMA laws are far far worse than Phelps. Phelps' message is actually lost on most people who can't follow his weird logic. He's become a public nuisance but outside of that he doesn't warrant much attention. Phelps doesn't threaten physical safety. He hurts emotionally, he makes statements about us and about God and he shows up where he's not wanted, but none of that is illegal. If we make Phelps' pickets and banners illegal then next thing we know gay pride parades are illegal. Think about how many people are offended by Pride parades and by our banners. If we stop Phelps then they stop us.

Rufus

I'm with Sue on this one.

We don't have tolerance for hate speech here. (Canada)

I don't see the analogy b/w Pride and Phelps, either. Hate Speech laws are in place to stop people from spewing their hatred and possibly inciting violence towards others. Pride Parades would not fall under this category, so I fail to see how Pride would suffer due to the enactment and enforcement of Hate Speech laws.

Phelps is not welcome in our country and was, in fact, arrested here for Hate Speech.

I don't see my country suffering from any loss of freedom due to our hate speech laws.
I think these laws protect others and allows for a more humane and safe place in which to live.