You Gotta Love The ACLU - Dont You?

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Originally Posted by boyfunk

What you seem to be missing, and what everyone has tried to say in this thread in different ways is... as soon as you start restricting speech in ANY way, whether it's preventing Fred Phelps from spouting his venom at people whose loved ones have died, or Nazis marching in a Jewish neighborhood, or people noisily disagreeing with President Bush's policies in Iraq, it is then that you start down a very rapid and slippery slope that restricts our speech.

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I dont buy it. I think that asking Phelps to stand 300 feet back from funerals respects the right of Phelps to protest the families, and respects the families right to have a peaceful funeral.

And thats how I feel.

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Originally Posted by XXXWriterDude

So since you are obviously so deadset on placing me alongside people like Phelps, I'm going to leave you to crawl back onto your high horse and gallop off into the sunset hooting and hollering about how everybody but you is wrong.

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yeah, I feel morally superior because I don't think a group of protesters have the right to stand next to a casket with signs and torture the family.
But whatever.

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Originally Posted by Marc

yeah, I feel morally superior because I don't think a group of protesters have the right to stand next to a casket with signs and torture the family.
But whatever.

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Yup, you said it: WHATEVER.

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Originally Posted by Marc

I dont buy it. I think that asking Phelps to stand 300 feet back from funerals respects the right of Phelps to protest the families, and respects the families right to have a peaceful funeral.

And thats how I feel.

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You're absolutely entitled to have that opinion, and I would defend your right to have that opinion, and to voice it, as would the ACLU. In fact, the ACLU would defend your right to say that you hope their donations go down because of their stand.

That's the whole point.

It's when you start placing limits on free speech -- ANY limits -- that you have problems. If you limit Phelps ability to speak freely, you could then limit the ability of protesters to protest legitimate issues. And 300 ft could become 500 feet, 1/4 mile, maybe even outside the zone of a community.

That's the risk.

I understand your concerns and respect your opinion and defend your right to voice it. But I don't share your opinion. And the fact that we can each be free to say what we want, without limits, is one of the freedoms that has made this country as great as it is.