DU Historians: Westboro Church picketers - Unique in American history?

[Poll_Blind]

I was just reading a thread which said the Westboro assholes would be picketing the funerals for the poor people killed in the Boston marathon today. Jesus. Anyway, I got to thinking about it and I couldn't for the life of me think of any other example of Americans who used their freedom of speech quite like this.

Like, I couldn't think up any time in the history of America where freedom of speech has been pushed, purely pushed, so far and so regularly.

I support the free speech rights of everyone in America including these ghouls. That's the price I pay to others to expect my rights in return.

But...can anyone name anybody who ever used their freedom of speech like this in the past? To be...I guess the word is intentionally inflammatory? I mean, shit, they picketed the dead kids at Sandy Hook, didn't they?

Are these people an "American First"? I mean, there were klansman and so forth using their freedom of speech to preach hate, and certainly that's unpopular. But to seemingly go out of their way to regularly and habitually practice extreme inflammatory speech. Are they unique?

PB

[jberryhill]

1. Unless you consider cross burnings and lynchings "inflammatory"

The Klan simply had wider tacit support.

[Downwinder]

2. WCTU?

[Poll_Blind]

3. GREAT example! Checking out a couple of different places now. Any others?

PB

[Downwinder]

4. Anti-abortion, Suffragettes

[Poll_Blind]

5. Also good, but looking for people who seemingly try to piss off EVERYBODY.

For instance, the Westboro folks don't really care why the person died. So, potentially, their inflammatory message could be repellant to every American- if there were enough Westboro folks to picket every funeral so odiously.

With the WCTU (very interesting, BTW), obviously their beef was with people drinking or selling alcohol. The anti-abortion folks, abortions. The suffragettes, for the right to vote.

But in all those cases, there's one side versus another. With the Westboro folks, there seemingly are no sides: It's basically them against the rest of the population of the world.

Does that make sense? I'm sleepy so I might not be as clear as I could be.

PB

[gordianot]

6. For the life of me attitudes and rhetoric by Westboro Baptist Church is close to RW homophobics.

Try this one on for size the next time you hear one of them spouting their homophobia. "You must really like the people from Westboro Baptist Church?"

I have used this twice recently with good results:

1. Was not familiar with who the Westboro Baptist is nor the line they use. Proof of profound ignorance.

2. Promptly shut up. A very pleasing result.

Since much of what Westboro advocates is solid Republican values contained in their party platform that should work as a put down of Republicans. I intend to use it in the near future.

[Downwinder]

7. What are Phelps' goals?

[Posteritatis]

10. Provoking things his family can sue over. (nt)

[Downwinder]

12. A Legal Troll. Making money filing law suits.

He lost 10.9 million to Albert Snyder. Does he have a net profit?

[Posteritatis]

14. Probably, actually

As close to every adult male in the family (which is to say the church) is a lawyer, and by all accounts they're often pretty competent ones. Put one or two dozen of those in the same area, have them do their thing for awhile, and they can probably get dinged pretty hard now and then and still keep the lights on.

[Jamastiene]

15. I think a couple of the females are lawyers too.

I know at least one of Fred Phelps' daughters, the one with the Phelps-Roper last name, is a lawyer. He also has a son, Nathan Phelps, that is very outspoken pro gay rights.

[Bucky]

8. They probably have more latitude of action than past hate-sponges.

In past generations, I think you'd have fewer hate-thriving fanatics because in the generations before Radio, most American communities probably would have physically beat the crap out of anyone who deliberately insulted grieving families. Closest I can think of a deviant group that all-but-deliberately provoked community ire is the first generations of pre-Exodus Mormons.

They really got peoples' goats in the 1840s. Joseph Smith put out a very in-your-face newspaper from when they settled in Illinois. His aggravation of public morality quickly got him killed, which inspired the bulk of his flock to flock west... into Mexican territory. Within a couple of years the US had taken claim over that area too, and by the late 1850s, the US Army was at war with the Mormons.

From the same violent era, abolitionist John Brown also invited public scorn. Again, this was outright violence, not just picketing. He shared the messianic delusions of the Westboro fanatics, but obviously was on the right side of history.

We live in a far more genteel age today. We don't shoot those who antagonize us. The Westies are taking advantage of our civility.

[a la izquierda]

11. Have you ever read...

Kingdom of Matthias?

[demwing]

9. How about Flag Burning?

that's the very definition of "intentionally inflammatory"

[Berlum]

13. The Westborons are like the Heyokas of Native America, or the Jesters of yore - eXtreme-O-style

...giving riotously inappropriate affront to everything people hold sacred.

The Westborons take the Fool role to a level of utter nuclear christ-twisting perversion.

[Jamastiene]

16. The KKK is about as imflammatory as you can get, outside the WBC.

The neo-Nazis are no picnic to listen to when they do their protests either.

As far as picketing funerals, the first I have ever heard of doing that was the WBC/Phelps bunch.

Bookmarking for the history if anyone knows of any others.

[Generic Other]

17. How about the neo-Nazis marching in Skokie?

They were defended by the ACLU.



I have seen people with bizarre signs at protests pronouncing that we are all going to hell.



Some outsider artists commonly create such signs. Sometimes they seem to border on the insane. Who knows what the message is. But they clearly have something to say!