Fred Phelps: Hero For A Day

Today, free speech won another round in the Supreme Court of the United States. In this instance, it's rather hard to feel too joyous when the winner of the case is the despicable hate-monger Fred Phelps and his clan of crazies from the Westboro Baptist Church.

Sometimes in life, the victory is simply more important than the victor.

On the surface, it would seem like a no-brainer that Fred Phelps’ homophobic, anti-military protests outside of funerals should have been stopped by the High Court today. Americans understandably and overwhelmingly object to the actions of these deplorable troublemakers -- myself included.

That being said, free speech does not and should not discriminate between who it protects and who it doesn’t. Unfortunately, that even includes the Westboro Baptist Church.


Even if a majority of people disagree with the cretins who perform these ‘protests’, the minority voice in this country must be protected too. That freedom is what makes us America. That’s what makes us great.

People in our country have the right to wave a flag or burn it. They have the right to support the government or admonish it. They have the right to march for more rights or against the rights of others. The bottom line is that people deserve to have a voice even when it isn't deserving of my/yours/our respect.


We cannot pick and choose between who deserves free speech. What sounds disagreeable to you probably sounds agreeable to someone else – even if it’s only to a handful of ears. Sometimes pointy Vulcan ears.


Yes, our country would be a better place without Fred Phelps and his band of kooks, but for once (and probably only once), he was on the right side of an issue even if he is wrong about everything else.