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I've written about this before - fundamentalist fools (see article below) - and all I can say is good for Albert Snyder for trying to sue them. I hope, somehow, good sense will trump the rigidity of the First Amendment and he will be awarded a settlement by the courts to help retain the dignity of something as personal and important as the burial of a loved one.

Jesus would not be a Christian as defined by such a church who would defile a burial of a human being --someone's son-- like they so viciously did. A public display of JUDGMENT. The same people with The Good News Bible in their hand scream that God Hates You with their mouths - and their hearts overflow with bitter hypocrisy. Jesus expressed his LOVE for the world by dying on the cross. When Jesus died, he died for ALL. He didn't die for Christians. He didn't die for caucasians or the lower class or those with 20/20 vision. He died for ALL. ALL includes gays, it includes sinners and it even includes non-believers. Therefore, God does not hate. He Loves and Loves and Loves. How could such a basic truth escape this church group? These blind fools advertise their utter confusion on picket signs at such inappropriate times.

I repeat, 'Satan' infiltrates from the inside. This type of 'Christianity' is a great petrie dish for spiritual cancer to grow and spread. Where is the mercy, compassion and attempt at understanding? I'll tell you where it wasn't - it wasn't protesting this soldier's funeral.

To preach bigotry,hate and damnation is in direct disobedience to the command Jesus gave: Love others as you would yourself.

Kansas church sued after cheering Marine's death
Members say God is punishing U.S. over gays

By MELODY SIMMONS - New York Times News Service - Published on: 10/25/07

Baltimore — Before the March 2006 funeral for Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, a Marine who was killed in Iraq, protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church, a tiny fundamentalist splinter group, picketed the service with signs that read, "God Hates You" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers." Albert Snyder, the father of Snyder, sued the church in U.S. district court here, claiming invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Westboro protesters, whose church is in Topeka, Kan., frequently picket the funerals of military officials and soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan because church leaders assert that God is killing soldiers to punish America for condoning homosexuality. The lawsuit, which is being tried in Baltimore, is believed to be the first against the church by the family of a fallen serviceman. Snyder, who said Westboro members turned his son's funeral in Westminster, Md., into a "media circus," is seeking unspecified damages in the jury trial, which is expected to end next week. In opening statements, his lawyer said church members had shown no regret for the protest, which he said had left Snyder with depression and health complications from diabetes. "They wanted their message heard, and they didn't care who they stepped over," Snyder testified on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. "My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside." Experts say the case is a test of the limits of free speech. Similar demonstrations by Westboro Baptist Church members have prompted several states, including Maryland, to establish limits on funeral protests. Ronald K.L. Collins, a scholar at the First Amendment Center in Washington, said such restrictions pose certain dangers, however. "The dangerous principle here is runaway liability in a way that would put the First Amendment in serious jeopardy," Collins said. "I dread to think what it would do to political protests in this country if it were allowed the win." Judge Richard D. Bennett, who is hearing the case, told the nine jurors that there are limits on free speech protection, listing categories that include vulgar, offensive and shocking statements and instructed jurors to decide "whether the defendant's actions would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, whether they were extreme and outrageous and whether these actions were so offensive and shocking as to not be entitled to First Amendment protection," according to the AP. The church has about 60 members, most of them related to its founder, the Rev. Fred Phelps. One of Phelps' 13 children, Shirley Phelps-Roper, a defendant in the case who was one of the protesters at Snyder's funeral, testified on Thursday that she had never met Cpl. Snyder and that she would not apologize for the demonstration. "We preach to the living to connect the dots to the parents of the dead child," Phelps-Roper testified. "He's fighting for a nation who has made God a No. 1 enemy."