Thursday, February 23, 2006
Peaceful Goodbyes
I don't know if you've experienced the death of a loved one or not. I have. It doesn't matter if it's one of your own family members, partner/spouse, children, friends, colleagues or someone else's loss, it's a sad occasion. In some cases, it's tragic.
You're grieving in your own way. You're comforting someone else. You're wiping your tears away. You're blowing your nose. You're wondering why so-and-so had to depart from this world. In some deaths, you might be relieved that so-and-so has finally passed on. In other deaths, you might be angry at the sudden departure.
Regardless, you go to funerals to pay your last respect before the body is buried into the ground or before the ashes will be scattered. It's a somber ritual. It's done and then life moves on.
That's how it's supposed to be.
Funerals are not supposed to be accompanied with protesters, like those from Westboro Baptist Church, pastored by Fred Phelps. They usually show up protesting at funerals where the deceased was gay. However, lately, they've just about shown up anywhere for just about any reasons. Hell, they've been claiming that the reasons for the high death tolls of soldiers was because of America's acceptance of homosexuality. They've also protested at the Sago miners' funerals. (Thank goodness for the Patriot Guard Riders, a group of motorcyclists, who usually attend veterans' funerals. However, they went to the miners' funerals to counterprotest the Westboro freaks.)
It's just really disrespectful! So disrespectful that states are considering bills where protesters are banned from funerals. As of January 30th, 5 states have been considering bills. These 5 states are Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Oklahoma. I find it interesting that Kansas has banned it because that's where Phelps' church is located. However, that number has grown to 14 states, banning funeral protesting, including Wisconsin, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, South Dakota and Vermont.
Maryland may be the 15th state to add the ban on funeral protesting.
Let me clarify that a lot of these bans do not completely eradicate funeral protesting. The majority of the bans do allow protesters to do their protesting business up to one hour before and after the funeral. Most of the bans enforce the protesters to remain at least 300 feet from the funeral site.
It still has to be nerve-wrecking to know that the burial of a loved one is being protested by these wackos. They're just there to take advantage of your vulnerable state. What kind of a sick, twisted, demented person would want to inflict that kind of hatred and intimidation upon others during their time of sorrow?
However, these bans are somewhat helpful because they're allowing us to bury our loved ones with a little peace. After all, we do want our departed to rest in peace.
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You're grieving in your own way. You're comforting someone else. You're wiping your tears away. You're blowing your nose. You're wondering why so-and-so had to depart from this world. In some deaths, you might be relieved that so-and-so has finally passed on. In other deaths, you might be angry at the sudden departure.
Regardless, you go to funerals to pay your last respect before the body is buried into the ground or before the ashes will be scattered. It's a somber ritual. It's done and then life moves on.
That's how it's supposed to be.
Funerals are not supposed to be accompanied with protesters, like those from Westboro Baptist Church, pastored by Fred Phelps. They usually show up protesting at funerals where the deceased was gay. However, lately, they've just about shown up anywhere for just about any reasons. Hell, they've been claiming that the reasons for the high death tolls of soldiers was because of America's acceptance of homosexuality. They've also protested at the Sago miners' funerals. (Thank goodness for the Patriot Guard Riders, a group of motorcyclists, who usually attend veterans' funerals. However, they went to the miners' funerals to counterprotest the Westboro freaks.)
It's just really disrespectful! So disrespectful that states are considering bills where protesters are banned from funerals. As of January 30th, 5 states have been considering bills. These 5 states are Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Oklahoma. I find it interesting that Kansas has banned it because that's where Phelps' church is located. However, that number has grown to 14 states, banning funeral protesting, including Wisconsin, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, South Dakota and Vermont.
Maryland may be the 15th state to add the ban on funeral protesting.
Let me clarify that a lot of these bans do not completely eradicate funeral protesting. The majority of the bans do allow protesters to do their protesting business up to one hour before and after the funeral. Most of the bans enforce the protesters to remain at least 300 feet from the funeral site.
It still has to be nerve-wrecking to know that the burial of a loved one is being protested by these wackos. They're just there to take advantage of your vulnerable state. What kind of a sick, twisted, demented person would want to inflict that kind of hatred and intimidation upon others during their time of sorrow?
However, these bans are somewhat helpful because they're allowing us to bury our loved ones with a little peace. After all, we do want our departed to rest in peace.
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