Open Wide, Phelps!

I nearly clapped my hands upon reading this, a breaking news item on Halloween Day, forcing a church to pay millions of dollars to a man whose son was killed in Iraq after they had picketed the funeral with signs such as "God Hates Fags" and "God Hates America." Remember, this is the church that inspired the bike-riding group Patriot Guard Riders to shield mourners of the the anti-gay church headed by Rev. Fred Phelps and his two daughters. This church has been finding as many military funerals as possible, arguing that the deaths in Iraq are punishment for the military's policy of "don't ask, don't tell" regarding gays in the military.

I could pick a million holes into this kind of rhetoric, but I'll save my breath by saying the following: God cannot hate America, especially when America is a land created by man-made borders, and therefore does not remove the individual calling we all have to love each other; and that it is not right for humans to pass such hateful judgment on others. God calls us to judge each other based upon law that is set forth to protect others, but he does not call a church to spread hate, which is why it makes this all the more sweeter (fitting because it is Halloween) that American justice has been served piping hot to a group of hatred-filled bigots who forgot what human decency was.

Considering many people in my family and close friends have been in the military or law enforcement at some point (Army, Navy, Marines), this kind of defense is why I am thankful to live on soil that lets me believe what I want without fear of persecution. I pray every day that the rights given to me simply by God and by birth are not taken away, and these men and women are defending this land and answering my prayer every day. Sure, this country has a load of other problems that I would prefer to live without, but if I had to choose, I would choose this again and again. We often forget how much free will has been given to us, not as a privilege, but as a God-given right in this country, and these men and women have shown bravery in places we didn't expect. But then again, that's what it's all about, isn't it?

I'm from Pennsylvania, and I know what these biker guys and gals look like up close. They're tough, they're authentic, and they're mostly veterans who survived Vietnam, Korean and Desert Storm wars. I wouldn't want to get near this at all.

So to the Phelps family, I sincerely wish that, for your sake and mine, that your hateful actions will remind you that free speech is a right, yet using it in a manipulative fashion will make you pay. Literally. And if God so hates America, then take your American church right on out of here and go somewhere else, because based to your theory, He might hate you, too.