Extremist church deserved penalty
Thursday, November 1, 2007
It's rare to feel compelled to praise a jury for punishing a church, but
a fine of nearly $11 million imposed against leaders of a Kansas church whose members have disrupted 300 military funerals sounds like a fair punishment.On Wednesday a federal jury in Baltimore awarded the money, which included $8 million in punitive damages, to the family of a Marine who died in Iraq in 2006. Members of the fundamentalist church, which is not affiliated with any major denomination, demonstrate at funerals for soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan even though their complaint has absolutely nothing to do with the war. The pastor and his congregation simply want to argue that God is punishing America for its tolerance of homosexuality.Acceptance of gays and lesbians certainly has reached a level most people would not have expected in their lifetimes. But there is no doubt that the funerals of soldiers who gave their lives for their countrymen is the wrong place to make that point.Neither the soldiers who died nor the families who grieved at the funerals had a
thing to do with the acceptance of homosexuality. The church members should have protested before Congress and state legislatures, which make the laws on the subject. Though the church may be bankrupted if the decision stands up to an appeal, it seems like a fair price to pay for such insulting behavior.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
It's rare to feel compelled to praise a jury for punishing a church, but
a fine of nearly $11 million imposed against leaders of a Kansas church whose members have disrupted 300 military funerals sounds like a fair punishment.On Wednesday a federal jury in Baltimore awarded the money, which included $8 million in punitive damages, to the family of a Marine who died in Iraq in 2006. Members of the fundamentalist church, which is not affiliated with any major denomination, demonstrate at funerals for soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan even though their complaint has absolutely nothing to do with the war. The pastor and his congregation simply want to argue that God is punishing America for its tolerance of homosexuality.Acceptance of gays and lesbians certainly has reached a level most people would not have expected in their lifetimes. But there is no doubt that the funerals of soldiers who gave their lives for their countrymen is the wrong place to make that point.Neither the soldiers who died nor the families who grieved at the funerals had a
thing to do with the acceptance of homosexuality. The church members should have protested before Congress and state legislatures, which make the laws on the subject. Though the church may be bankrupted if the decision stands up to an appeal, it seems like a fair price to pay for such insulting behavior.During the Big War, those boys didn't get to come home and be mocked by their lessers! They were buried in the fields where they fell. There is a time and place for everything in this ole' world.... these folks just don't seem to get it!! Hopefully this jury's verdict will put a real fear of God (and the Law) in other folks' hearts as well.......
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