Thankfully, this tactic has disgusted most everyone, even other Baptists. Phelps is also known for screaming “God hates fags” at the funeral of Matthew Shepard, the gay man who was murdered in Laramie, Wyoming. The perverse pastor still stages celebrations on the anniversary of Shepard’s death, to express joy at his “entry into hell.”

Some states are fed up with his antics and federal legislators have have introduced bills that would make these protests a felony. For example, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., told Scripps-Howard Newspapers last week he plans to introduce a bill that would prohibit protests at national cemeteries for an hour before or after a service, and require protesters be 500 feet from the gravesite.

There is not a First Amendment issue here, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, because the bill only limits expression in cemeteries and they are not a public forum. However, some of the other bills introduced specifically to deal with Phelps are more concerning because they restrict speech in front of churches and public sidewalks.

However indecent the rhetoric, it is generally best to pound perverts like Phelps with more free speech, not less. For example, during the Shepard controversy, one of the most dramatic responses to Phelps and his group was known as Angel Action. During one of Phelps’ hate-spewing protests, his group was quietly surrounded by a dozen counter-demonstrators in flowing white angel costumes with 10-foot wingspans rising seven feet high. The angels turned their backs on Phelps, smiled and effectively blocked him from the view of passersby. It was a display so stunning it was featured in two movies, “The Laramie Project” and “The Matthew Shepard Story.”
A similar group has organized to protect the veterans families. A squad of peaceful, motorcycle-riding veterans known as the Patriot Guard now makes a show of force at the military funerals. They shield the grieving families with a wall of 3-by-5-foot American flags so that often they don’t see or hear the offensive picketers. They use the roar of their motorcycle engines to drown out the hateful chanting. In just five months, 16,000 cyclists have joined the effort, according to ABC News.

Clearly, Phelps and his band’s heartless antics are just a pathetic plea for attention from a group that preys on people who are in no mindset to defend themselves. They are best challenged by the chants of other people with something smarter to say. Sadly, probably neither group really meets the needs of the grieving families, who just want to be left alone.