Rest In Peace - Should protesters be allowed to voice their opinions at soldiers funerals?

Should protesters be allowed to voice their opinions at soldiers funerals?

I'm doing a persuasive speech on this topic and would like to know how the general public feels. So, what do you think? Why do you feel this way? I really appreciate it.

Public Comments

you can't protest at a funeral that shows no respect at all think of the family it will be hard enough for them already having to say goodbye at least let them do it in a dignified manner
No Why- Common Decency Anyone that protests at a funeral deserves whatever harm falls upon them for their cowardly actions
No they should not. A funeral is a private, family time with great stress and emotion already present. The family does not need to be subjected to protesters opinions at a time like that. The protesters need to find another platform for their protests.
I truly believ people have a right to protest, but dont belive that right extends to every place in society........ To intrude on the family of anyone after their loss of a loved one is reprehensible and should be illegal
Hell No !
I'm a veteran of 3 conflicts.When we bury a comrade in arms,we are burying someone who gave all there is to give to protect the rights and freedoms enjoyed by all Americans. It is a dis-service to the friends and family of the fallen hero to use their funeral as a venue to vent your frustration at some policy that you,the protester,disagrees with. There is a time and place for everything,causing pain and grief to a soldiers family during their service to say farewell to a loved one is neither the time nor the place.
NO!!! There is some retarded church out there that protests at funerals & I think that is completely disrespectful. I don't support the war, but I support our troops. Where I live they started the Freedom Riders, which is guys on motorcycles that make sure the protesters can't get near the funeral.
Absolutely not. I hope they are escorted away by a Marine Corps Gunnery Seargent with a .45.
hell no, not under any circumstances! that is completely disrespectful! i wouldnt even put up with family arguing at a funeral, theres no way on God's green earth i would ever tolerate protesters at a funeral. that would be the ultimate disrespect! im with you Jazz !!
NO I do not agree with the war but those boys did what they felt in their heart was for our benefit. I don't any life should be protested in any way. The grieving family has their own things to contend with without having to deal with others that have nothing better to do. They can go protest the whitehouse for the war but leave the lives ouf our children alone. No I do not have anyone in the military I am a complete outside and the protesting is excessively rude and an obvious downfall to this country.
no way that is so disrespectful. Safe the protesting for outside the damn white house. That is just so wrong.
NO! You want to get sued! Do you think it would be OK if someone protested outside your funeral because you did something they didnt like or because you were a certain way. You protesters forget you have the right to protest because of these soldiers!!! These guys fight for you to have the right to get out there and have your opinion. Get a grip and leave these parents and wives and children to grieve in peace. The last thing you want is a pissed off military widow or parent because you cant be respectful. Just because you dont agree doesnt mean that you can do whatever you please and to whom. Remember a funeral is a private mater for the family and friends NOT some schmuck protesters. Keep away from fallen soldiers funerals. It is an insult and a disgrace!! If they really are americans they will stay away.
Absolutely not. If people want to protest, there are other times and places to do so. It is rude and disrespectful. These people gave their life for our freedom and their family deserves the privacy that they want and need to come to terms with their loss.
No. Fred Phelps and his band of bible-bashing monkeys are nothing but a pack of slobbering, neanderthal cowards.
Freedom of speech was intended for people to have their voice heard in Government, it was NOT meant to impose personal beliefs on others. That being said, whether you are for or against the war does not matter, most of America can agree that if someone is protesting a funeral they are traitors to America and should be treated accordingly
No they shouldn't that is a time for the soldiers family and friends to grieve not to have to listen to a bunch of rubbish about how their solider died in vain. Let them do it at their own families graveside if they want to be disrespectful. And they shouldn't protest out side of the Military Hospitals either...Mother of three active duty members...
It's completely indecent.
I think being ex-military, that if my husband had died and some protesters showed up at my hubby's funeral, I would seriously go try to strangle someone's neck and try to kill them. I mean, how dare they! Most mourners have rage at first anyways and then reality hits and then they cry so they would be stupid to be showing up at a funeral in the first place.
There is a time and a place for protesting and a funeral is not one of those places! A funeral is a time to remember and honor someone's life and to say goodbye to them in the physical sense. To intrude on a funeral with political views is ridiculous!
No. Funerals are for the greiving and for those who want to express their sympathy and give comfort. Anything else is monstrous beyond belief. I don't know what I'd do if I saw some awful person protesting at a funeral. I doubt I'd be able to control myself. Hopefully someone could restrain me from opening up a can of justice and righteous fury!!! Protests are fine at colleges and bookstores and town squares. Show up at a funeral with signs and smelly clothes and hacky sacks and bongos, and I'll for one will go totally ape-s**t!!
ABSOLUTELY NOT! There is a time and a place to voice your opinion and you have no place at a funeral. Why in the world would these freaks go to a funeral of a fallen soldier?! It sickens me!
NO And Fred Phelps seems to have forgotten he's supposed to "Hate the Sin (as he sees it) , and LOVE the Sinner." I'm from Kansas and personally I can't wait till he goes away, one way or another.
No, there are more appropriate places for the protest. They are free to protest because a soldier fought and died to get and keep that freedom.
Protestors should not be allowed at ANY Funerals Period(Military or Civilian). Its disrespectful to the Families, Deceased, etc. There is a time to protest, but getting in the face of People who just lost a Son, Daughter, Father, Mother, Nephew, etc. is asking to be Thrashed within a inch of ones life.
No. It doesn't matter what the reason is. There is no rationale for disturbing a family in mourning.
They may have a legal right but its in extremely poor taste.
ABSOLUTLEY NOT! These fallen hero's protected those protester's butt's and I cringe when I hear there are protestor's at a funeral. Have some respect for the families!
Absolutely not !!!! Anyone that protests at a Soldiers funeral should be horse whipped to within an inch of their miserable and insignificant lives. Why do I feel this way? 1. Many generations of my family have proudly served this country, some dying in the process. 2. Respect for those who have served. 3. Simple human decency.
no way! it's so disrepectful! there is a group my hubby belongs to when hes not on deployment called the Patriot Guard Riders, they help keep the nasty protester away. to me, it's terrible that a protester would even consider going to a funeral to do protesting. they are entitled to their opinions, but this in not the time or place to so do.
Nope, It shows lack of respect for the mourners. It will also make little difference, they can protest in better and more effective ways which do not disrepect the deceased family and the deceased him/herself. Those protesters are selfish.
No WAY!!! I understand freedom of speech and that soldier died so that person could have that right...however as an army wife, I would not beable to control myself if protesters showed up at my husbands funeral. They should have respect for that family that just lost that soldier because their grief has nothing to do with their opinion. They just lost their husband,son,father,brother. I am sure that if a protester died while protesting their family members would not appreciate it if a soldiers family came a voiced their opinion at their funeral. That time is for the family, not the soldier. Their protest will not accomplish anything there will be no presidents, or lawmakers their to hear them. Just a grieving family....and honestly if my husband died so people can be free and someone was taking advantage of that freedom at his funeral, I would probably find myself in jail. I would go crazy on them!! ok I guess I really just repeated myself alot but you get the picture...I really hope that your speech isnt trying to presuade people into thinking that this is something that is acceptable.
No. A funeral is a time to let the family grieve and say goodbye to their loved one. No one should interfere with that for any reason. If they want to protest something...fine. Just not at a funeral. Personally I think that one day they will do this to the wrong family and they will end up getting hurt and I think they'd deserve whatever they got.
No! this is a ceremony that demands total respect, the family are paying their final respects to a loved one who has given his or her life in Service of his country. Don't get me wrong I am not an active church goer, but I attend Religious Ceremonies regardless of denomination when required in a dignified manner. To allow anybody to stand an heckle on such a solemn occasion is blasphemy or at least should be classed as a serious breech of the Peace, and earn the hecklers some serious prison time. The founding fathers never envisioned that such scum would use such a solemn occasion to mount a quasi-religious fanatical "protest" to a deceased Patriotic American who died doing his or her duty for the Nation. What next these sickos gate crashing the Baptism ceremony of a new born child to military members families??
Well, being in the AF, does that mean if I don't like what you do for a living, I can go protest your funeral?? Get real, you're talking about something sacred, where friends and family are greiving their loved one's death!! Anyone protesting anyone's funeral should be shot!!
I think that protesting at or within earshot of funerals is crass, insensitive, and generally unacceptable in the best of circumstances. Using military funerals to further a political agenda, especially one so heavilly larded with pure and simple hate, as Rev Phelps and his collection of inbred culls from Kansas does, is beyond the pale of civilized behavior.
Yes, so that people could mock dead dictators, war criminals and others that were hostile to the beliefs of the U.S. I do believe that one could get a permit for silence like those used when filming movies and TV shows. I also don't think the protesters were on cemetery grounds.
Hell NO! A funeral is private! The reasons are obvious and alot of states have laws against it.
One of the soldiers that my husband put in died in combat. This soldier always wanted to be a combat soldier and knew the risks. when my hubby went to his funeral there was a motorcycle club that guarded the road , the coffin and the family against all protester that might show up. they would have taken out any idiot quickly. they didnt know this man, he wasnt a biker but they stood there and gave hime the respect that he deserved.
I fully believe in the right to free speech of any individual within the country. It is sad that it it has been taken and twisted to this level to where people protest and celebrate the death of my fellow Soldiers, Marines, Airman, and Sailors. If they want to protest the war and celebrate the death of the troops, they can, but keep it away from a funeral. Its indesent and disrespectfull. What confuses me is how this is allowed to go on, yet anyone else would be persercuted if you tried to use the same argument for having for a pro-pornography campaign in front of a middle school.