Not illegal speech

Apparently the Westboro nutters claim that the recent beheading of a Canadian guy by a Chinese madman on a Greyhound bus was God's punishment for Canada's love of homosexuals. Following is pretty well-balanced editorial from Canada about that:

"If stupidity and mental and emotional deficiency were crimes, then it would be easy to lock up all members of the Westboro Baptist Church. The organization, which masquerades as a Christian church, uses a variety of means to express hatred for homosexuals, Catholics, Jews, Muslims and countries that support or tolerate those groups. The church believes every tragedy in the world is linked to homosexuality, which it says should be a capital crime punished by death. By its logic, therefore, the brutal slaying of Winnipeg resident Tim McClean was an act of God, a divine message that Canada is in league with the evil sodomites.

Members of the group said they plan to picket McClean's funeral today, a tactic they employ frequently in the United States to protest the tolerance shown to homosexuals. It's not known yet if they will carry out their bizarre and offensive threat, particularly since the federal Department of Public Safety has directed border guards to turn them away if they try to enter Canada, although the group claims its Canadian members might join their pathetic crusade.

According to Winnipeg MP Pat Martin, the Public Safety department has concluded that the church's message is hate speech, and, therefore, illegal under the Criminal Code. Unfortunately, Mr. Martin's logic is also in question.

Many people of all faiths believe homosexuality is a sin and that God punishes those who practice it. It is not illegal under the Criminal Code for a person to advocate that view, if it is done in good faith and based on a belief in a religious text. But even if the law could be twisted or interpreted to silence the church, it would still be wrong.

As offensive and insensitive as the church's views may be, they have a right to express them. In this case, it may be a right that many people wish did not exist, but there is more harm in silencing them than in allowing them to express their views. The principle of free speech allows for dissent, even if it is offensive. If church members disrupt the funeral service or block traffic, other laws can be used to restore order and decorum. But silencing the church on threat of punishment, even incarceration, would be an over-reaction that threatens a basic freedom.

Source

Story of the funeral here. The Canadians stopped the Westboro people at the border so they never got to the funeral. No free speech in Canada.