Thaindian News

By Meena Kar
The Supreme Court is agonized over the Snyder Family for its loss of a son in the case against the Westboro Baptist Church. The justices were deeply sympathetic towards the father of the Marine who was killed in Iraq in 2006. The family had been traumatized by the protest of the Westboro Baptist Church which advocates that dead soldiers are a result of sinning. The church chose to protest at the time of the Marine’s funeral and the case received huge media attention for its sensitiveness.

The members of the church protested during the funeral and said that the cause of the death of the American soldiers in Middle East was a result of the country loose moral standards and tolerance of homosexuality and abortion. The church was initially fined almost $5million for the intentional infliction of emotional distress but an appeals court overturned the verdict saying that the US Constitution guarantees the right of free speech.

The representative of the Church spoke in court this Wednesday when the father of the marine appealed to the court to reinstate the original verdict. She said that the message of the protest at the funeral of the soldier was that the deaths will stop if the sinning does. The Supreme Court though was seen to be extremely touched by the plight of the Snyders and some believe that the decision has a strong chance of going their way. Among some of the messages that caused the controversy the one which thanked god for the dead soldiers has come under heavy criticism. The Marine was 20 years old and died in an accident. Protesters also had messages like ‘You’re Going To Hell’ and even ‘God Hates the USA’.