Freedom of Speech: The Good and the Bad

  I have been interested in the case of Snyder v. Phelps for a quite a while. The case started when the Westboro Baptist Church, a very anti-gay church protested the funeral of a soldier who died in Iraq, Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder. They normally show up at, or near soldiers' funerals with signs that say hateful things like "God Hates Fags" or "Thank God for Dead Soldiers". They do this at military funerals because according to them, the reason why these soldiers died is because of America's tolerance towards gays.They even wrote a letter also blaming the fact that he was raised in "the monstrosity that is the Catholic Church" and that his father was divorced from his mother. His father, Albert Snyder was so devastated by the protest that he decided to sue them for emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and defamation. The lower courts ruled in favor of Snyder and ordered Phelps to pay millions in damages.The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Phelps and ordered Snyder to pay Phelps's legal fees. The debate was whether the right to privacy and peaceful assembly was more important than the other part of the First Amendment, Freedom of Speech. A writ of certiorari was issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in March of 2010, and the arguments were heard in October of 2010. Today the Supreme Court decided in favor of Phelps in an 8:1 decision. I feel great disgust towards the Westboro Baptist Church however I feel that people have the right to say anything as long as it will not damage anyone financially or physically, and is not threatening. For example in April of 2010 South Park writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone were threatened because of an episode of South Park that they made. This episode apparently had Mohammed in a bear suit. The person in the bear suit was later revealed to be Santa. This episode angered Yousef al-Khattab, the person who has a website called Revolution Muslim. Al-Khattab wrote on his website "warning" Parker and Stone that they should be careful because if not they will end up like murdered Dutch filmmaker, Theo van Gough. Parker and Stone had every right to make that episode because South Park is a show that satirizes all religions and Islam should not be an exception. However al-Khattab's statement should be considered a death threat and be taken seriously. The second part of the episode bleeped out Mohammed's name, blacked out Mohammed's image (which was shown in a previous episode that was taken off the South Park website after the death threat), and bleeped out a speech at the end about fear and intimidation that had nothing to do with Mohammed. The Westboro Baptist Church did nothing of the sort. Psychological harm is relative and is not physical, and does not threaten a person's life. As a Jew, I hate them because they are also virulent anti-Semites, who think that Hitler did God's work. However, I  feel that they have the right to speak their minds. I will keep this in mind when I go to a rally that supports Israel which is another controversial topic.The anti-Zionists, also have the right to voice their opinion. I appreciate this right so that I can voice my opinion, which is pro-Israel. It is not because I empathize with them but because intellectually I know that it is unfair if both sides cannot voice their opinion. After all, people tend to be overly sensitive to their beliefs and get offended easily when we say things against them. Refuting people's beliefs will then become illegal and no one in society will be able to express what they think without going to jail. For example in many European countries you get arrested for hate speech. The offenders did not hurt anybody, yet they go to jail how fair is that? Intellectually I know that if one part of non-threatening free speech is abridged, then all parts of free speech are under that same threat. It still does not stop me from being offended by sexist or anti-Semitic comments. However, I am willing to accept the fact that they have a right to make those hateful comments, in exchange for my right to speak against them and/or voice my own opinion. We should realize that the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to free speech.