First off- my apologies for the delay, my need to chase a dollar tore me away for a while. Not to mention that constructing my side of this argument is time consuming.
Think harder, Scott --your half-baked ideas bore me.
The effect my ideas have upon you and why you find them half-baked and boring is telling, Bobak (notice you know my real name but I have no idea what yours is- willling to share?). The reason my ideas seem 'wacky' or 'out there' to a person like yourself is because you are a common literal thinker with the "everyman's" blindness to what is so often aptly described as
the big picture. I ask you to
also notice that my 'ideas' are somehow not like, say, wizkid's theories- hmm? You just think that I have no grasp of the way constitutional law works and that I've treaded into water that's too deep for me. This fits perfectly into the persona I've already said you've acquired, that of the arrogant, superior-feeling 1st class uber-citizen that is the American
lawyer. It's strange how I just knew this was where you were going to get to all those years ago. (Well,
if you mistake noticing the inevitable for precience).
But I'll admit that I have thrown a lot of ideas into this mix, and that if I were to do it over again, I would have presented them differently. And so I'll re-present them in a moment. But first I will qualify my position on this issue by defining my own values in regards to free speech, freedom of expression and all that jazz...
I am not just an artist, but a writer, satirist and generally freely-expressive individual. I support the rights of Neo-Nazis and the KKK,far left anti-war whackjobs, conspiracy theorists, artists who suspend crucifixes in urine, Nation of Islam, flag burners and anyone else who wants to go and make an potentially-offensive scene of themselves. Hell, one of the core tenets of my personality is my love for playing with and even offending the sensibilities of my fellow humans. I hold very little sacred. I have no belief in god or the supernatural world. I loathe blandness and conformity- revile simplistic, lazy thinking and sentimentality. In a sense- I should be exactly the type of person who would
support the WBCs 'protests' and maybe even enjoy them on a certain level (I used to). But I also am quite logical and I do hold to a (albeit spare) set of beliefs, and one of those is the necessity of maintaining a civil, mannered society. So let that stand as my motivation.
Now- What the WBC is systematically doing that is
wrong here is engaging in an activity that is emotionally traumatizing specifically targeted people in order to carry out a moneymaking/publicity scheme. The key here is what is being done to the people whom the funerals are actually
for. These people are being deliberately
wronged. Funerals are nothing more than a salve to the living- they do nothing for the dead. Funerals are about calming the grief of the berieved. Targeting a funeral due to the recent appearance of instant media and changing nature of the public eye has more than the desired effect in this case. Yeah- they get the attention of the new media (which is the entire point of them protesting), but at the expense of the berieved, harming them in the process.
Let me ask this question to anyone who reads this thread: If it were
you at the funeral of a close family member whose death you'd sorely lament- what would you feel if you realised the WBC had targeted your family's funeral? Would you just tolerate it? Smile through it and pretend it wasn't happening? Be angry? Do something that would break the law? Would the emotional effect of such an agressive, confrontational intrusion into your own personal family business be injurious to you? Would you be horrified, hurt and angry to the point of
duress- but just
take it and maybe try and sue them later on or appeal to the government to do something? Would such a thing be just? Would it be legal? Or more specifically-
should it be legal?
Well now- aren't I being 'emotional' here? No. I am simply illustrating a point- that the funeral of a loved one is is a place where anyone could reasonably expect to find people in a sensitive, emotional condition.
It is what is being done to the families and mourners at these private funerals that should constitute a crime. Or at
least an actionable civil claim that won't get overturned like a pancake in a Denny's kitchen as soon as it hits the Supreme Court.
I am only going to write so much at one clip, so I'll pause here.
Maybe you should study the history of this country a little deeper because you seem unaware of its past crises or how it's persevered because it clearly wasn't "spoon-fed" to you, you must have been too busy doodling. I assume that's the same reason you can't think through your own arguments and identify their ramifications.
I know considerably more about both US and world history than you do, Babar. Just like I know more about most everything (save law, and maybe something like microbrew beer or uh...Minnesota living?) than you do. And yeah- that includes world sociology, politics, religion, etc. 'Cause art isn't even my major talent, and you're being an above-average and formally educated person ain't gonna help you here. Meow.
