Fallen Marine's father ordered to pay Westboro Baptist Church $116,000

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/03/03/us.westboro.father/index.html?hpt=C2

Ah, if only there were some way to exert societal pressure on these people and drive them back under their rock.

Like, say, every true Christian preacher denouncing them from the pulpit and/or the intarwebz.

If only...

That's what happens when you lose a lawsuit, doesn't matter who you are?

Unless you're Glen Beck.

The guy's remarks were not a threat. They were a cautionary tale, an observation of what *could* happen (and, given the circumstances, probably will happen eventually).

Saying "if you step out into traffic, you're probably going to get hurt" is not the same as saying "I hope you get hit by a truck."

I wouldn't pay them shit.....not a dime. I'd sell my house as soon as possible (evemn at a loss), give the money to everyone I can trust (to keep in their banks for an indeterminate amount of time) then declare bankruptcy. Bad enough the ruling says WBC can continue their shenanigans, but to make the father pay court costs? Fuck that.....you aren't getting shit. Put me in prison and kiss my ass.

He won't have to pay them. Someone (or more then one) will step up and donate the money.

Not seeing what Beck has to do with this.

Let's hope.

Comparison/contrast.

There is no comparison/contrast that I can see.

You're right. Though I don't have to like the result in this case, I've often said I liked the idea of a "loser pays" system to discourage people or groups using the legal system to harass others when they've got no case.

Ah distraught father, his son killed and bankrupted.

Few could be as dangerous as a man with nothing else to lose.

Loser doesn't really pay. In America the loser doesn't have to pay attorneys fees. Court costs are different. The loser does pay costs. However, $116,000 seems pretty fucking high in plain costs.

Actually wikipedia has the costs at $16,500...I'm wondering if that's accurate (it sounds accurate).

These people thrive on denunciation. Which they get plenty of, from everyone, including Christian preachers at the pulpit.

A combination of consistent, persistent condemnation (not just the disclaimer I've seen here "Oh, they're not REAL Christians!"), combined with a willingness to exhaust them financially, might make them go away.

Exhausting them financially might work, but they really do crave condemnation. The Westboro folk see the hate from other Christians as proof they they are the only ones who have it right. It makes them special. Phelps himself has said that all other Christians are going to hell. When asked if he thought it was possible that there were other Christians out there who agreed with him, he said that if that were so, then they would have joined him by now. Isolation is part of their mystique.

This would accomplish what, exactly? The "Westboro Baptist Church" doesn't exactly have supporters. I'm not sure I have ever heard of a person who didn't know that they were IRL trolls.

Which is why they're able to act with impunity.

Again, a combination of nationwide solidarity by every legitimate Christian organization speaking out against them, and an effort to spread their resources so thin that they go bankrupt could be effective.

Everyone speaks out against them. They get nothing but hate everywhere they go. They want it that way. Their entire worldview depends on it.

Well, I don't know either, but THIS BECK says it's time for a goddamned new government all together. Nothing would please Beck your poster more than to shred our system's limbs and the people who run it and suck the marrow from their broken bones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:chef:

I don't think it would. As others have said, they thrive on being the way they are.

Donating to the Al Snyder Legal Fund

Also Bill O'Reilly is supposedly pledging over $16,000

Article: Financial help for Al Snyder

I'm sorry, but it's clear that you don't understand the situation.

Can't Fred Phelps be imprisoned for income tax evasion or something like that?

Ah, so there's more to it than what's in the news media. And you know this because -?

He could certainly be investigated, as could any donors to his cause. The IRS could make things very unpleasant for all parties concerned.

What's needed is some sort of Wikileaks-type of revelation of the sources of his income that would embarrass any "upstanding citizens" who might be on his donor list.

Unless you are the government.

As I understand it, his "church" still has to file with the IRS. Those documents are confidential so there could be some government employee willing to do a wiki-type operation. They would certainly be punished but in no danger of execution for treason.

I'm surprised the IRS hasn't gone after Westboro.

They are incorporated in Kansas (I checked) so they probably are incorporated as a Religious Non-Profit (like my church is here in Delaware). That means they fall under the IRS regulations about such entities refraining from overt political activities. And I would call protesting military funerals a "political activity".

Protesters, somebody needs to pull a play from the Gadaffi play book on these bastards.

so how big is this church anyway? I think one of my coworkers is a member...

Not at all. As usual, you're just very bad at coming to the correct conclusion based on the given facts.