Playing the Devil's Advocate: WBC at The Arizona Funerals

"Good." That was my wife's first response to the news article. Admittedly, mine as well. I must say I have no respect whatsoever for Westboro Baptist's Church's habit of protesting funerals. I believe firmly that theirs is a strategy of repeated attempted self-martyrdom. So far they have failed, thankfully, but I fear one day they'll succeed in eliciting a much deserved violent response at one of their protests.

I thought for a moment about ending the previous paragraph with protests in scare quotes. "Protests". It makes a point I suppose, but not the one I'm aiming for. Technically, Westboro's actions have qualified as protests. They assemble, they form lines, they hold signs, they probably sing and do chants, catchy, cheezy and shudder-inducing rhymes... they've never gotten violent, unless you personify your sensibilities, and from what I can tell they've never violated a law.

If, however, they attend the upcoming funerals for those who died at the hands of deranged spree killer Jared Lee Loughner in their typical fasion they will be violating the law. Today the Arizona legislature unanimously passed legislation that will bar members of Westboro Baptist Church from protesting at the shooting victims' funerals.

Earlier in the day, the state legislature passed the measure, which targets a Kansas church whose members announced they plan to picket the funerals of the victims of Saturday's shootings in Tucson.

WBC protestors, should they attend and protest would not have to adjust their methods in order to be in violation of the new law. The very act of protesting, when and where they normally do has now been made illegal by emergency action of the Arizona state legislature.

"Good." It was my first inclination as well.

But that't not how we play when we're playing the Devil's Advocate. I'm inclined to do a little thought exercise that I often do when there is any action that seems to be supported by a majority of any group and especially when that action has the wholesale endorsement of aparently everyone, everywhere. "What's wrong with this?" I ask myself. "There's got to be something."

Perhaps there is.

This week, in Arizona we have the confluence of two completely crazy forces - one that's absolutely certifiably insane, and one who may not fit the clinical diagnosis but is far enough out of whack with the mainstream plus whatever amount of margin you care to pad it with to certainly warrant at least an unofficial diagnosis. Two crazy forces that have come together to do something that rarely ever happens - create a situation where partisanship can be put, not only aisde, but be put in a drawer, in the back under a whole bunch of junk, such that unanimous agreement on a bill just introduced can pass, and be immediately signed into law.

Not even the most powerful political action committee, with the most donations from the most corporations, in our nation could dream of the success that these two crazy forces have had in their commingling this week, in Arizona.

Think about that for a moment. Not even the most powerful lobbying group could have this kind of success and it could be argued that it will, in some small way, nullify at least a part of the first amendment of our Constitution. Not the second, oh the much protected second, nor the eighth, nor any other amendment that should I list it here most would have to do a quick google search to even know with what it pertains. The amendment that guarantees and protects the rights that, without question are the most important to all Americans, because of two stark raving mad entities, will lose a bit of it's bite, perhaps, this week, in Arizona.

This is about the time that one has to reinforce his ideals because for some readers they may become somewhat indistinct. I do not like Westboro Baptist Church. I think their actions are corrupt perversions of those of true Christians. They represent an ideal that likely couldn't even be effectively skewered by satire due to their already over-the-top bastardizations of philosophy - not even a supernatural conflux of the greatest satirical minds to ever live both past and present - Twain, Chevy Chase, The Onion's writing staff - not even they could effectively find even a tenuous foothold of obscene overbearing liberty with which to satirically exploit the nature of the actions of the members of Westboro Baptist Church. Not even the top writers for Cracked.com could do such, therefore they hold no shelter with me, not a single leaf's worth of shade against the blinding, burning, cancer causing sunlight of all that is right could they find with me.

Yet, a tiny, loud, nagging part of me is screaming, from it's pearch on the beanbag chair of my brain, it's screaming "hey, aren't their rights being violated here?"

The, perhaps more reasoned part of my conscious self argues back "Why shouldn't their rights be violated? Aren't they assholes?"

"Aren't you?" my annoying component questions back. It's a rhetorical question, of course I am. I know this, though I'm sure I'll be told. We, each and every single one of us, are desperate recipients of each liberty guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Whether or not we know it. While I suppose it's very much preferable that it is two entities whose addresses have zip codes far within the boundaries of the lunatic fringe that have made such an historic legislative anomaly materialize, as opposed to the highest paid corporate lobbyists in Washington an ever growing portion of myself hopes that this new Arizona law is struck down.

Though I will not shed even a single tear if the repeal is "delayed" until the funerals for those brutally murdered Saturday has safely and uneventfully passed.