Crossing the picket line

They've been known to be nuisances and cause annoying scenes at funerals for fallen soldiers, and some high profile funerals. But when the members of Westboro Baptist Church hit close to home, they're crossing the line.

According to the picket schedule on their website, WBC will be in full force protesting the Washington Convention Center on Wednesday, July 25, where the AIDS 2012 Conference is being held, but rumor has it the group plans to make an appearance in San Antonio for a memorial service celebrating the life of Jessica Ghawi (aka Jessica Redfield). She was the aspiring sports reporter who had her own sports blog. Ghawi was killed in Aurora, Colorado in the massacre at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises.

Although Ghawi was not in the military, nor gay, WBC will protest any funeral they believe will give them media exposure. San Antonio is not a scheduled stop on their world hate tour, but there is a stop on July 28 in Arlington at Cowboy Stadium to protest Glenn Beck, who hosts a national syndicated radio show. With Arlington being less than 5 hours from San Antonio, it's likely they could make the short trek to the Alamo city and show their fangs.

I decided not to take any chances as I took to my Facebook and Twitter pages to announce a warning of what may come this weekend. Jessica was someone's daughter, someone's sister, someone's friend. Just like any fallen soldier, she too deserves to have a memorial service where her friends and family can gather and remember her. I will do whatever I can to make sure those assholes do not disrespect her loved ones.

According to the website for the Southern Poverty Law Center, WBC earned worldwide attention when they picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard on October 16, 1998. Shepard, the victim of a hate crime, was beaten to death for being gay by two men in Laramie, Wyoming. WBC held signs that read, "God hates fags," and "AIDS kills fags dead."

The site splcenter.org also claims that WBC is funded through many lawsuits they have won because of protection from their first amendment rights. Well I'll tell you what, Shirley Phelps, the first amendment also allows me to call you a nasty-ass, saggy-tit, fugly looking bitch! Get some conditioner for that dry hair of yours, and some anti-wrinkle cream before you decide to come into my city and talk a bunch of shit. FUCK YOU WESTBORO! (photos were all taken from buzzfeed.com where they posted their top 30 favorite Westboro anti-protest signs)

Public Shame? Or is it a fancy phrase for bullying?

As I was reading through my news feed tonight on Facebook, as I do every night, I came across a photo posted by one of our local news stations (not the one I watch, by the way). They posted a picture of a tollway booth with the caption that read: "PUBLIC SHAMING: If you have an outstanding tollway fine you might consider paying up or face public shame. The North Texas Tollway Authority is publicizing a Top 100 list of toll violators in hopes they pay up. What do you think? Should local groups follow the NTTA's lead? We'll share your comments at 6am."

I read through all the comments, and then I weighed in. What would you expect me to do? There were mixed feelings about this by everyone who commented. Some agreed. One person said if you don't want to be bothered, you should pay your bills. Simply put, good point. My initial post (that's right, I commented more than one time) was this: "Everybody's doing it, so why not. We advertise the addresses of sex offenders for the public. We post photos and a blurb of arrest reports in the paper. Why not publish names of those with tollway fines. Maybe after that we can advertise people with outstanding credit card debts. And maybe soon we can advertise pictures of people who default on student loans. Let's just advertise all the scum of the world. I mean, afterall, that's what we're making everyone seem like."

Still, I wanted to see what others would say. A few "liked" my comment. Then I saw another woman's comment which read: "Absolutely a great idea. Maybe if ALL LAWBREAKERS were publicly humiliated before punishment, there might be less crime."

This one really made me think. In a way, I wanted to agree, but I just couldn't. My interpretation of her answer was to bully those with outstanding fines. They would be bullied by being humiliated in public. But isn't this what kids today are doing to one another? Yet, we tell them bullying will not be tolerated, and here we are as authority figures doing it to private citizens who haven't paid what they owe. Granted, I don't know HOW MUCH they owe, but I think it's a little extreme to publicly humiliate them in this fashion.

Why is it ok to humiliate other adults in public, but when kids do it to one another, we scold them? I already know the answer to this, but I'm waiting to see if you do. The answer is, it's not ok. In fact, it's just plain wrong. Yes people have obligations to pay their outstanding fines, but there are other methods of collecting than public humiliation. Send them a collection letter and let them know legal action will follow. You can send them to a collection agency. Remember, some of these options my bring down their credit score. Isn't that punishment enough?

So with that being said, maybe I just think people are going too far with what they publish and whose faces they publish, and for what reasons they are published. But that's just me. I'd love to get your opinion. Subscribe to my page on Facebook at facebook.com/christopherleeperez or TheGossipGuy on Facebook, and on Twitter @thegossipguy.