US church gets fined for desecrating Marine's funeral

The Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church has been fined US $10.9 million (Canadian $10.2 million) by a court in Maryland for invasion of privacy and emotional distress resulting from its protests at the funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who died in Iraq in March 2006.

Members of the church attended Snyder's funeral with signs saying "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "You're going to hell".

The Westboro Baptist Church, which is not affiliated with any Baptist movement, claims that the losses suffered by the US in the Iraq War are the result of Americans' toleration of homosexuality. In their defence, members of the church argued that they had a constitutional right to free speech. The church plans to appeal the sentence (BBC).

What I don't understant is this: if the members of the church do think homosexuality is so offensive, why say "You're going to hell" at the funeral of a soldier who probably had nothing to do with that orientation? Why adopt a repulsive practice to fight something which the church considers repulsive?

Documentary on "most hated family" in the US produced

A documentary film has been made about the Phelps family, which pickets the funerals of US soldiers killed in Iraq, claiming that the war deaths are God's punishment for America's toleration of homosexuality. The reactions aroused by their protests have led the Phelpses to start calling themselves "the most hated family" in the country. In their protests, the Phelpses represent the Westboro Baptist Church, located in Topeka, Kansas, and consisting mostly of relatives of the preacher, "Gramps" Fred Phelps (BBC).