What Will Norway Make of the Westboro Baptist Church?

[rug]

The ever-infuriating Westboro Baptist Church, which made its reputation picketing the funerals of soldiers while holding signs saying "god hates fags" and "thank god for dead soldiers," says it is heading to Norway to lend its presence to the funerals of those killed in the July 22 massacre. The group posted a press release to its website announcing its plans to picket the funerals of those who lost their lives when Anders Breivik set off a bomb in Oslo that killed eight and then traveled to the island of Utoya to execute 69 at a youth camp. The Topeka-based church, run by former civil rights activist Fred Phelps, sees homosexuality as a deadly sin and has vocally interpreted slain soldiers as a message from god that the United States is "a sodomite nation of flag-worshiping idolaters." The Norway venture seems to be in the same vein.

But unlike in the United States, where the Supreme Court has upheld the church's right to picket funerals and protest synagogues, Norway has laws banning hate speech. Its penal code reads, in part:

Any person who wilfully or through gross negligence publicly utters a discriminatory or hateful expression shall be liable to fines or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years. An expression that is uttered in such a way that it is likely to reach a large number of persons shall be deemed equivalent to a publicly uttered expression, cf. section 7, No. 2. The use of symbols shall also be deemed to be an expression. Any person who aids and abets such an offence shall be liable to the same penalty.

If Westboro is going to protest, its members had better get their lawyers ready. Holding a sign outside a funeral would certainly constitute public speech. In a story about the church's plan, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) got a quote from Oslo Police chief of staff John Fuller. " If they implement what they threaten, I can only confirm that it is one of the most bad ideas at the moment," Fuller said, adding that he "hoped they restrained themselves." But one Norwegian posting in an English-language message board said he doubted the church would even be granted access to enter the country, and if they did make it to a funeral, "they'll be surrounded by some tens of thousand people telling them how completely insane they are."

http://news.yahoo.com/norway-westboro-baptist-church-185517052.html

[dhill926]

1. lutefisk.........n/t

[PoliticAverse]

2. Why would Norway even grant these idiots entry to the country ? n/t

[izquierdista]

5. We can only hope they do

And lock them all up for three years before deporting them.

[dflprincess]

6. Hopefully they won't let them in. n/t

[Cheap_Trick]

3. Roadkill, hopefully. nt

[struggle4progress]

4. Westboro does stuff like this for attention: if they get the attention simply by announcing

they're off to Norway, then they don't need to go to Norway. In fact, with some regularity, Westboro says they're headed somewhere, grabs some headlines, then doesn't show

[PoliticAverse]

7. Yes, it would help if the media would give these people less of the attention they crave. n/t

[trotsky]

12. Would it?

Seems to me it has a beneficial effect. The more light that's shined on these rabid, hateful Christians the more people will associate THEM with homophobia and intolerance, and it will become less of a mainstream position to hate homosexuals. Despite (or as I suspect, because of) the media attention given to Westboro, support for gay marriage has never been higher!

[PoliticAverse]

13. That's a reasonable counter argument, giving these asshats publicity for the greater good... n/t

[rpannier]

8. Deny them the right to be in their country

I'd wait til they got to the airport in Oslo.
Deny them entry and send them back on the first available airline

I'd make arrangements with MIAT

[AnnieBW]

9. At least the US is exporting something

The bad news is that it's bullets and crazies. :(

[jaysunb]

10. Jail...then mental institutes for evaluation

:shrug:

[humblebum]

11. Hopefully, if they aren't turned away, they'll be jailed for hate speech or crimes. nt

[okasha]

14. With any luck, they'll become guests of the Norwegian govt,

and be out of circulaiton for awhile.