"God is America's Terror."

"God Hates You!"

These are some of the messages displayed on Westboro Baptist Church and on members' picket signs while they protest at funerals of fallen soldiers from Iraq. Such demonstrations have led to a lawsuit by the father of a deceased Marine.,"”Thank God for DEAD Soldiers!"

"God is America's Terror."

"God Hates You!"

These are some of the messages displayed on Westboro Baptist Church on members picket signs while they protest at funerals of fallen soldiers from Iraq.

Such demonstrations have led to a lawsuit by the father of a deceased marine.

Albert Snyder, father of a marine who was killed in Iraq named Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, is suing Westboro protesters for for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional stress.

The Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. preaches that the deaths of nearly 4,200 soldiers in Iraq are God's wrath on America for becoming a society that tolerates homosexuality.

According to protester Shirley Phelps-Roper, the church "preaches to the living to connect the dots to the parents of the dead child…he (Cpl. Snyder) fought for a nation who has made God a No. 1 enemy."

Protesters have refused to apologize.

A jury trial is currently underway in Baltimore, Md. where the funeral of Corporal Snyder took place. The case will undoubtedly test the limits of free speech.

According to Judge Richard Bennett, the United States District Court judge presiding over the case, the jurors will have to determine whether the "defendant's actions would be highly offensive to a reasonable person."

Whether they were "extreme and outrageous" and whether these actions were "so offensive and shocking as to not be entitled to First Amendment protection," Bennett told Associated Press reporters.

The protesters "wanted their message heard and didn't care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside" who turned the funeral into a "media circus," Snyder said.

The Westboro Baptist protesters are a bunch of heartless kooks who have clearly and repeatedly stepped over the line of appropriate freedom of speech, and personally I hope they get their pants sued off in the current lawsuit.

However, anyone who travels across the country to protest for something they believe is wrong shows commendable dedication to their cause.

I commend anyone who passionately believes something and works for change.

With that in mind I want to thank members of the war protests here at Marquette that have occurred over the past few weeks.

It takes gall to stand outside with a sign challenging the university president with questions of justice and action.

However, we must remember the goal of protests is to influence policy change and not to alienate people who serve our country.

I am against the war in Iraq, and have no qualms about saying so.

I find it no coincidence that we fight to liberate the people of Iraq, a country rich in oil, from an evil leader but do not fight to defend the people from genocide in Darfur, a region of Sudan without oil or natural resources.

And I really hate that instead of finding a diplomatic solution to problems with Iraq the U.S. started a war which has resulted in the deaths of nearly 4,200 American soldiers.

Here on campus many people have come to feel last week's anti-war protest, which questioned whether or not a Jesuit institution like Marquette should have a Reserve Officers' Training Corps was, in a way, an attack against ROTC members themselves.

I was unable to attend, and as such I don't know whether those sentiments are true. What I do know is that it is important for us to learn from the ridiculous antics of the Westboro Baptist protesters.

Always remember the golden rule of war protests: it's OK to stand against the war, but don't stand against the soldiers.

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