Rubens De Ocampo

Per.6
1/9/19

Current Event
Publication Source: The Baltimore Sun

Title of the Article: Hateful, but not Illegal

Date of the article: October 06, 2010

Few things could be more distressing to grieving family members attending the funeral
of a loved one than the sudden appearance of demonstrators with very offensive and
hurtful flags to a mourning family. The funeral of Matthew A. Snyder had been chosen
by Westboro Baptist Church. Westboro Church chose Snyder’s death to convince
Americans that military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are God’s punishment for the
nation's tolerance of homosexuality. Corporal Matthew Snyder was not homosexual, but
the group used the solemn occasion of his funeral to gain the public for twisted views.
At the end of this protest, it only gave more suffering to Snyder’s family.

1. Obscenities - the state or quality of being obscene; obscene behavior, language, or

images.
2. Odious -extremely unpleasant; repulsive.
3. Repugnant - extremely distasteful; unacceptable
4. Scrupulously - diligent, thorough, and extremely attentive to details
5. Precedents - an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be
considered in subsequent similar circumstances.

Albert Snyder was very distressed with the protestors. The author thinks that Albert Snyder and
his family were very affected by the protesters because they were not letting Corporal Matthew
Snyder rest in peace. I feel like the protestors were very cruel toward the Snyder family. It doesn't
affect me but it affects the people around me who are homosexual. I would stand up against
those protestors, I'm willing to do this to end sexist people.

I think people should care about this because this causes emotional distress to these people
who are homosexual. I don’t think this would become a large issue because people have the
right to freedom of speech. I think the role of individuals in order to fix this problem is to
support, supporting the families who are affected by these cruel words.