Is free speech in America too free?

        In the documentary "Significant Minority", the Westboro Baptist Church is shown as an example of free speech being taken to a most extreme and controversial extent. Founded in 1955, the Westboro Baptist Church preaches vulgarly hate-filled messages that criticize gays, America, and Catholic priests. The WBC interprets the Bible in their own special way; for instance, the WBC insists that 911 was an act of God against America for allowing gay soldiers to be enlisted. The group spreads their messages by holding signs in public such as "GOD HATES FAGS", and is enthusiastic to give their children these signs to hold. The WBC is also strongly against the Catholic Church, voicing concern and anger over a child rape scandal involving Catholic priests, along with the fact that the Pope had tried hide the scandal. The WBC is also known for picketing at people's funerals; After picketing at a gay soldier's funeral, the WBC protestors got successfully sued by the soldier's family members for compensatory damages and punitive damages for invasion of privacy and emotional distress (Belzman, 2007, 3). Despite their "controversial" protests, the (currently 39) members of the Church perform acts of protest that are allowed and within the bounds of their civil liberties in the Constitution. ("About Westboro Baptist Church", 2014, 1)

        Judging by the actions of the WBC, I think that free speech is not worth the intrinsic value of freedom over the antisocial effects it can produce. The Westboro Baptist Church definitely has opinions and beliefs that I would establish as crazy. Apart from their negative perception of the Pope, their views are a general negative influence on society. In particular, the church members are allowed to teach their children their terrible beliefs and give them profane signs to hold up. These children could easily grow up to become hate-filled and violent, after being taught at a young age to hate homosexuals. While allowing controversial statements to be freely expressed supposedly can keep people's brains active, the Westboro Baptist Church is more of a headache than a constructive think tank. (It's actually ironic that the WBC condemns the very country that allows them their freedom to express their views.) I think that it is okay to protest and hold up signs, but that it is not okay to teach your children to hold up hateful anti-gay signs. Therefore, the views of the WBC should determine whether or not they are allowed freedom of offensive speech. I think that America should do the converse of what Russia is doing with gay expression: make it illegal to teach kids to hate gays. While that is unlikely to happen, I believe that over time, the people who believe in the WBC's beliefs (mostly family) will eventually fade away out of society as homosexuals become more and more a normal part of society.

Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ygBjvKKQqM
Belzman, Josh. "Father Wins Millions from War Funeral Pickets."Msnbc.com. Msnb, 31 Oct. 2007. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.
" About Westboro Baptist Church." About Westboro Baptist Church. Westboro Baptist Church, n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2014.