600 Patriot Guard Riders stood vigil for Staff Sgt. Michael Bock

Staff Sgt. Michael Bock, 26, who died August 13 in Afghanistan's Helmand province

He should be the focus of this story. He was killed serving this country. He didn't serve Afghanistan. He died there. He served the United States of America. He served with his brothers and sisters, his military family just as much as he served for his family and friends back home. The nation borrowed him for a time but he was their's first and they will remember him, mourn the loss of him, visit his grave and grieve for him as Michael Bock.

The incident occurred during the funeral and while nearly 600 members of the Patriot Guard Riders ringed the church and stood vigil, the group's state leader said.

Scott Knudsen, Patriot Guard Riders captain for Nebraska, said no members of the Patriot Guard had any interaction with the church members or counter-protesters, which he numbered Saturday at about 12.

"We don't get close to them," Knudsen said of the Westboro members. "We have our backs to them."

Patriot Guard members, who come when they are invited by families, shield families from distraction, Knudsen said.

"We don't condone counter-protesters," said Knudsen, adding he was troubled by Saturday's incident.

"It's inappropriate," he said. "It's a funeral service."

The 600 riders of the Patriot Guard came to honor his life as well as stand as a barrier between the protestors of the Westboro group. (Sorry but I have a hard time calling them a church with the way they act.) On short notice, they plan to give up plans they had ahead of time, make the ride or the drive to these funerals and face whatever the weather brings. In the freezing cold, rain, snow or sweltering heat, they stand guard to protect the family and friends as much as possible. Imagine how heartbreaking it is to have to bury a young member of your family and then be greeted by signs saying someone is thanking God for IED and praising Him for blowing up the troops. That's no god I know. It can't be the same God who sent Christ to tell us how much He loved us or the same one telling us that we needed to love each other. The Patriot Guard Riders formed for this mission as soon as the Westboro group decided to invade and attack mourners at a funeral.

Protestors and counter protestors will keep going on as long as the Supreme Court refuses to stop this. Free speech does need to be protected but since when does someone's free speech rights demand anyone has to listen to them, see them or be attacked by them?

If people want to protest no one is stopping them but the point here is that the family has no choice. They get to decide what color the casket should be. They get to decide what funeral home will conduct it, what church to hold the service in or to have no religious service at all, when to have it and what flowers to order. They get to decide what cemetery they visit. They have to be there with the other family members and friends to comfort each other but the Westboro group does not have to be there. They can go some place else but they want the publicity. Why the hell should the Supreme Court defend their right to publicize hatred to a captive audience?

Should someone in the Westboro group pass away, would it be ok with them if family members of the fallen showed up to protest at the funeral for one of their own? Can they hold up signs saying "Thank God for sending this one back to hell?" Would it be ok with them for someone to shout out about God's judgement and vengeance? How would they feel if someone shouted out that the person they loved deserved to die?

Man fires pepper spray on protesters outside Marine's funeral
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 28, 2010 11:28 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Church member says police didn't control counter-protesters
A motorist fires pepper spray on a crowd outside a funeral for a Marine
Protesters from Westboro Baptist Church were in Omaha, Nebraska
An Omaha resident faces felony and misdemeanor assault charges

(CNN) -- A motorist fired pepper spray Saturday at a group of demonstrators and counter-protesters outside a funeral for a U.S. Marine in Omaha, Nebraska, police said.

The incident occurred shortly before 10 a.m. (11 a.m. ET) as members of a small Kansas church that protests at military funerals and counter-protesters stood nearly a block away from First United Methodist Church during services for Staff Sgt. Michael Bock, 26, who died August 13 in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

A man in a Ford-150 pickup truck drove by, extended his arm and sprayed with a large can, police said. His vehicle was stopped a few minutes later.

"Initial indications are he was probably targeting the Westboro Baptist Church" protesters, said officer Michael Pecha, a spokesman for Omaha police.
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Man fires pepper spray on protesters


Westboro group should not be the focus but had it not been for them CNN wouldn't be covering the story of Staff. Sgt. Bock's funeral. The 600 members of the Patriot Guard Riders wouldn't be covered by CNN had it not been for the man who decided to add to the emotional damage being done by attacking the people adding to the trauma.

Fred Phelps
Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. (born November 13, 1929) is an American pastor who is the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), an Independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas. WBC that is notorious for its anti-gay protests, claiming that most natural disasters and terrorist attacks are God's punishment for a society that tolerates homosexuality.[1][2] The church is monitored as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center.[3][4][5] Phelps was a disbarred lawyer, founder of the Phelps Chartered law firm, a past civil rights activist in Kansas, and a Democrat who has five times been a candidate for political office in Kansas Democratic Party primaries. He and his daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, are banned from entering the United Kingdom.[6]

Phelps's followers frequently picket various events, especially military funerals, gay pride gatherings, high-profile political gatherings, performances of The Laramie Project, and even Christian gatherings and concerts with which he had no affiliation, arguing it is their sacred duty to warn others of God's anger. When criticized, Phelps' followers say they are protected in doing so by the First Amendment.[7][8] In response to Phelps' protests at military funerals, President George W. Bush signed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act into law in May 2006,[9] and, in April 2007, Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius signed into law a bill establishing a 150-foot no-picketing buffer zone around funerals.

Phelps describes himself as an Old School Baptist, and states that he holds to all five points of Calvinism.[23] Phelps particularly highlights John Calvin's doctrine of unconditional election, the belief that God has elected certain people for salvation before birth, and limited atonement, the belief that Christ only died for the elect, and condemns those who believe otherwise

He has the right to believe what he wants but so does everyone else. He has the right to preach his message of hatred but no one should be forced to listen to him or any member of his group. This not only crosses the line of freedom of religion, it corrupts the right to free speech. "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" should protect the family members from having to listen to him and his group thank God for the death of a fallen son or daughter, protect them from having their liberty to attend a funeral without being harassed but it seems the only ones to deserve any happiness are those rejoicing with Phelps over the loss of life.

How someone goes from being a civil rights lawyer to attacking the civil rights of others is something we may never know.


But here is a story that CNN didn't cover. Lance Cpl. Nathaniel Schultz died in Afghanistan and his funeral was at a Baptist Church. Why did he want to serve? This is what he said,,,,

"To fight for righteous, individual freedom for myself and all children of God no matter where they were raised."

Yet while most people were thanking God for his life being sent here, people like the Westboro group were thanking God another Marine died. Which group do you think follows what Christ preached?

Fallen Marine was defender of 'righteous freedom'
By Bill Varian, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, August 29, 2010
Some time after he joined the Marine Corps, Nathaniel Schultz filled out a questionnaire asking him why he had signed up.

"Self reliance and ability to protect my family," Schultz wrote. "Decided if I go to war I might as well be the best, most well-trained. To fight for righteous, individual freedom for myself and all children of God no matter where they were raised."

Family and friends gathered under mostly cloudy skies Saturday morning at Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon to honor a righteous fight cut short and the young man who waged it. There they were comforted by Pastor George Thomasson, who held up Schultz's goals as evidence of his focus, dedication and deep convictions.

"Nate's life was cut so short," Thomasson said. "We so appreciate deeply in our hearts the sacrifice he made."

Lance Cpl. Schultz was killed Aug. 21 during combat operations in Afghanistan's war-ravaged Helmand province. He was deployed to that country in June after training at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and was promoted to lance corporal three weeks before his death.
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Fallen Marine was defender of righteous freedom