“Benefit” isn’t typically the word that comes to mind when The Westboro Baptist Church is brought into the conversation. The organization is notorious for hate speech, which they often demonstrate through distasteful protests and organized events. They are clear contenders for the bad guy, so how do we find the benefit of spreading hate? It is not within the speech itself, but within the example they provide. The Westboro Church is one of the most extreme, but definite examples of the First Amendment.

I am not defending their actions, nor am I asking you to support their message of hate or share their ideas. However, we must respect their rights within the First Amendment. The basic rights and liberties set by the United States Constitution are what makes our country truly great. It is this very document that set the benchmark for fundamental human rights of the modern world. Without it, our freedoms would cease to exist.

The most crucial piece to our constitution is the First Amendment. So long as this amendment exists, then we can remain free. This is what sets us apart from the rest of the world. We can express any idea without fear of repercussion. We are not censored and can speak our opinion to anyone who will listen. The freedom of speech – the ability to say both good and bad at any given time –  is the most basic liberty established in our constitution.

To censor hate speech would violate this fundamental liberty. If society begins to censor the ideas of the people, then we move further from the democracy our founding fathers had intended. The Westboro Baptist Church demonstrates in the most extreme way the vast amount of freedom that we are privileged with. So long as they exist, we can be sure that our speech will not be censored, and that our ideas will not be met with consequence. 

This is precisely why they benefit our society. By allowing a group like them to exist ensures our freedom of speech will not be taken away. Because for free speech to exist, we cannot censor the undesirable parts. It’s unfortunate that hate speech is the means by which we demonstrate our freedom, but it is a necessary evil to a fundamentally democratic society. We know so long as hate speech exists, then we are truly free as Americans. 

This point was clearly illustrated in the 2011 Supreme Court decision of Snyder V. Phelps. The Westboro Church assembled a protest at a memorial service and was sued by the distressed family for defamation and emotional distress. In an 8-1 ruling, the court found in favor of the church, and ruled that they were under ‘special protection’ of the First Amendment. The holding stated, “Speech on a matter of public concern, in a public place, cannot be the basis of liability for a tort of emotional distress.”

The court is not defending their actions, but they are defending their rights. To put a threshold on what even classify as “hateful” is a notoriously tricky argument. What is viewed as hate speech is a subjective and an individualistic experience. Westboro would only argue they are spreading the Word of God. A neo-Nazi might argue that they are simply keeping alive the ideologies of their heritage. What is seen as hate by one group may be seen differently to another. Just because the majority group condemns does not give the right for censorship. 

This is truly power to the people. The Westboro Church demonstrates inadvertently why the United States of America is the greatest country in the world. A group like this could hardly exist anywhere else, and it is for this reason why our country benefits from these extremes. We benefit because when the Westboro Baptist Church demonstrates their hate, they also demonstrate our freedom.