Justice done!

Rudi Jansen, Esquiule, France

Excellent, hit the bigots where it hurts!

I can tolerate almost anything but intolerance - and this is a particularly nasty form of it.

Please bear in mind that many church groups are welcoming and affirming to gay and lesbian people! Eg:

http://www.acceptingevangelicals.org/Index.htm

andrew holden, oxford, uk

At last some sense at this outrageous group. While I agree everyone is entitled to their opinion, this behaviour can be likened to inciting racial hate which there is a very harsh penalty for. Good on the judge and I do hope they manage to get the monies that have been requested. My thoughts are with the family who had to suffer this protest.

Jason, Manchester,

i just don't know what to say...i am flabagasted that a group of people would do this.....and they call themselves christians?

Tim, London, UK

This is so terrible and such a shame that 'Christianity' (using the term very loosely) is being portrayed in such a horrible manner. I am a Christian and while I don't agree with homosexuality I will still love them and treat them with respect. Also, the most important rule from the Bible, the one that Jesus claims is the most important is to love one another. I see no way of this being a loving and Christian thing. Once again a bunch of people twisting scripture and putting it as what 'God says". A person's funeral is no place to come and push these horrible views and the soldier's family should have the right to mourn the loss of their son in peace and privacy.

Alexis, Somerset,

They are so disgusting.. may God forgive them.

GIulia, Pavia, Italy

As a Christian I feel I have to respond and say that I find the views held and actions undertaken by the Westboro Baptist Church as abhorrent and totally at odds with Christ's message of love, tolerance , acceptence, forgiveness and non -judgementalism. Thankfully these people are in the minority amongst Christians but unfortunately they have big mouths and draw media attention and there is a danger that some people will assume all Christians hold similar views. I am disappointed that their sentence was so lenient.

Matt Spry, Plymouth, UK

I am not a christian but I agree with a lot of what Jesus had preached about mankind and the nature of all. But I also know that the Bible does not approve of Homosexuality either.
Still not an excuse for those religious nuts to protest a straight fallen soldiers funeral. Dealing with the loss of a love one is hard enough and when you add something like this it degrades the fall one, his family, and the christian community at large.

Maybe the most important thing for all religious people is to realize is that most of their religious book preach tolerance as one of the most important virtues.

Naleen, Union City, California

Aside from the fact that "the war in Iraq is a punishment for America’s tolerance of homosexuality" is one of the most ridiculous religious beliefs I have ever heard, hijacking the funeral of a person of any creed, religion or political belief cannot be justified. Shut these fools down.

Duke, Bristol, UK

Truly sad. As a Bible believing Christian, it is not the best thing according to the Creator and his will to be engaging in this kind of miserable and senseless conflicts full of hatred and pride. Often times religion itself makes some lose perspective and misunderstand the clear message and the mission we Christians have been asked to perform. The Lord will soon come because we all as humans have rejected our Creator and therefore we are destined to be dead forever; far from Him. That is the message. The harvest will be very soon. Turn onto the Creator before it's too late. Accept His plan for salvation (Jesus defeated death for us) .There is a battle, but this is not the way to fight it. Give your life to Jesus the Savior. There is the key to salvation. There is my seed. You've heard the Good News. What you do with this, whether you try to look for some more, ask questions etc., will be between yourself and God. All this is God's will; it's in his word, the Bible. John 3:16.

Miguel, Sumter, US

Maybe this sect should migrate to Iraq and Iran and join their militant muslem counterparts. This country was found on "FREEDOM". However, they may be the ones who should be afraid of judgment, The FINAL Judgment. This is the type of group that is guilty of homeland terror. They may not commit it with physical acts of violence, but their demonstrations are anything but civil protests. Congratulations to the family that won the lawsuit. Even if they never see a penny, they will have the satisfaction that our judicial system works.

D. Burks, Murfreesboro, TN

Believe what the hell you want.. just keep it to yourself... The church can continue to do this... Just keep paying out to the famiiles..

Adam Webb, MK, UK

At first, every time i saw her face on t.v, i wanted to grab a long haul flight and plant a fist in the mouth of that gabbling, pompous, saggy, withered, aged, crone-like neo-con, neo-nazi, neo-scylla, neo-gorgon old hag.

Now i can't get enough of their mindless babbling, its deeply entertaining to watch fundamentalists try and convince us that the world is flat, tom cruise is jesus, or in miss phelps case: we're all going to hell because we dont advocate the execution of gays-absolute nutjobs-the lot of em!

what she and her church are doing, however, is beyond a joke.
it is a disgusting insult to free speech, a monstrous display of ego and most of all, the vocalbulary and actions of a church (fred, shirley, and all the homophobic Phelp's-Brady gang) which would no doubt love weekly dinner with the Hitlers.

jerome thompson, bristol,

I live in Kentucky, USA where I have witnessed one of these protests. Although, it never really got off the ground, because a biker gang stood up to them and told them on TV that if they came to the funeral and protested they would go home in body bags. While I do not support this, I am glad they were shut down. Christians stand for peace and tolerance and obviously these bible beaters are anything but Christians. It disugusts me that people would actually hide behind God and religion to further their own agendas. I am a Christian and it is not for me to judge other's sexual preferences. What do I care? I am on this earth to do God's work, and hate is NOT a Christian value! :)

Melissa Ray, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

What I do not understand is if these idiots do not like things here in the great UNITED STATES OF AMERICAN, why do they not go and live elsewhere? Maybe a Jim Jones community where we could serve up some nice kool-aid to them all? Starting to sound good to me. May God make all of their children homosexual soldiers!!!!

Carol, Southwestern , United States

Why does it seem that the most violent and hateful people on the planet are also the most religious?

Jeff, Sacramento, California, United States

Regardless of the outrageous behavior of these people and however perverse they seem to the majority of us, freedom of speech should win the day. Regretfully, freedoms come with a price and the law suit will probably fail on appeal.

Andrew S., St. John's, Canada

As a bible believing Christian i want to make clear that the things this 'Church' have done are sickning and unnessersary.
This is not how the God of the bible expects us to share the good news.

Chris Nicholson, london, England

Wasn't this the same Church that Louis Theroux spent some time with? I believe it was. I am happy that the this church has been fined so heavily. They were so naive, ignorant and stupid. Although I am not religious, I feel that this group are a disgrace not only to christianity but to humanity.I wonder how the members of the church would feel if their funerals are interfered with.

YMW, London,

There apparently is a God. And he obviously doesn't care for these monsters if he allowed them to be fined a crippling amount like that. Nevermind, eh lads, we're all doomed anyway for not being as insane as you, right? I'm not a religious man, but I sincerely hope the lot of Phelp's loathsome brood burn in hell.

Freedom of speech is a great thing but such hurtful and wicked remarks have no place at funerals where grieving families are saying goodbye to their loved ones for the last time [/Blindingly obvious]

Karl Lynch, Canterbury, Kent

really disgusting this thing - disturbing the funeral and increasing the grief of the family. Your opinoin of the Iraqi war must not lead to such consequences!

göran gerdås, nässjö, sweden

A perfectly legal and reasonable suit against these people. It is not the fallen soldiers, nor their families, who are responsible for the 'tolerance of homosexuality' in the USA. What these fundamentalists have forgotten is that the exact same rights they claim for their religion and the protest are those which have be used against them by this family.

I sincerely hope that this award is not overturned on appeal, and that many more law suits in a similar vein follow it.

Pi, Hoya, Germany

I think its more likely that God hates it when people drag him into things like this. I think this backward militantism retards other people's efforts to further God's work. I hope they have to pay the whole thing and learn that divine attitude of humility. ok that last one is unlikely, but we can hope...

CW, lowestoft, UK

Good old freedom of speech.

Farrukh, Woking, UK

And people ask me why I can't stand religion.....disgusting

jennifer , glasgow,

From Christians all over the world who follow the BIBLE and live by the example Jesus set of LOVE, and 'judge not lest ye be judged yourself', - thanks very much Westboro Baptist Church, your ignorance, prejudice and hatred has undermined us all.

Kate, Colchester,

Your right to swing your fist stops when it hits my face. The Westboro Baptist Church should heed the message from Maryland. Everyone is entitled to their views no matter how 'far-out' they may seem to the mainstream. However, to foist your views on others at a time at which it is obvious they would cause extreme grief and distress is abhorrent in the extreme and should be punished accordingly. Well done Mr Snyder.

BCG, Perth, WA

Ah, the true face of religion.

Mike, Berlin,

I hope that Mr. Snyder and his attorneys take every penny that those hate-mongers have.
There is a time and a place for protest-although I have trouble believing there is ever a time and a place for that kind of hatred- and I hope these fanatics learn to think twice about their disgusting mantras as they lose all of their possessions in the name of their 'cause'.

Rebecca Walsh, London, England

Good grief! Have any of this so called-church ever read the Bible?! I believe Jesus' words were 'love your neighbour as yourself'. Speaking as a Christian, I have little doubt that Fred Phelps and his hate-merchants are not Christians at all, but just bigots hiding behind a religious disguise. I am outraged by their behaviour, and I'm sure God is too.

John, Welwyn Garden City,