crowdog66

The funeral of Tim McLean (may he rest in peace) might be a flashpoint of raw emotion as not only the Westboro Baptist Church turns out to picket, but also PETA.

The audacity, it boggles the mind.

However, the WBC folks may have grown a brain and decided that protesting at the funeral might be *gasp* dangerous. And they're daring to play the "OMG YU PEEPLE HAS NO FREEDUM OF RELIJIN!1!!" card. *snort* Please. What we DO have is freedom from harassment clauses in our laws, to wit:

175. (1) Every one who
a) not being in a dwelling-house, causes a disturbance in or near a public place,
(i) by fighting, screaming, shouting, swearing, singing or using insulting or obscene language,is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
176. (1) Every one who
(a) by threats or force, unlawfully obstructs or prevents or endeavours to obstruct or prevent a clergyman or minister from celebrating divine service or performing any other function in connection with his calling, or
(b) knowing that a clergyman or minister is about to perform, is on his way to perform or is returning from the performance of any of the duties or functions mentioned in paragraph (a)
(i) assaults or offers any violence to him, or
(ii) arrests him on a civil process, or under the pretence of executing a civil process,is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.

(2) Every one who wilfully disturbs or interrupts an assemblage of persons met for religious worship or for a moral, social or benevolent purpose is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
(3) Every one who, at or near a meeting referred to in subsection (2), wilfully does anything that disturbs the order or solemnity of the meeting is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

And:

180. (1) Every one who commits a common nuisance and thereby
(a) endangers the lives, safety or health of the public, or
(b) causes physical injury to any person,is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
(2) For the purposes of this section, every one commits a common nuisance who does an unlawful act or fails to discharge a legal duty and thereby
(a) endangers the lives, safety, health, property or comfort of the public; or
(b) obstructs the public in the exercise or enjoyment of any right that is common to ALL SUBJECTS OF HER MAJESTY IN CANADA.

In other words, if either WBC or PETA shows up at the funeral and starts shilling their shit, they may well be screwed. I, for one, will be waving pom-poms and cheering myself hoarse.

Those of you who have been following my journal for a while have seen how I operate. I have strong opinions, but I try (I really do try) to see both sides of any weighty issue that crosses my path. I don't always succeed but I strive to operate from a place of balance and, hopefully, wisdom. I try not to let my emotions get the better of me.

PETA's latest publicity stunt is not something that I can take in stride that way. It baffles and enrages me to the point where I've been seething about it all day, muttering under my breath as I work and certainly baffling George, who has been polite enough not to comment. Other bloggers have gotten to this topic before me, and much more eloquently, but if I don't get this off my chest I feel like I'm going to blow a gasket.

First of all, here's the ad they wanted to run.

( An innocent young victim's throat is cut... )

Got that in your head? Fully absorbed it? Okay, here we go...

Hey, admistrators of PETA?

Fuck you, up down and sideways, with a rusty fork. I hope you all die in a fire, you self-righteous pig-fuckers (and oh lordy, do I pity those pigs).

May you burn to death slowly, cooking you to perfect tenderness, and then may your deliciously savory flesh be enjoyed by your worst enemies. Your arrogant, heartless, callous use of a family's deepest tragedy to further your own crackpot political ends make you unfit to associate with other, more civilized human beings (who are certainly self-interested and sometimes don't care who they hurt, but seldom to the staggering level of corporate cold-bloodedness that you've just demonstated).

I hope nobody wearing a PETA pin or other identifying mark aligning them with your organization crosses my path until I've cooled off (which is going to take a while), because if they do I'm likely to use my fist to break their face.

You champion compassion while stooping to the lowest depths of manipulative self-interest. Any sympathy I had for your cause is dead, gone, vanished, annihilated by your filthy tactics. May people now see you for what you are and treat you with the contempt and loathing that you so richly deserve.

...

Not exactly civilized, I know. But heartfelt, and that's gotta count for something.

If any of you want to unfriend me after this, I'll understand.