Protester mars Beatrice funeral
Few times in my life have I been as disgusted as I was on Monday morning when I saw protesters in Beatrice at the funeral for a U.S. Army soldier who was killed in Iraq.
At the funeral of 41-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Phillip Travis on Monday morning, protesters from Baldwin county, who believe that God is using soldiers’ deaths to punish the United States for its permissive culture, stood at the entrance to Tabernacle Church in Beatrice with signs that read "Free Ticket to Hell Inside, Repent Liars" and "Sodomites, False Church, Repent."
There is a time and place for everything, including protest against the government, but the funeral of a soldier who has given his life for his country is not the time or place.
I appreciate the fact that we live in a country where we’re allowed to protest. That’s one of the rights that military service members swear an oath to uphold. If you’re against the war in Iraq or any other government policy, that fine. If you want to protest, that’s fine. But don’t do it at a soldier’s funeral.
I got a chance to speak with the protest’s leader, a man named Orlando Bethel. Bethel, a native of Michigan who now lives in Loxley, was a well-spoken, even-voiced man, who said he was "preaching" rather than protesting. While Bethel claimed to be preaching the word of Christ to unbelievers, he failed to see the glaring contradiction in his actions: It’s hard to imagine Christ standing there in his place, doing the same thing, protesting at a soldier’s funeral.
I personally don’t think that Jesus would have had any part of it. If he’d been at the funeral, he would have probably been at the family’s side, teaching his message of love and salvation. That was the way of Christ. He was no fist-pumping, sign-waver.
I didn’t personally know Staff Sgt. Travis, but I know enough about how the Army works to know that he had nothing to do with the making of the policies of the United States and had nothing to do with the decisions that led up to the war in Iraq. Travis was just a soldier doing his duty.
Travis was killed on Dec. 2 when the truck he was riding in overturned, killing him and two other soldiers at Tallil Air Force Base in Iraq. I’ve been to the airbase in Tallil more than a few times and have ridden on the very road where Travis’ accident took place. Thinking about it now, it seems a million miles away from Monroe County and Beatrice. Nonetheless, Travis was there, doing his duty, serving his country.
The least we can do as citizens is to ensure that he has a respectful and dignified funeral, a funeral unblemished by protesters with an anti-war agenda. If they want to protest, they should stake out in front of the White House, the Pentagon or a local national guard armory, all symbols of our government and our military. Any of those locations would be more appropriate than some foot soldiers’ funeral in Beatrice.
At the funeral of 41-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Phillip Travis on Monday morning, protesters from Baldwin county, who believe that God is using soldiers’ deaths to punish the United States for its permissive culture, stood at the entrance to Tabernacle Church in Beatrice with signs that read "Free Ticket to Hell Inside, Repent Liars" and "Sodomites, False Church, Repent."
There is a time and place for everything, including protest against the government, but the funeral of a soldier who has given his life for his country is not the time or place.
I appreciate the fact that we live in a country where we’re allowed to protest. That’s one of the rights that military service members swear an oath to uphold. If you’re against the war in Iraq or any other government policy, that fine. If you want to protest, that’s fine. But don’t do it at a soldier’s funeral.
I got a chance to speak with the protest’s leader, a man named Orlando Bethel. Bethel, a native of Michigan who now lives in Loxley, was a well-spoken, even-voiced man, who said he was "preaching" rather than protesting. While Bethel claimed to be preaching the word of Christ to unbelievers, he failed to see the glaring contradiction in his actions: It’s hard to imagine Christ standing there in his place, doing the same thing, protesting at a soldier’s funeral.
I personally don’t think that Jesus would have had any part of it. If he’d been at the funeral, he would have probably been at the family’s side, teaching his message of love and salvation. That was the way of Christ. He was no fist-pumping, sign-waver.
I didn’t personally know Staff Sgt. Travis, but I know enough about how the Army works to know that he had nothing to do with the making of the policies of the United States and had nothing to do with the decisions that led up to the war in Iraq. Travis was just a soldier doing his duty.
Travis was killed on Dec. 2 when the truck he was riding in overturned, killing him and two other soldiers at Tallil Air Force Base in Iraq. I’ve been to the airbase in Tallil more than a few times and have ridden on the very road where Travis’ accident took place. Thinking about it now, it seems a million miles away from Monroe County and Beatrice. Nonetheless, Travis was there, doing his duty, serving his country.
The least we can do as citizens is to ensure that he has a respectful and dignified funeral, a funeral unblemished by protesters with an anti-war agenda. If they want to protest, they should stake out in front of the White House, the Pentagon or a local national guard armory, all symbols of our government and our military. Any of those locations would be more appropriate than some foot soldiers’ funeral in Beatrice.
posted by Lee Peacock at 1:33 PM
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