Gene Policinski: Offensive views need airing so they can be better rebutted

  By now there likely are few Americans who don’t recognize the names of a tiny Topeka, Kan., church and of the family that makes up most of its members — Westboro Baptist Church and the Phelps family.

  For years, various Phelpses have been demonstrating at funerals — most notably at services for U.S. military service members killed in combat overseas — to condemn America’s acceptance of homosexuality and other “sins.” In early March, the family won an appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving a lawsuit brought by the father of a Marine who died in 2006.

  The 8-1 decision supported public protest that involves issues of public concern. Margie Phelps — the family’s lead lawyer in successfully arguing the case — appeared recently in New York City at a convention of college journalists, in a standing-room-only discussion that I moderated.