It was despicable enough when the Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funerals of AIDS victims. How this is done in the name of religion escapes me.

Now to show up at soldiers' funerals? What are they thinking?

In the interest of furthering a twisted political agenda, they denigrate the service of men and women who are defenders of freedom — rights such as freedom of religion and freedom of expression. By extension, they denigrate men like my father, who was wounded in combat and briefly held a prisoner of war.

And I have to wonder, when a group goes out of its way to compound the pain of grief-stricken families, is their fear-mongering even effective? Or does it simply expose them as the shameless kooks they are?

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Marjorie Cortez is a Deseret Morning News editorial writer. E-mail her at marjorie@desnews.com