Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder

The funeral of Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder was a sad day for America. It's hard to understand how people can be so cruel in the name of Jesus Christ. The father of a young man who died for his country should have expected support and kindness on one of the worst days of his life - his son's funeral - but he didn't get it. Instead he was met with angry people waving placads that said 'Thank God for dead soldiers". There's really not much difference between them and the devout, religious extremist followers of Islam.

Shirley Phelps-Roper

They wanted him to know that God was punishing America for tolerating immorality, homosexuality and abortion. The pious folk of Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas felt no shame as they shouted abuse at his father. They felt completely justified in their actions because they belong to a group of religious zealots whose arrogance knows no bounds.

But justice was done. The church was fined $5m for intentional infliction of emotional distress but an appeals court threw out the verdict on the grounds that the first amendment to the US constitution guarantees the right of free speech.

Now the marine's father Albert Snyder is asking the supreme court to reinstate the original verdict. While distancing themselves from the church's message, media organisations including the Associated Press have asked the court to decide with the church because a victory to the boy's father could erode the right of free speech. Why can't something so obviously wrong be turned into something that is right? We await the verdict of the court with interest.

So who is responsible for this shameful debacle? His name is Fred Waldron Phelps senior who is head of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. He's a disbarred lawyer and peddler of hate. He and his daughter Shirley Phelps Roper are banned from entering the UK and should be banned from every country in the world and Australia in particular.