Welcome message

Even if the effort is futile, it’s good to see a Pennsylvania man standing up to the hateful members of a Topeka church.

To whatever extent a Pennsylvania man can financially cripple the wacko activities of Topeka’s Westboro Baptist Church, Kansas residents will be grateful.

Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that even a $10.9 million judgment will stop the family-run congregation that travels across the country bearing a message of hate. Their latest target is the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq. Military deaths, they say, are divine retribution for America’s willingness to tolerate homosexual lifestyles.

One of those funerals was for the son of Albert Snyder, who won the financial judgment this week. We can’t help but applaud his effort or any effort to end the church’s cruel and hateful campaign.

Will it work? It’s not likely, but at least it sends a message. It’s a message that the Westboro Church will refuse to hear, but it’s welcome to all those who abhor the church’s activities and the reflection they cast on the state of Kansas.