USA, Thousands of mourners rally via Facebook to keep anti-war Baptists from picketing funeral procession

OFF THE WIRE

Support: Supporters answered a call to arms in order to drown out the Baptist Church protesters, who believe that U.S. soldiers die as God is punishing America's tolerance of homosexuality....

By Daily Mail Reporter
Route lined with Stars and Stripes to 'protect family on saddest of days'
Church leader tells flock deaths in Afghanistan are vengeance for U.S. tolerance of homosexuality...

Thousands of people answered a Facebook call to help shield mourners from some unwanted guests at the funeral of an American soldier killed in Afghanistan.
Corporal Jacob Carver, 20, was killed on November 13 with two other soldiers in a suicide bomber attack in Afghanistan.

And members of the Harrisonville, Missouri, community began lining the streets with stars and stripes flags hours before Mr Carver's funeral, and successfully warded off protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church.
The church, led by Fred Phelps, pickets the funerals of soldiers killed in the line of duty, claiming that the deaths are God's vengeance for America's tolerance of homosexuality.
But members of the community didn't want Mr Carver's send-off to be ruined, so they made sure that the family never saw the protesters as they made their way to the Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Harrisonville for the funeral service.
The call to arms had gone out by word of mouth and a Facebook group was created. It said: 'Come to Harrisonville, line the streets. Let’s protect this family on this saddest of days.'
The seven protesters got out of their van and waved their signs and ranted their slogans but opponents drowned them out with a rousing rendition of 'God Bless America' and chants of 'USA! USA!' and 'Go home! Go home!'
The crowd out-numbered and out-shouted members of the church, who left after a brief tussle with the crowd.
Darleen Eslick said: 'We were louder than them.
'And there were more of us than them. There were not many of them at all.'

Michelle Morris said: 'I just wanted to show them that we're here and we support them and honour Jacob's sacrifice, because through him we're all able to be free and do this today.'
Jesse Antolick added: 'They blaspheme the name of God by mis-preaching his word. It's not right.'

Riders with the Patriot Guard helped make sure the funeral went smoothly.
'We just want everything to go well for the family,' said Henry Hamilton, who was riding with the Patriot Guard.
When the funeral procession did pass by, the chanting stopped and the entire crowd fell silent, as the crowd honoured the memory of Mr Carver.
'I'm very proud to see the people standing


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1333004/Mourners-successfully-ward-protesters-Baptist-church-claim-war-deaths-Gods-punishment-homosexuality.html#ixzz16KMqQJzs
























Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1333004/Mourners-successfully-ward-protesters-Baptist-church-claim-war-deaths-Gods-punishment-homosexuality.html#ixzz16KMQWyry