I think this is an atrocity and heartbreaking to hear. The family will be so hurt by such a protest. I think that anyone who has died in the military deserves to have as much recognition and honor without any tarnishing or offensive behavior from outside groups. Their platform is ridiculous and I think it is nothing but a publicity scheme for their radical beliefs. There are other ways to voice your opinion without hurting an innocent family who is mourning the loss of a child, a brother, a father, a friend. I think the local police should do whatever they can to stop or at least keep this as far away from the church and family as possible. It is senseless and hurtful and should not be permitted to happen. Let them stage their protest someplace else! Let this poor family mourn in peace!

Sergeant First Class Kenneth B. Elwell was NOT gay, so why are they picketing his funeral? I am confused over this hateful group?

I agree! Doesn't matter if he was gay or not. This is a horrible, hateful thing to do to this poor family and to the honor of this young man who sacrificed his life for the good and safety of others! It should be stopped! Shame on those who participate! They will burn in hell. This is NOT what any good religion teaches us to do to each other! This is not a loving or charitable church group at all. They are doing the devil's work!

Some people just don't understand why we need to be in this war. Those who do understand it are in the Military. Some people will never understand until they actually are there. Gay or not they need to realize that this war is not going away and it will forever be a part of the American History. Protesting a furneral is not going to change the fact that this war will continue. God Bless all my brother's and sister's who are in the military fighting for our freedom....may you all come home to your family's safely and soon.

Bravo, Robin! I have not been this angry or upset about anything in a long time! This just infuriates me to no end. I hope these awful people are met with much resistance if they attempt to go through with this senseless and horrible protest. They need to do more praying for peace than showing anger and hatred towards those who are doing something in the name of peace. The sacrifice these men and women are making is immeasurable and we are all in their debt. They need to be honored and remembered as heroes and not treated in any dishonorable fashion. Their families need our prayers and thanks as well.

Pretty horrendous mindset these people have. Who cares or knows who is gay ?
Something seriously wrong with these haters. To make matters worse, they include God into the argument. Nut jobs !

"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

I think they should ban the protesting. It’s more of a freedom to organize issue than a freedom of speech issue. Anyone with common decency would agree it’s wrong. What are Fred Phelps and the WBC afraid of anyhow? Rainbows? Unicorns? A flaming pink queer apocalypse? I attempted to address this with a portrait of the good reverend on my artist’s blog at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/03/fred-phelps-and-westboro-baptist-church.html Drop in and let me know what you think!

Is there a peaceful demonstration happening to try and block the hateful picketers from being seen by the mourners? Someone I know contacted the Patriot Guard Riders today about this - (from their website: Our main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family. Each mission we undertake has two basic objectives:

Show our sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities.
Shield the mourning family and their friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors.

I will ask her to post any response from this group. But their presence at the funeral (holding American flags to shield the mourners from the hateful protest) does require the request of the bereaved family. If anyone here knows Kenneth's family, please share this information with them should they be interested.

the WBC insanity is based on their mistaken belief that god is punishing/killing service members because the U.S. government doesn't destroy all homosexuals. They cannot be reasoned with and the best defense against them is to totally ignore them. And keep them at least 200 yards from St. Andrews and Arlington.

This is exceptionally troubling. We should all be thankful, regardless of ideology, for the dedicated service of soldiers like Elwell who give the highest sacrifice for our freedom. If Westboro wants to spew its hateful rhetoric, this is the last place they should go. I'm thankful for groups like the Patriot Guard Riders who rise in response to these protests.

Extremely misguided individuals who aren't worth the rocks they live under.

this baptist group is KNOWN for protesting homosexuality.
they are not protesting at the soldier's funeral because of his sexuality (which was not mentioned nor does it matter)
they are protesting because they believe that GOD HATES AMERICA and is punishing us by killing our troops.
i think they are idiots and should be sent Afghanistan to fight in place of these honorable men who would be a great loss to our country. these guys....no one would miss.

Trust me this group is in NO WAY Christian!! They take Scripture out of context, to support their false beliefs, and are nothing more than a bunch of false prophets!!

This upsets me greatly, to think that someone would have such disrespect at a soldiers funeral. My son is currently in the ROTC in college and will be going into the army when he graduates in 2013. Although I am very nervous about his choice to serve I am also very proud of him and of all our troops for what they do for us. So it saddens me to think that there are people out there with such hatefulness that they would hurt this family in this time of great loss. I hope someone can keep these people from getting close enough to the mourner so they are not able to hurt them further. My prayers are with the family ,friends and all our troops. God Bless!!!

I think the military and their families need to start picketing Westboro's church at every single mass. See how they like it.

What can be done to stop this? And how can we help?

Very upsetting - and now that these sick individuals are coming to our home town. Religious fanaticism gone awry.

They are just proving to the world that they are poorly educated, red-neck hillbillies who are living in the dark ages. I guess they would also bring back slavery if they could. They preach that God created AIDS to punish the gay community. I wonder if any of them have ever gotten cancer. I wonder what they attribute that to. Unfortunately, most of these people are products of their upbringing and environment. They have been raised to believe that anyone who is different from them doesn't deserve to live. How can they honestly believe such ridiculous concepts? They cannot think for themselves but have been brainwashed by their parents and have succumb to the teachings of this demented "reverend" Phelps. Maybe he will bring them some nice refreshing special "Kool-Aid" to the protest. We can only hope!

They just need their butts kicked and they will stop.

This is so sad to hear. The militiary men, women and veterans have fought for us to have all the freedoms we do, even the freedoms this church's congregation uses everyday. I pray for the family, I thank the servicemen and women who give their lives so I can live mine. I pray for the family and friends of this soldier coming to pay their respects and for those who will protect them in doing so ( our police department) They will be kept safe to pay respects.

God knows the truth and as he gave every one of us a free will, It's a shame that bad people choose to use that free will to disrespect the American Flag ,Our Service Men who make sacrificies every day and the Freedom for which it stands for. No one wants to die for their Country but they will if that what it takes to keep America strong and free. Radical groups like Westboro so called Church are not brave enough to fight for freedom only thing they are good for is making Christians look like idiots. They don't attend Mass like Catholics do ,the only thing they attend to are protests to disrespect God ,Country and all Human Life. They should be ashamed to call themselves Christian . They are the devil in disguise . The evilness that is very much present today in our society proves that the devil is out there still working to continue hatred among all the world. I say God Bless America and help to keep her strong and free. Every God fearing citizen of the USA should stand up and recite " The Pledge of Allegiance " on the day of the Soldiers funeral .

I have reached out to the family and to the Patriot Guard Riders on behalf of the Bucks Equality Coalition (supporting LGBT rights, unity and social justice in Bucks). The connection has now been made (confirmed by Patriot Guard PA contact person last night) and I am waiting to hear if the Patriot Guard will be at the funeral to shield the mourners from the hate group. Sometimes the Westboro hate folks say they will protest at places and then do not show up. Either way, a strong community showing (ONLY if requested by the family) is a good thing. Stay tuned here or on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/bucksequalitycoalition for updates.

These forum/postings on the web often turn in to anonymous places for hate speech. I am deeply thankful this active thread is focused on supporting a family in mourning and keeping hate out of our community.

Responding with unity, compassion and peace.

Patriot Guard Riders are in touch with the family. Firm plans are not in place yet about their plans for Sunday. The Westboro Baptist Church is a hate group that protests all types of events around the US including military funerals, celebrity funerals, even the funeral of hate-crime victim and gay youth Matthew Shephard. They also protest at high schools hosting gay-themed plays and LGBT pride parades - in their twisted logic of attacking Jewish people, women's reproductive rights and LGBT people (their top three issues). They believe and teach their followers that God hates the world and hates the US because we support women's reproductive rights, religious tolerance and LGBT rights - all of which we have a long way to go on, but still this is their platform for attack.

I will post updated information about the Patriot Riders plans here and on the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/bucksequalitycoalition

Remember the purpose of demonstrating on Sunday is to support the family and friends of Kenneth, NOT to engage with or in any way give attention to the hate group. Although that may be hard to resist, it is the design of this type of demonstration. Please be respectful.

Peace...

I think I remember they were going to protest the little girl who died in Az, Dallas Greens grand daughter. Someone organized to have people lining the streets and they were wearing angel wings to block any protesters out. I know it might be too late for that but is there anything regular people can do? Peacefully?

I'm glad to see that there is a plan to stand counter to the Westboro people shold they show. Hopefully, I can be there, too.

It is disturbnig that these folks are coming to town, but I have spent a great deal of time studying them because of certain issues they've had with clients of mine. The protesters are actually very sophisticated and shockingly well-spoken civil rights lawyers that practice in Kansas. In the same vein that some reported that Hitler could be surprisingly charming, you would be very surprised to see their performances in the court room. Their business model depends upon municipalities blocking their protests. Westboro then files suit in federal court to enforce their first amendment rights, and they invariably win because even hate speech is protected. The civil rights statutes then allow them attorny fees, and naturally their fees are very, very high. So they extract the money from the townships that opposes these vile protests. The whole situation rings of irony.

So THAT is why LAWYERS have a bad name! These Westboro lawyers truly are the scum of the earth, preying on the emotions and reactions of the good people trying to protect the ones they are planning to protest. They are simply "setting up traps" so they can squeeze funds from innocent people and towns. Their whole agenda is to continue to fund their platform at the expense of innocent people. It really IS ironic that they preach and use "God" as their driving force. I don't think God ever taught anyone to be scum-sucking, low-life, leaches feeding off the lives of others. They are the ones who will be paying the price dearly when they are called to be accountable for their actions. Hopefully the young people being enticed into this demented group will reach outside their circle of brainwashing for education and friendship and learn the true meaning of love and Christianity. I wonder if this group EVER does anything positive to help communities or people less fortunate ANYWHERE. It seems their only goal if to spread hatred and chaos. Very very sad. So glad to see so many are going to be there and protect the family and keep these lunatics away from them. God bless the Patriot Guard Riders and all others who come out to show their support!

Thanks Andy Levine for explaining how they work -- Yes, many of the family members/protesters are lawyers so all the fees they extract go directly to support themselves and their so-called "church." It is all a very sophisticated scam. Best to let the Patriot Guard Riders do their job and the rest of us should ignore them and not get entrapped into helping them earn more money. When they stop profiting from their actions, perhaps they will go away.

I have heard from a veteran friend that the WBC has changed their plans to come. It may be a ploy to get the supporters to also reconsider coming. I hope everyone who was originally planning to attend in support of the family will still be there, just in case AND to pay their respects. If I find out any additional information, I will post it here.

Anne, I received two tweets from members saying they were in fact coming. Who knows though, it could be just an attempt to keep publicity coming.

SUNDAY DEMONSTRATION OF SUPPORT: If you wish to support the grieving family please join the Patriot Guard Riders on Sunday. They will be there regardless of what the Westboro hate group says or does. Plans are to meet at the Council Rock North High School, across the street from the St. Andrews Church (81 Swamp Rd), walk over and set the flag lines for the duration of the ceremony. Service is 3-6pm, so I assume they will meet prior. You do not need to join the PGR group to be part of their peaceful demonstration. But see their website for time confirmation and other details. All are welcome. http://www.patriotguard.or​g/Forums/tabid/61/postid/1​608082/view/topic/Default.​aspx