Antonin Scalia’s funeral is coming up, and as expected, many a famous face will be in attendance. Strangely enough, President Obama will not be there to honor the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia even though odd ducks like the Westboro Baptist Church plan are attending. Of course, the hate group plans on protesting Scalia’s funeral for the Justice’s Catholic belief, but many have criticized Obama even more based on his plans for the funeral.
Interestingly enough, the Westboro Baptist Church’s Twitter account even claimed credit for why Obama is skipping Scalia’s funeral.
Some people will do ANYTHING to avoid WBC signs! White House: President Obama won’t attend Scalia’s funeral https://t.co/NP4tSt4Jwi #noSSM
— Westboro Baptist (@WBCSaysRepent) February 18, 2016
ABC News reports that Barack and Michelle Obama plan on paying their respects at a memorial service being held in the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday. However, President Obama will not attend the Catholic funeral mass scheduled for this Saturday. Instead, White House press secretary Josh Earnest announced that Vice President Joe Biden will be attending Scalia’s funeral in Obama’s stead.
“The president and the first lady on Friday will travel to the Supreme Court to pay their respects to Justice Scalia as he lies in repose there at the Supreme Court,” explained Earnest.
Some critics have claimed Obama is skipping Antonin Scalia’s funeral due to politics or because the Supreme Court justice was infamous for skipping Obama’s State of the Union addresses.
“Okay, so Obama’s not going to the funeral. He’s going to the court. He’s sending Biden. Because it’s a real long way to travel from the White House to the basilica,” claimed radio host Laura Ingraham. “I think he’s probably annoyed that Scalia didn’t come and show up at his State of the Union speeches. Remember, Scalia just decided he wasn’t going to go. So it’s like, oh, gotcha. And you can’t get me back because you’re not alive anymore.”
This particular theory may not be true. While Obama has not stated his exact reasons for skipping the funeral, Scalia once said he skipped the State of the Union speeches of both Democrats and Republicans, including former president George W. Bush, because he found the events to be a “childish spectacle.”
Fox News host Megyn Kelly has suggested Obama is wrong not to attend because she could “find no precedent for this in history, that a sitting U.S. president would not attend the death of a sitting Supreme Court justice.” At the same time, CBS claims the scenario is very rare since Scalia’s death marks the second time in more than 60 years that an active Supreme Court Justice died . Former President Bush attended the 2005 funeral for former Justice William Rehnquist, but otherwise there’s no historical precedent for a U.S. president to follow.
Scalia funeral set for largest Catholic church in USA. Of course Westboro must be there! #WarnTheLiving @wcpsarah pic.twitter.com/jlHkerV2J8
— Westboro Baptist (@WBCSaysRepent) February 18, 2016
What has the Westboro Baptist Church protesting this time?
Some might also question why a Westboro Baptist Church protest would target Antonin Scalia’s funeral. After all, Westboro primarily focuses on proclaiming homosexuality as a Biblical sin, which is an issue where Scalia would have agreed.
For example, back in 2012 Scalia was confronted by a gay student at Princeton University since Scalia had previously compared laws against homosexuality to those prohibiting bestiality and murder.
“If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder?” Scalia asked in response according to the Los Angeles Times . “Can we have it against other things? I don’t apologize for the things I raise.”
As it turns out, the reason for Westboro Baptist Church protest is because of Scalia’s Catholic beliefs.
“Justice Scalia ruled against sodomites and murder, but he worshiped and served the Catholic Monster! If Scalia was Christian he would’ve rejected idolatrous Catholics and f*g-marrying justices,” the Westboro Twitter account explained. “Being a Catholic made Scalia a phony Christian, a fierce idolater, and enabler of sin. We’ll preach outside his funeral.”
Do you think President Obama should be attending the Supreme Court Justice’s funeral?
[Image via Westboro Baptist Church/Twitter]
