Satisfying, but counterproductive

Westboro Baptist Church, home of hate monger Fred Phelps, has lost in court after being sued by the family of a soldier for protesting at his funeral.

A Baltimore federal jury awarded nearly $11 million Wednesday to the father of a Marine killed in Iraq, deciding that the family's privacy had been invaded by a Kansas church whose members waved anti-gay signs at the funeral.

It was the first-ever verdict against Westboro Baptist Church, a fundamentalist Christian group based in Topeka that has protested military funerals across the country with placards bearing shock-value messages such as "Thank God for dead soldiers."

They contend that the deaths are punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality and of gays in the military.

On the one hand, this is very satisfying. Fred and his ilk are scum.

On the other hand, all this does is encourage him by giving him more attention than they deserve.

Fred W. Phelps Sr., Westboro's founder, vowed to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, in Richmond, Va.

"It's going to be reversed in five minutes," he said. This case, he added, "will elevate me to something important," as it draws more publicity to his cause.

He is the real world equivalent of an internet troll. Ignoring him is the only way to deal. Attention is what he craves. Deny that to him and he is nothing.