Man Fined for Cheering Gay Neighbor's Death
Yes, 'tis better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Of course, opening your mouth might just be against the law.
BERLIN (Reuters) - A retired man was fined after setting off fireworks and singing in jubilation to celebrate the death of a gay neighbor, a court said on Friday.
The retiree, 63, was convicted for maligning the memory of the dead and defamation. He was fined 2,700 euro ($3,102) by the court in the western town of Lauterbach.The man launched his celebrations as the neighbor's corpse was carried from his home in a coffin. The pensioner had shown intolerance toward his gay neighbors in the past and had often fought with them, the court said.
Yes, the man may be a Grade A @##$&^%, but what is truly frightening here is that there is actually a law against this sort of thing. "Maligning the memory of the dead"?? So who decides what qualifies as maligning?
I'm not saying that the retiree's celebration was correct or appropriate, but since when does this sort of behavior deserved to be legislated against? Wouldn't simply ostracizing the retiree as the @##$&^% he is be enough?
