Right to protest becomes disrespectful

While people are born and die every day, it is who they were and what they did during their lifetimes that people remember and reminisce upon at their funerals after they are gone.

Actor Heath Ledger, famous for his leading roles in "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Brokeback Mountain," among others, died this week in his Manhattan home due to unknown causes.

One group of people has paid so much attention to Ledger's acting career that it has decided to do one of the most disrespectful and tasteless things one human can do to another: it is protesting all of his memorial services in the U.S.

In the film "Brokeback Mountain," Ledger portrays a gay cowboy in love with the character portrayed by Jake Gyllenhal. According to Foxnews.com, the Westboro Baptist Church intends to picket U.S. memorial services for Ledger.

There comes a point when freedom of speech and the right to protest teeters on the point of disrespectful.

In this case, it crosses the line.

Someone died, and because he was doing his job, these people have decided to picket his memorial services in the name of God.

Those who knew Ledger and admired his work deserve the right to peacefully mourn his passing and celebrate his life without these extremists screaming at the top of their lungs that he's forever damned to hell.

Anyone who has ever had a friend or relative die suddenly knows how painful the funeral and wake for the deceased can be.

They know that it is a solemn event that marks the end of one life and a difficult beginning for those who knew and loved the person.

The Westboro Baptist Church has the right to dislike homosexual people.

They have the right to voice against what they believe to be wrong.

They have a right to protest at public events, on campuses and on television.

However, they should not have the right to intrude on someone's memorial service with a message of hatred and bigotry.

Heath Ledger is dead and his work is a surviving record of what he accomplished during his lifetime. He was an actor. Actors are paid to portray characters in television and film.

Years from now, people will remember what he did in "Brokeback Mountain" as something that confronted the subject of homosexuality - one that has been considered taboo in the past.

The Westboro Baptist Church needs to respect his right to rest in peace and his family and friends' right to mourn without dealing with disrespectful rants and shouts from a misguided group.

Jesus wouldn't have protested his funeral, and they shouldn't either.