Two southern Colorado Democrats are attempting to pass a new law. This law will restrict protests at funerals. This appears to be in direct response to an incident here in Greeley at the funeral of a local soldier, Pfc Tyler MacKenzie. There is a ‘Christian’ faction, followers of a man named Fred Phelps (I won’t like directly to his site - I don’t want to send him any more traffic. If you want to see his rhetoric, Google it.) who are adamantly anti-gay and believe the war in Iraq is somehow related to the current tolerance of homosexuality in the United States. Representatives of these people attempted to stage a protest at the funeral of Private MacKenzie back in Februray.

While I find any protest at a funeral morally reprehensible and extremely discourteous to any family, passing a law further eroding 1st Amendment rights is NOT the answer. It boggles the mind how both sides of the political spectrum (Republicans and Democrats) are both supporting the continued limiting of our civil rights. It makes me wonder what kind of laws would be on the books if the current political oppression was in place during the Vietnam war. It’s sad that some Americans have so little respect for the men and women that would stand up for their rights and protect their country that they would choose to protest during a funeral. It is even sadder that our political climate would let these men and women die in vain by removing the very rights they fight for. The sad fact is that to protect our freedoms we have to embrace the rights of protesters like these, not silence them.

The whole issue is best summed up in this quote by Tyler’s grandfather Emmett MacKenzie when he learned protesters would be at the funeral: “You know, they have that right. That’s why Tyler gave his life.”