NO.

NO.

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

This is an absolute abomination and the fact that these people can claim they are doing “God’s work” in this situation makes me violently ill. To put your own disgusting and bigoted agenda above the fact that a human life has been cut short, that he leaves behind friends, loved ones and a young daughter who will grow up never knowing her father is NOT God’s work. Do these people truly believe the entity that gave us life, that gave us a beautiful world to live in, that has given many people so much strength and the feeling of being loved could really hate someone that much?

This is not a rant about Christians in general, so if you are going to comment bashing the faith as a whole, please stop yourself. The Christian faith is something that has given many people hope and strength that they may not have had before, and that is beautiful. Many other faiths have done the same thing. Faith, belief, these are NOT the problems here. Here the problem is fanatical devotion to YOURSELF AND YOUR OWN AGENDAS to the point that you would claim that God wants you to picket outside the funeral of a young man who, for all you know, loved God as much as any of you. I don’t know about Heath Ledger’s religious beliefs, and I’m comfortable with that. But he had a daughter that he loved, a career he handled very well, and a smile that brought a great deal of joy to people. And for someone to belittle that just because they themselves are a bigot and would have the audacity to project that onto their God is not just disgusting.

It is a Sin.

I do not believe in the same concept of God as the people who go to church every Sunday, as the people who attend Temple every week, as the people who fast and pray. But I do believe that God, or whatever you choose to call God, is above all LOVE. And Phelps and his followers do not preach God’s word. They preach hatred and terror. They are organizing a march meant to terrorize those people who would mourn Ledger INCLUDING HIS DAUGHTER. The man’s family and loved ones are going through enough without people outside of his funeral marching around proclaiming him a sinner.

Heath Ledger starred in a film about love. A film about acceptance and hiding and the shame that people are made to feel because they are told that who they love is WRONG. Heath Ledger came closer to preaching what I believe is God’s TRUE message than Phelps and his people EVER WILL.

I don’t pray lightly, but Phelps? I will pray to cancel out EVERY BIT OF VILE HATRED YOU AND YOUR FOLLOWERS WILL SPEW. I will pray that Ledger is remembered as a father, as a human being, as a fantastic actor who had a bright career ahead of him. My prayers may not be worth anything to the false idol of HATRED you worship, but I would like to believe that the true power of love and life and light in this universe will be listening.