Free (and hateful) speech vs. the right to gather

In this article, Michael Smerconish, who writes for the Philadelphia Inquirer is addressing the rights of The First Amendment and is asking if any stipulations should be placed on this Amendment to insure that every part of its meaning is up held. He references the case of the 20 year old Marine, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who died during battle in Iraq back in 2006. During his funeral a group of church protesters, lead by Pastor Fred Phelps exercised their freedom of speech by voicing their opposition to what they believe is “Gods hatred for America for its tolerance of homosexuality.” They held up offensive signs and chanted offensive words.
The First Amendment is in place to protect a number of choices, if you will, but the choices that The First Amendment protect , that pertain directly to this article are the freedom of speech, the right to exercise religion, and the right to gather peacefully. The Snyder family and the protesters both were exercising their First Amendment Rights…but was this freedom of expression lead by the protesters right? The author makes a very valid point when he said, “But by picketing Snyder's funeral, didn't Westboro Baptist infringe upon the family's First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion?” His other valid point was, “The point is that while Phelps and his flock might believe they have a constitutionally protected right to protest at a funeral, that right should not come at the expense of the Snyder' right to peaceably gather at a Catholic funeral, especially when that practice involved mourning the death of an American hero.” I totally agree with the author, the rights shared under The First Amendment should not come at the expense of one another. This story is very disturbing to me, first off the leader of this group is a pastor, whom is supposed to be representative of God, is showing such disrespect for the spiritual relevance of a funeral, the bases for which the protesters have develop a stance on is inappropriate to convey at such an event. This soldier, regardless of his lifestyle, gave his life for our country and every human being in it, including the ones that made a mockery out of his funeral.
In my opinion The First Amendment is in dire need of ratification, there should be some form of limitations to our rights when it involves moral, ethical, and respect issues.

Free (and hateful) speech vs. the right to gather