Westboro Baptist Church (Topeka)

From Freepedia

Westboro Baptist Church is a religious organization based in Topeka, Kansas, headed by minister Fred Phelps and notorious for running www.godhatesfags.com[1] and other websites expressing its condemnation of various groups (see "WBC Websites" below). The church describes itself as following Calvinist principles, though it has been accused by others of Hyper-Calvinism. The group bases much of its work around the belief that "God hates fags", and expresses the opinion that nearly all tragedy in the world is somehow linked to homosexuals, whom God hates above all other kinds of sinners.

Overview

"God hates fags" [...] is a profound theological statement, which the world needs to hear more than it needs oxygen, water and bread. — from www.godhatesfags.com.

The hierarchy of sin put forth by the church is:

Insulting Westboro Baptist Church or any of its members (which the group equates with blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, listed in the Bible as the sole unforgivable sin)
Homosexuality
Sex outside of/before marriage and non-missionary position sex (the group has, on at least one occasion, branded all non-missionary sex as "kinky")
Abortion
Adultery

The church is located in the basement of Phelps' home, which sits in a large fenced compound occupied by nine of his thirteen children and their spouses. Outside of the compound is an American flag that flies upside down all the time. The flag is lit up at night. The reason given on the FAQ page of one of the Web sites is that the upside down flag is "the international sign for distress" and that America is in distress because "our national support of perversity is bringing God's wrath upon us."

The group frequently pickets (and in some cases are alleged to have stalked) people, the majority of whom have never had any interaction with the group, but are instead singled out either for being a homosexual, making a statement that endorses homosexuals, stating indifference to homosexuals, or in many cases, because picketing that person would generate publicity for the group. The group brands most of its opponents "fags," (often without regard to the person's actual sexual orientation), or failing that, "fag enablers."

While from 1991-2004 the group spent a large portion of its time almost exclusively picketing business and events they believed to endorse homosexuality, in 2005 they changed their strategy entirely and now almost exclusively picket the funerals of soldiers killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. This is based around Fred Phelps' belief that the soldiers are being allowed to die by God as punishment for America's alleged sins against God.

Nearly every time that a massive tragedy or disaster strikes in which people are killed or wounded, Westboro Baptist Church quickly thereafter releases a statement that the tragedy was punishment from God and that its members are celebrating the deaths and injuries, which they believe are signs from God. Church members claim to achieve "divine enjoyment" hearing stories of pain and suffering befalling people that they consider sinful, and that their only regret when such incidents occur is that more allegedly sinful people hadn't suffered; they further claim that they pray for tragedy such as car accidents, plane crashes, natural disasters, and health problems to befall people so that they may ridicule them on their website and, hopefully, picket them.

In 2005 members of Westboro began compiling stories and poems (collectively titled WBC Epics) which they have written about their "adventures," as well as "Hate Letters" to their detractors.

The group has attracted controversy for welcoming both individual murders and large-scale disasters as divine retribution against homosexuals, atheist, witches, and their "enablers." The group has been recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt church for several years. In 2000 the group nearly lost its status, but was saved by a series of lawsuits it filed against the IRS citing religious persecution. As of 2000, the church began steadily losing its privileges (see below section "The Compound") and remains in constant risk of losing its tax-exempt status altogether.

Fred Phelps has worked with leaders of the racist and antisemitic Christian Identity movement, which believes that whites are God's "chosen people," and that Jews are, and have been for years, waging a war against the white race in an attempt to subvert their birthright (a sentiment that Phelps has echoed on several occasions). At least two members of Westboro adhere to the teachings of Identity.

The compound

The Westboro Compound is made up of ten homes organized in a block on a city street. The house in the center of the compound belongs to Fred Phelps, and the basement serves as the church "meeting hall" (as he refers to it). The other nine houses were once occupied by non-congregants, who moved away either on their own or as a result of not wanting to live near Phelps. The houses are encircled by a specially designed, extra-thick ten-foot-tall security fence with picketed tops.

The homes share a communal backyard, in the center of which was an Olympic size swimming pool; Phelps obtained tax exemption on the cost of maintenance and water by performing baptisms there and writing it off as a baptismal font. Sometime after 2000, the pool was filled in, ostensibly because one of Phelps' grandchildren nearly drowned in it; because of tax problems that Westboro was experiencing around the time, however, many Topeka residents believe that the pool was filled in because Phelps was about to lose tax exemption status on it.

The compound also houses a garage separate from the houses, which is used to house an extended cab/extended bed pickup truck used to transport picketers around Topeka. It can sit between 7-10 people and carries dozens of picket signs in the back; the truck is painted neon colors to resemble one of Westboro's picket signs and is emblazoned with the words "GOD HATES FAGS." Until 2000, Phelps had written off the cost of maintaining the garage and the vehicle's gas costs as church expenses; that year, the IRS ruled that Phelps was using the truck for political and personal purposes, not religious, and he lost tax exemption on the truck and garage.

The group

Congregation

Composition of the group

Research done by the Topeka Capital Journal in 1994 indicated that the church has roughly 100-200 congregants, 75-100 of whom are related to Phelps by blood or marriage (himself, his wife, nine of their children and their spouses, and as of 1994, fifty-two grandchildren and one great-grandchild, although the numbers have grown markedly since). Non-blood related congregants are those who followed Phelps after he was voted out of his old congregation, Eastside Baptist Church, consisting of one family and two men named George Stutzman and Chris Davis.

Image:PhelpsPulpit.jpg

The family which left Eastside to follow Phelps was/is headed by Charles William "Bill" Hockenbarger, a member of Christian Identity. Hockenbarger has been a friend of Phelps' since the two men were in their twenties. In 2002, one of Phelps' grandsons married one of the Hockenbarger granddaughters, with Phelps performing the ceremony. Karl Hockenbarger, the son of Bill Hockenbarger (and also an Identity member) works/worked for Washburn University and played a large role in getting Phelps' children accepted there.

Westboro also has a unique "de facto" member, Bart McQueary, a former pro wrestling promoter, pornographer, and admitted statutory rapist who has set up a similar street ministry in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. McQueary keeps in contact with Westboro and joins them in pickets around Kentucky.

Current and former members of the Westboro Baptist Church

See: Members of Westboro Baptist Church

Purpose

Phelps has stated many purposes:

"We don't picket to win people over, idiot. It's to harden people's hearts. Make them hate. Make them hate God even more than they already do."

"Our goal is to preach the Word of God to this crooked and perverse generation. By our words, some will repent. By our words, some will be condemned. Whether they hear, or whether they forbear, they will know a prophet has been among them... our goal is to glorify God by declaring His whole counsel to everyone... we hope that by our preaching some will be saved."

The members of Westboro Baptist Church explain their decision to use the word fag, a largely pejorative term for male homosexuals, in their FAQ:

We use the word "fag" as a contraction of the word "faggot" or "fagot." A "fag" is a firebrand. A "fag" is used for kindling — it fuels fire. "Fag" is a metaphor used in the Bible, for example, in Amos 4:11 (where it is translated "firebrand" in the KJV). Just as a "fag" fuels the fires of nature, so does a sodomite fuel the fires of God's wrath. We do not use the word "fag" in order to engage in childish name-calling. Rather, we use it because it is a metaphor chosen by the Holy Ghost to describe a group of people who BURN in their lust one toward another, and who FUEL God's wrath.

and

The word "fag" is a contraction of the word "faggot" (or, "fagot"). When traced through its etymological history, the word "faggot" simply means "a bundle of sticks used as fuel." See dictionary.com and thesaurus.com (where such words as "fuel" and "brimstone" are used as synonyms). "Scholars" can't decide when such a word began to be used in reference to homosexuals, so we'll give the answer here: "I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord." Amos 4:11. The word translated "firebrand" is the Hebrew word "uwd," which comes from a Hebrew verb meaning "to rake together" (or, "to gather together"). In short, the Hebrew word "uwd" is talking about burning sticks of wood that are gathered together. That is what the English word "faggot" means. Amos 4:11 could just as easily be translated "...ye were as a faggot plucked out of the burning..."

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the etymology of faggot (in the sense of "male homosexual") is thus: Cigarettes, called fags in Britain to this day, were widely considered in 1860's and 1870's Britain to be feminine, as men stereotypically smoked pipes or cigars -- thus, men considered more feminine were called fags. Furthermore, the Online Etymological Dictionary claims that faggot 's new meaning in English was reinforced by a Yiddish slang word for a male homosexual: faygele, which literally means "little bird" (cf. German Vöglein.)

Theology

The group claims to adhere largely to the philosophy of John Calvin and the principles of the acronym TULIP. However, mainstream Calvinist churches have claimed that Westboro's agenda, especially its welcoming of murders and its message of hate, is at variance with Calvinism.

Westboro also holds the unique belief that they are essentially stand-ins for God on earth, and that saying anything negative about them is equal to saying something negative about God, i.e. blasphemy, and therefore unforgivable; thus, they are elevated to a god-like status and believe themselves to hold power over salvation and condemnation (in fliers, members equate insulting WBC with blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, the single unforgivable sin). [2]

(This is similar in some aspects to several Word Faith teachers who claim that any opposition against them constitutes opposition against God Himself—for example, Trinity Broadcasting Network president Paul Crouch and Benny Hinn have spoken curses against their opponents. However, although Hinn once claimed that God would destroy all homosexuals in America, neither he nor Crouch nor any other well-known Word Faith teacher supports Phelps nor claims anything remotely similar to Westboro's teachings.)

The stated theology of WBC:

The Bible is the Word of God and to be taken literally.
The scriptures are to be preached in the bluntest and plainest manner possible, without regard to their ability to influence people, nor with any consideration to the personal gain of the preacher
Believing the Five-Points of Calvinism (TULIP) is essential for salvation.
Homosexuality is the worst of all sins and indicative of the final reprobation of an individual, and its acceptance by society prompts divine judgement. The homosexual is a reprobate given up by God and hence cannot be a member of God's elect, and cannot repent or be saved. (It should be noted that this interpretation is held by a very small minority of Christians.)
God has absolute omnipotence to cause or prevent tragedy. As such, when disasters occur, such as the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster or the September 11, 2001 attacks, it is God's intentional punishment of the wicked. In the aforementioned cases, Phelps believes these are God's punishment for the United States' "permissive attitudes" concerning homosexuality.
There is absolutely no salvation outside of Westboro Baptist Church. Therefore, it is a sin to offer any type of aid or support to anybody or any human institution in the world except for WBC.
The proclamation of the gospel involves condemning sin as strongly as the Bible does and this will result in persecution and rejection of the gospel by the unelect.
Hellfire is to be taken literally, and God's Elect will rejoice in being Christ's agents in executing the righteous judgement of hell on the wicked, which will comprise all of humanity with the exception of their church.
The elect, being the chosen agents of God, answer only to God, and are above the laws of man which do not have basis in God's law. (It is this belief that has led to the arrests of Phelps and several WBC members; see below.)
Christmas, Easter, and all other theologically based holidays have basis in Paganism, and are therefore not to be celebrated by the elect.
It is a sin not to rejoice when other people are victims of tragedy, violence, or suffering
WBC has repeatedly prayed for sin, evil, murder, violence, death, disease, natural disasters, war, terrorism, and total destruction for every individual not in their church. In addition, they hope and pray that everybody - save themselves - will burn in hell for all eternity.

Doomsday vision

Westboro holds a vision of the apocalypse which is unique to their theology: When the end of the world comes, all the souls of men and women will be brought into a celestial courtroom with God presiding as judge. Westboro envisions the souls of humanity (aside from themselves) as being reduced, in their own words, to "sobbing little girls knowing and getting what they deserve." God will then call forward his expert witnesses — the congregants of Westboro — to testify against the sins of all humanity and thereby be instrumental in getting the souls of all mankind, save for themselves, cast into Hell.

Similarities to the Christian Identity Movement

While not directly connected to the Christian Identity Movement, many of Phelps' sermons do reflect some of the principles which the followers of Christian Identity also hold:

Westboro holds that they (the congregants of Westboro) and not Israelites are the "chosen people" and that Jews are "filthy" and "have no lamb." [3] [4]
Phelps preaches that blacks were born of Ham, the son of Noah, as a punishment for ridiculing Noah, and that blacks are therefore the "servants of the servant" (meant to be subservient to God's people, ie Westboro). Book Excerpt
The United States of America is the true Israel PDF
In their WBC Epics, Westboro members declare that they are the last line of defense against the true forces of evil in the world, and will be the sole survivors of Judgment Day; when that time comes, they will be recognized as God's Chosen and the rest of the world will be cast into Hell

It is also of note that in the 1980s, Phelps was a regular guest on Scriptures for America, a program of Christian Identity teachings, hosted by Peter J. Peters. Tapes of Phelps' appearances on the show, as well as tapes of his regular sermons, are sold in Christian Identity mail-order catalogues. [5]

In addition, Karl and Charles William Hockenbarger are actual members of the Christian Identity movement.

Activities and statements

The group carries out daily picketing in Topeka, and travels nationally to picket the funerals of homosexual victims of murder, gay-bashing or death related to AIDS, as well as other events related or appearing to be related to gay people. They have also showed interest in picketing productions of the play The Laramie Project. One of Phelps' followers estimated that the church spends $250,000 a year travelling around the world to picket. In the 1990's the church won a series of lawsuits against the city of Topeka and Shawnee county for hindering their picketing. As a result, the church was awarded approximately two hundred thousand dollars in attorneys fees and costs associated with the litigation. Otherwise, all of the church's money comes from the combined income of its congregants and money won in lawsuits against their "enemies."

Phelps, his supporters and members of his church ¹ attend said gatherings, as well as other gay-related events, with signs bearing anti-homosexual slogans. Fred Phelps has characterized the AIDS Memorial Quilt as "100,000 living fags slobberin' around 45,000 dead fags", and declared Elizabeth Taylor, a fundraiser for AIDS research, to be a "world-famous Jew whore" and a "filthy Jew whore". Other favorite anti-gay slogans of the Reverend Phelps include "God Hates Fags", "Homosexuality=Death", "Fags Die, God Laughs", "Matthew Shepard Rots In Hell", "AIDS: Kills Fags Dead", and "Ellen DeGeneres Is a Lesbian Slut". (The latter was carried at an "Equality Rocks" rock concert and fundraiser. At the event DeGeneres commented that she wasn't so offended by the slogan as the fact that they had drawn pock marks all over her face on the poster.)

Other slogans are:

Fag Santa (carried at Christmas time)
Thank God for 9-11
Thank God for the Tsunami
Thank God for Katrina [6]
God Hates You
Menninger Therapy (complete with two stick figures mounting)
Thank God for AIDS
Fag Flag (with an American Flag)
Repent or Perish
Dyke Nuns and Fag Priests (carried outside Catholic churches)
Dyke Sows Wed Here (complete with pictures of pigs in wedding dresses covered with feces; carried at lesbian weddings)

When Kevin Oldham, a gay musician, died of AIDS in 1993, Phelps sent a photo of Kevin to his parents. The photo contained the caption: "Kevin Oldham: Dead Fag."

The group came into the national spotlight in 1998, when they were featured on CNN for picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man from Wyoming who was beaten to death by two young males. Though Phelps claimed that Shepard's murder was unjust, his overt activism against Shepard's sexual orientation, regardless of the mourning of Shepard's family and friends (he called Shephard's mother, Judy, a whore and a "mother from Hell" during the memorial service and told her she'd "soon be joining Matthew"), to some had the appearance of a tacit endorsement for Shepard's murder. Though murder is considered a sin by most Christians, Phelps' chosen methods of activism are considered by most other fundamentalist Christians to be equally morally reprehensible.

On Westboro's website, Phelps maintains a "Perpetual Gospel Memorial" to Shephard. There is a similar memorial to lesbian dog-attack victim Diane Whipple. Some direct quotes/images from the Shepard page:

A photograph of Matthew Shepard's face with animated flames dancing across it. When the cursor is moved across his face, viewers with a sound card will hear screams and a high-pitched voice shrieking "For God's sake, listen to Phelps!"
A counter which displays how many days Matthew Shepard has "Been in Hell".
"WBC does not support the murder of Matthew Shepard: 'thou shalt not kill.' Unless his killers repent, they will receive the same sentence that Matthew Shepard received—eternal fire. However, the truth about Matthew Shepard needs to be known. He lived a Satanic lifestyle. He got himself killed trolling for anonymous homosexual sex in a bar at midnight."

The group has also picketed Billy Graham revivals, alleging that the conservative evangelist will burn in hell for failing to propagate the "God Hates Fags" doctrine. In October 2004, the group protested Graham's mass meetings, calling the 85-year-old preacher a "Hell-bound false prophet".

In a 1994 interview, WBC members Timothy and Jonathan Phelps (sons of Fred Phelps) admitted to beating their wives and children as a means of discipline and "keeping them in line." However, in press releases, WBC referred to Topeka mayor James McClinton as a "wife-beating tyrant." McClinton, who is black, was portrayed in the press release as a gorilla in a suit with a swastika armband.

In July 2005, the Westboro Baptist Church declared its intention to picket the memorial service of Cpl. Carrie French in Boise, Idaho. French, who was 19 years old, was a graduate of Caldwell High School and a varsity cheerleader. She was killed June 5 in the city of Kirkuk, Iraq, where she served as ammunition specialist with the 116th Brigade Combat Team's 145th Support Battalion. The death of Carrie French is seen by the Church as divine punishment of the United States of America. Phelps was quoted as saying "Our attitude toward what's happening with the war is the Lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime".

The Westboro Baptist Church declared its intention to picket the funerals of other soldiers as well, and did so in August 2005. A group from the church protested at the funeral of Spc. Edward Myers, a soldier from St. Joseph, Missouri who died in Iraq. Shirley Phelps-Roper told a television reporter, "Who would serve a nation that is godless and has flipped off, defiantly defied, defiantly flipped off, the Lord their God?" She then reiterated her belief that Myers was burning in hell.

In spite of the group's insistence that it always follows through on its announced pickets, there have been innumerable instances in which no member of the church has ever arrived at an announced picket. Sometimes, in spite of the group's no-showing, fake Epics have been posted on the website. Those who write in to challenge WBC's claims that they were indeed present at an event they in fact never showed up at are accused of blasphemy and informed that they will go to Hell for daring to question WBC.

Criminal record

The arrest record for members of Westboro dates back to 1951, four years before the church's inception, when Fred Phelps was arrested for misdemeanor battery in Pasadena, California, for striking a police officer. It wasn't until 1987 that other members of Westboro faced criminal charges; the first series stemmed from disbarrment hearings against Fred Phelps and his children in 1987, during which Fred Phelps and several of his children, Margie Phelps, Jon Phelps, Elizabeth Phelps, Shirley Phelps, and Fred Phelps Jr., were charged with extortion, witness intimidation, harassment, making false accusations, and filing frivolous lawsuits. Fred Phelps Sr. struck a plea bargain wherein he would resign from the bar and never practice law again, in exchange for charges against his children being dropped and their disbarrment hearings brought to a close in lieu of brief suspensions. [7]

Throughout the course of the 1990s and into the 2000s, Westboro members continue to be arrested, though the Topeka District Attorney often declines to pursue charges on the grounds that every time charges are pressed against Westboro, all of the members of Westboro file a class action lawsuit against the city, the police department, and the complainant.

Image:JonPhelps.JPG

On occasion, however, members have been convicted, albeit for minor offenses. Jonathan Baxter Phelps, whom Topekans consider to be the Phelps son most like his father, is the Westboro Member most often cited in complaints, aside from Fred Sr., and has been arrested the most, most often for assault; Topekan residents told the Topeka Capital Journal in 1993 during their research for the book "Addicted to Hate" that Jon Phelps regularly "shrieks" obscene comments to passers by at pickets, including threats of sexual assault to women. In 1993 he was taken into custody for an incident stemming from a local theatre group's production of The Nutcracker. Jon stood outside the theatre and asked passing children, "Did your daddy stick his prick up your ass last night?" while holding a sign reading "Fags: The Prick goes up the ass." [8] He was later found guilty of misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct.

In 1993, Charles F. Hockenbarger, Karl Hockenbarger, Timothy Phelps, Jonathan Phelps, Fred Phelps Sr., and Margie Phelps were brought up on a variety of criminal charges stemming from information gathered following a raid of Westboro. Several charges were later dropped; the trials that followed saw every member of Westboro Baptist Church over the age of fifteen testifying in the defense of their family and fellow congregants; over 100 defense witnesses were called in all. Timothy Phelps, Charles F. Hockenbarger, and Karl Hockenbarger were all found not guilty. They promptly filed lawsuits against the city of Topeka, which were thrown out by an Appeal Court.

Jonathan Phelps was found guilty of witness intimidation and misdemeanor battery. Margie Phelps was found guilty of filing a false report. Fred Phelps Sr. was found guilty of disorderly conduct as defined by aggravated intimidation of a witness. All three filed lawsuits against the city and took their cases to appeals court, where their convictions were repeatedly upheld.

Image:BenPhelps.JPG

In 1995, Fred Phelps' eldest grandson, Benjamin Phelps, was convicted of assault and disorderly conduct after spitting a loogie into the face of a passerby during a picket and then laughing. The security cameras of a nearby business caught the incident on tape. [9]

In the 2000s, Fred Phelps Jr. was convicted of misdemeanor assault for shouting an obscene phrase at a woman stopped at a red light during a picket. He was arrested in 2004 for possession of marijuana, but no charges were pressed.

Also in 2004, Margie Phelps and her son Jacob were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct, and failure to obey after disregarding a police officer's order that they were not allowed to enter a company's private property with chairs and stand on them with an upside down flag and a picket sign. [10]

Violence against Westboro

Though the group has practiced violence in the past, numerous members having been arrested, tried, and convicted for crimes ranging from trespassing to assault, they themselves have been the victims of attacks:

Image:CharlesBillHockenbarger.JPG

During a March 26th, 1993 protest at Topeka's Vintage Restaurant, a riot broke out and eight WBC members were hospitalized for various minor injuries; WBC now pickets the restaurant every day, as well as the places of business where employees went after leaving the Vintage in an attempt to escape Westboro. In addition, the congregants hold a memorial service every year on the 26th, commemorating what they refer to as "the Vintage Massacre."
In 1994, a woman tried to run down protestors in Topeka after one of them screamed obscenities at her while she was parked at a stop light.
In 2003, septuagenarian WBC member Charles Hockenbarger had his face crushed in a beating after standing on a street corner holding a sign reading "THANK GOD FOR SEPT. 11." Hockenbarger was recovering from open heart surgery at the time and ignoring the usual doctor's orders for bed rest. Westboro was quick to post photos of the aftermath of the attack on its homepage, claiming that the (as of yet unidentified) perpetrator was a homosexual and that the attack had been part of a murder conspiracy to kill Hockenbarger.
During a protest at the 2005 inauguration of George W. Bush, WBC protestors were slapped and kicked and had their signs forcefully taken by other protestors.

Claiming divine vengeance

WBC views numerous murders, accidents, natural disasters, and terrorist attacks as being perpetrated by God on their behalf.

After businessman Nick Berg was executed in Iraq, WBC proclaimed that he had been killed as a sacrifice because of attacks against Fred Phelps and other WBC members.

The group also claimed that a helicopter crash in Iraq that killed 37 soldiers was caused by God to avenge WBC. [11]

In 1995 a bomb exploded at the WBC compound, outside the home of Shirley Phelps-Roper, a daughter of Fred Phelps. Though the Topeka Police Department concluded after an investigation that the explosion was linked to a serial bomber who had been setting off firebombs around Topeka, WBC claimed that all the other bombs set off had been a cover for the one at Phelps-Roper's home. In recent years, Westboro has begun to claim that the bomb was part of a plot by the American government to silence Westboro. Referring to the incident in a 2005 press release, the group stated:

We may be pardoned for seeing a direct correlation between the Improvised Explosive Devices killing American kids in Iraq and the IED that nearly killed a sleeping Westboro baby August 20th 1995.

Westboro now pickets the funerals of American soldiers killed with bombs, proclaiming them to have been killed and sent to hell as punishment for the bombing of Westboro. [12]

Claiming divine retribution/Notable activities

September 11 and the Shuttle Columbia

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Phelps' group went to New York City to protest the rescue efforts going on there, mocking victims as they were taken from the rubble, shouting obscenities at rescue workers, and demanding that those still alive be left to die. Phelps reasoned that God had caused the terrorist attacks as a punishment for tolerance of homosexuality, and that it was God's will that those who suffered in the attacks should die. Signs carried at the Ground Zero site included, "THANK GOD FOR SEPT. 11", "FDNY SIN (with a picture of stick-figures engaged in anal sex)", "NYPD FAGS (with a picture of stick-figures engaged in anal sex)", "YOUR PENTAGON IS SQUARE", and "TOWERS CRASH, GOD LAUGHS".

At the same time, Phelps also wrote several songs about the incident and recorded them with the Westboro Baptist Church Choir. The two most notable songs (which Phelps published on his own record label, named for the church) were "God Hates America" and "America the Burning," which are both sung as hymns mocking the dead and thanking God for killing WBC's enemies. Additionally, in the days following the attacks, a song and subsequent music video entitled "I Like to Watch" were released by the Church of Euthanasia. The website Ogrish.com attributed the works to Fred Phelps and Westboro; Phelps' subsequent comments that he enjoyed watching re-runs of the planes striking the Twin Towers further reinforced the rumor that he was responsible for the video and song.

Phelps's group also planned a protest at the funeral of David Charlebois, gay copilot of the plane that was crashed into The Pentagon as part of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Phelps's church has also produced flyers asserting that the seven astronauts who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster are in Hell, and that they were killed first and foremost as a punishment for not using their position as astronauts to speak out against homosexuality. He also claimed that they had been killed to punish NASA and America for not speaking out against gays, God having chosen to destroy the shuttle because it was a symbol of America's technological advancement. The final reason, Phelps claimed, was because one of the astronauts was from Israel, and that astronaut was killed as a sign to Israel to outlaw homosexuality and break ties with America. [13]

London Terrorist Attacks

On July 8, 2005, Westboro released a statement in celebration of the July 7 terrorist attacks on the public transport system of London, Great Britain, which claimed 55 deaths and some 700 casualties from around the world. The statement, aside from calling Queen Elizabeth II "Queen of Fags", Tony Blair an "Anti-Christ Fag" and Cherie Blair a "bitch barrister", also proclaimed:

Thank God for the bombing of London's subway today - July 7, 2005 - wherein dozens were killed and hundreds seriously injured. Wish it was many more. [14]

"God Hates Canada" and "God Hates Sweden"

"God Hates Canada" was launched by Phelps in response to Canada's passage of the controversial Bill C-250, which adds penalties to the Criminal Code of Canada for inciting the hatred of or encouraging the killing of people on the basis of sexual orientation. Phelps had previously targeted Canada, coming to Ottawa in 1999 to protest the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling in M v. H, which gave same-sex couples the same rights as opposite-sex common-law couples.

In 2004, Phelps and his church began picketing all things Swedish in response to the prosecution of Swedish pastor Åke Green on hate-speech charges for comments Green made about homosexuals, comments not nearly as provocative as Phelps' typical rhetoric. Phelps nearly broke down during a sermon praising Green, and declaring that he was going to go to Sweden and force every citizen to look at a picture of "that poor gospel preacher". He declared Green a "martyr" and designed a granite monument to Green, announcing plans to erect copies of it throughout America. In response, Green called Phelps "appalling" and "extremely unpleasant", stressing that while Phelps proclaims hatred for homosexuals and condemns them to hell, Green wishes for homosexuals to one day renounce their homosexuality and hopes for them to enter Heaven. Infuriated, Phelps declared that Green was a traitor.

On godhatesfags he also has a special page claiming that the Swedish king Carl XVI Gustaf "looks like a sodomite" and accuses him and his children of practicing incest.

According to Swedish media 20050818 Article in Swedish newspaper SvD the Swedish royal family is going to take legal actions against the site GodHatesSweden.com.

Phelps announced plans to picket in Sweden in 2005. It would be the group's first picket in Europe. As of September 23, 2005, Phelps has not made any mention of the picket in Sweden on any of his webpages. It is likely that WBC never showed up, as they have a history of canceling pickets at the last minute. In Sweden's case, Phelps' failure to show up is likely due to King Carl XVI Gustaf's apparent refusal to allow Phelps to enter the country with legal immunity. If Phelps did indeed picket Sweden, he has not made an indication of such.

Fred Phelps' confrontations with Scandinavian leaders date back to an unfulfilled 2000 promise to picket the inauguration of the first Finnish female president Tarja Halonen and burn the Finnish flag on the steps of the parliament building. [15]. This threat to deface Finnish flag quickly united Finnish lesbigays, reservists and hackers, who promptly attacked and cracked Phelps's website, defacing it by replacing every page on it with the Finnish flag.

Indian Ocean earthquake

On December 29, 2004, shortly after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, Phelps's church published a flyer [16] headlined "Thank God for Tsunami and 20,000 dead Swedes!!!", calling Sweden the "land of the sodomite damned" and saying "woe to faggot Sweden". More fliers were produced shortly after, welcoming reports of 5,000 Swedes (later reduced to 2,000) and 3,000 Americans killed in the tsunami. Another of the group's fliers expressed hope "that God will send a massive tsunami to totally devastate the North American continent". The group had also threatened to picket Swedish survivors at various locations on the island of Phuket.

Phelps stated that it was better for the children to be dead than to be taught that it's okay to be gay.

Child molestation stance

On April 9th, 2005, Phelps preached about convicted child molester and alleged murderer John Couey in his weekly sermon, using Couey as a counterpoint to gay and lesbian adoption:

"I'd sooner let John Couey, C-O-U-E-Y, who raped and buried alive little Jessica, I'd sooner let him adopt kids, than turn them over to the fags and dykes! That clear enough for ya?" Audio file of Sermon

Hurricane Katrina

Phelps claims that Hurricane Katrina that destroyed much of New Orleans was sent as punishment by God as "His wraith [sic] and vengeance upon America." for the bombing of WBC on 20 August 1995 ([17]) and that "America became WBC's terrorist. So, God, in retaliation, became America's Terrorist." He rejoices in the hurricane, saying that America finally sees New Orleans for what it truly is: "a putrid, toxic, stinking cesspool of fag fecal matter."

A member of the web site Something Awful registered godhatesneworleans.com to prevent Phelps from possibly claiming the domain name for his own. It was suspected that Phelps would register the hostname in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Picketing of Rehnquist's funeral

On September 7, 2005, the church picketed the funeral of the late Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist with signs such as "Judge In Hell." [18]

Other prejudices

Although their other views are not as pronounced as their views on homosexuality, the Westboro Baptist Church also espouses racism and attributes membership of certain groups — such as the Catholic Church or Islam — as akin to devil worship.

See: Racial and Political Stances of Westboro Baptist Church

Pro-inbreeding

The Westboro Baptist Church has apparently begun inbreeding, with one of its members, Rachel Phelps, being married to her nephew's brother-in-law, Charles F. Hockenbarger (her newphew, Samuel Phelps-Roper, is married to Charles' sister, Jennifer). Additionaly, though it does not interfere with genetics, Shirley Phelps is married to her adoptive brother, Brent D. Roper. Long before these marriages took place, residents of Topeka speculated that the church's stringent guidelines against marrying "outsiders," coupled with the lack of potential spouses within the group (nearly 90 of the group's 100 members are related through blood or marriage) would lead to eventual inbreeding. It is unknown whether this pattern will continue or, if it does, how extreme the degrees of inbreeding will become.

Responses

Responses include the creation of a opposing website, GodLovesFags.com a pro-gay-rights website, launched by Kris Haight on March 1, 1999. The site focuses on the debate surrounding religion and homosexuality, and especially homosexuality and Christianity.

On August 18, 1999, an anonymous hacker transferred ownership of the domain www.godhatesfags.com to Kris Haight. Apparently, this was done by forging an email message from Phelps. Haight promptly redirected all traffic to godlovesfags.com. After much media attention, Phelps threatened to sue and the domain name was returned on August 21.

Counter protests are generally organized to provide an opposing viewpoint at sites that Westboro pickets. In some cases counter protestors have lined up and turned their backs on the Westboro pickets, or encircled them in a ring, explaining that they want to symbolically shield the community from the hate.

Criticism

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) describes the Westboro Baptist Church as "virulently homophobic", whose anti-gay rhetoric they say is often a cover for anti-semitism and anti-catholicism. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an anti-hate group, has added the Westboro Baptist Church to its list of watched groups. Many mainstream conservative and fundamentalist Christians (including those who oppose homosexuality) such as Jerry Falwell have denounced Phelps' remarks as hateful and un-Christian. Falwell is often credited with referring to Phelps as "a first-class nut".

Parodies

The God Hates Fags website has achieved sufficient fame to be parodied with at least four independent domain names. These are God Hates Rags, God Hates Figs, God Hates Globes and God Hates Shrimp.

WBC Websites

www.godhatesamerica.com[19]
www.godhatessweden.com [20]
www.godhatescanada.com [21]
www.smellthebrimstone.com [22]
www.priestsrapeboys.com [23]
www.americaisdoomed.com [24]
www.yourpastorisawhore.com [25]
www.godistheterrorist.com [26]

External links

Westboro Baptist Church FAQ at godhatesfags.com
Addicted to Hate - a mostly neutral biography of Fred Phelps, founder of Westboro Baptist Church, written by reporters for the Topeka Capital Journal. The book became public domain after being submitted as an exhibit in a court case.
Topeka Capital-Journal on Fred Phelps and Westboro Church
God Hates WBC.com
MP3 interview with Westboro Church spokesperson Shirley Phelps-Roper - Interview of Westboro Church spokesperson Shirley Phelps-Roper (who is misidentified on source website as "Patty Roper") with Roland Davis from KERN Newstalk 1410 Bakersfield in relation to the picketing at the military funeral of Army Private 1st Class Ramon Villatoro Jr. in August 2005.
Protests at funerals
Inside the Church of Hate - Hidden camera report within the church on Sky News' website.