Fred Phelps: Difference between revisions

The Westboro Baptist Church is comprised mainly of Fred Phelps' large extended family, and although tiny in number, the group is infamous throughout America and regularly receives mainstream media attention for their audacity and the sheer degree of their hatred, so much so that even the [[Ku Klux Klan]] are disgusted by them. Members are brainwashed from childhood to support Phelps' agenda and spread his dogmatic beliefs in a manner that can be considered fanatical at best and criminally insane at worst. On March 19, 2014, it was confirmed by the church that Phelps had died from natural causes. He was 84 years old.

During this time Phelps and his wife would go on to have thirteen children. Soon, Phelps began to take interest in becoming a lawyer, and in 1962, he began attending Washburn University. Phelps graduated in 1964 with a degree in law and soon founded Phelps Chartered, a law firm. While he was a lawyer, Phelps took up several civil rights cases. Phelps also claims to have brought the cities' Jim Crow laws down. Because of racist attitudes towards blacks at the time, residents of Topeka would label the Phelps' family as "nigger lovers". According his estranged sons Mark and Nathan, Phelps was also a racist, and would sometimes use the initials, D.N. with certain clients, which would stand for "dumb nigger". In 1977, Phelps was disbarred for perjury, which involved him making false claims about women during a lawsuit, and in 1979, he has permanently disbarred in Kansas. His children, however, continue run the law firm for him, even after his death.

Phelps and the WBC began picketing around 1991, in order combat homosexual activities at Gage Park. Although the protests started out small, and gained little attention, the church soon began gaining attention nationwide, the most notable event being the funeral protest of Matthew Shepard in 1998. Around 2003, the WBC began to protest the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming that they died for a doomed nation. Several laws were soon made to restrain the church protests. While not banning them from picketing outright, the laws passed made member keep a large distance from the funeral.

The church made headlines once again in 2006, when Albert Snyder, father of Matthew Snyder, a fallen Marine whose funeral the WBC picketed, sued Phelps and the church for invasion of privacy, emotional distress, and other charges. Synder was soon awarded $10.9 million in damages. In Steptember 2009, the church brought the case before an appeals court, who ruled in favor of the Phelps', and Synder was forced to pay the court costs. In 2010, based on another appeal, the case was soon brought to the Supreme Court. Margie Phelps, one of Pastor Phelps' daughter's, represented the church, and in 2011, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the WBC 8-1. This case brought about much media attention, and many were disappointed by the outcome.

In June 2014, Zacharias Phelps-Roper, son of Shirley Phelps-Roper, allegedly made a claim to the Planting Peace organization that his grandfather, the late Fred Phelps, may have had a change of heart regarding homosexual people. According to Phelps-Roper, his grandfather stood outside of his church building and expressed his support for the Equality House within earshot of his congregation on the day that he was excommunicated from Westboro. It is believed that he had developed this sense of empathy after he had discovered that his wife was diagnosed with a serious illness.

The WBC has gathered so much controversy that even the [[Ku Klux Klan]] (argiably the most notorious [[White Power Movement|white supremacist]] [[Hate Groups|hate group]] in history) have distanced themselves from the organization: as noted by a disclaimer on the Klan's official website ensuring that they have no connections to the church and "absolutely repudiate their activities." Even Fox News, which known for its Conservative views, have also criticized the church. Ironically, skin color seems to be the only thing that Phelps and his followers don't discriminate against, since Phelps was a Civil Rights Lawyer in the 1960's.

*'''[[Gay Bashing]]:''' Phelps and his church's most notable activities are their attitude and actions against homosexuals. Their message of "GOD HATES FAGS" has become infamous. The church claims that homosexuality is the most deplorable of all sins. They also claim that anyone who supports homosexuality is a "fag enabler" and what they're doing is even worse. The church also blames the death of soldiers, as well as every disaster and calamity that happens, on America's, and the world's tolerance of homosexuality, and the reason they picket funerals of soldiers is to get their message across.

*'''Religious Intolerance: '''Phelps and the WBC have also been hateful towards other religions as well, including Christianity, as the church views themselves as the only true followers of God. The Catholic Church is one their biggest targets, criticizing them mostly due to the sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, and the WBC even have signs which read; "PRIESTS RAPE BOYS". They have also been critical of the Catholic Church's, as well as the Eastern Orthodox Church's use of icons. Phelps and the church have also been critical of Protestant churches too, criticizing several Evangelical preachers such as Pat Robertson, Billy Graham, and [[Jerry Falwell]], whose funeral they picketed. The WBC is also hateful towards Jews as well. They frequently picket outside of synagogues, stating that "JEWS KILLED JESUS", and even say that [[the Holocaust]] was God's punishment on the Jews. Islam is another religion criticized by the WBC, claiming that Mohammed was pedophile (which is technically true, considering he had sex with his 9-year old wife), and the church went so far to [[Quran Burning|burn a copy of the Qur'an]] on September 11, after Pastor [[Terry Jones]], another WBC target, chose not to. They also maintain a ''God Hates India'' website, showing their intolerance for Hindus and their polytheism, admonishing them to convert to Christianity. The WBC also condemned Ethiopian Orthodoxy, claiming it to be "grounded in a big, fat lie" and is a "strange co-mingling of Jewish and pagan rituals". They also believed that a true church must be "independent, local, autonomous, and without any formal affiliation with other churches", also hating Orthodox churches for being in full communion with one another, claiming that they're not "true New Testament churches".

*'''[[Child abuse]]:''' Phelps also directed his anger towards his own family as well. Out of his thirteen children, four are estranged from the church and family. The estranged children (most notably his son Nathan) claim that their father would [[Domestic abuse|abuse]] his wife and children both physically and verbally, claiming that he'd use his fists and soon started using a mattock handle, usually hitting his children to the point of bleeding. The nine children who remained in the church say that these claims are false, and say that they were simply spanked as children. His estranged children also feel that the Westboro Baptist Church is simply a method to direct his anger and hatred, now that his family members are older.