Westboro Baptist Church: Difference between revisions

|type of villains = Hatemongering Cult|type of villain=Hatemongering Cult|crimes=[[Homophobia]]<br>

[[Biphobia]]<br>

Public endargerment<br>

[[Hate Speech]]<br>

[[Transphobia]]<br>

[[Propaganda]]<br>

[[Misogyny]]<br>

[[Anti-Semitism]]<br>

[[Islamophobia]]<br>

[[Negrophobia]]<br>

[[Xenophobia]]<br>}}

The '''Westboro Baptist Church''' ('''WBC''') are self-proclaimed "Christians" unaffiliated Baptist church known for its extreme ideologies, particularly its [[homophobia]]. The church is widely described as a [[Hate Groups|hate group]] and is monitored as such by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center. Founded by since-excommunicated pastor [[Fred Phelps]], the church consists primarily of members of his large family; in 2011, the church stated that it had about 40 members. The church is headquartered in a residential neighborhood on the west side of Topeka about three miles (5 km) west of the Kansas State Capitol. Its first public service was held on the afternoon of November 27, 1955.

The pickets have resulted in several lawsuits. In 1995, Phelps Sr.'s eldest grandson, Benjamin Phelps, was convicted of assault and disorderly conduct after spitting upon the face of a passerby during a picket. In the 1990s the church won a series of lawsuits against the City of Topeka and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawnee_County Shawnee County] for efforts taken to prevent or hinder WBC picketing, and was awarded approximately $200,000 in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attorney%27s_fee attorney's fees] and costs associated with the litigation. In 2004, Margie Phelps and her son Jacob were arrested for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trespassing trespassing], disorderly conduct and failure to obey after disregarding a police officer's order during an attempted protest. In response to pickets at funerals, Kansas passed a law prohibiting picketing at such events. In the autumn of 2007, the father of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Marines Marine] whose funeral was picketed by the WBC was awarded $5 million in damages. The award was later overturned on appeal by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Fourth_Circuit Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals] in a decision upheld by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States Supreme Court] in ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snyder_v._Phelps Snyder v. Phelps]''. In June 2007 [[Shirley Phelps-Roper]] was arrested in Nebraska and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The arrest resulted from her allowing her eight-year-old son to step on the American flag during the demonstration, which is illegal under Nebraska law. The defense contends that the child's actions were protected speech, and that the state law is unconstitutional. The prosecution claimed the demonstration was not intended as political speech, but as an incitement to violence, and that Phelps-Roper's conduct might also constitute [[Child Abuse|child abuse]]. Prosecutors later dropped charges against Phelps-Roper.

The church has picketed, or threatened to picket, productions of ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Laramie_Project The Laramie Project]'', a stage play based on the murder of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard Matthew Shepard], whose funeral they also picketed.

The group came into the national spotlight in 1998, when it was featured on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN CNN] for picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a young man from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laramie,_Wyoming Laramie, Wyoming] who was [[Gay Bashing|beaten to death by two men because of his homosexuality]] in one of the first homophobic [[hate crime]]s to gain national attention. Since then, the church has attracted attention for many more actual and planned funeral pickets.

In 2006, Westboro picketed with banners saying "God hates fags" and "Thank God for dead soldiers" at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster,_Maryland Westminster, Maryland], funeral of Matthew Snyder, a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Marine U.S. Marine] who was also killed in Iraq. Ruling on a subsequent lawsuit filed by Snyder's father, Albert Snyder, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Supreme_Court U.S. Supreme Court] decided, 8–1, that Westboro's actions constituted protected free speech.

In May 2010, Westboro picketed the funeral of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_music heavy metal] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singer singer] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_James_Dio Ronnie James Dio] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles Los Angeles].

The church announced on December 16, 2012, it would be picketing at the funerals of the victims of the [[Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting]].

On April 15, 2013, the church posted a press release to its [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter Twitter] account in which it thanked God for that day's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon_bombings Boston Marathon bombings], and announced its plan to "picket the funeral of those killed". Pointing out that the federal government is classifying the bombings as a terrorist attack, yet is being unclear about whether it is of a "domestic or foreign nature", the release went on to claim to answer the question with, "Here's a hint — GOD SENT THE BOMBS! How many more terrifying ways will you have the LORD injure and kill your fellow countrymen because you insist on nation-dooming filthy fag marriage?!" By early the next morning, nearly 4,000 people had signed a ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_the_People_%28petitioning_system%29 We the People]'' petition on the White House website asking for the banning of such demonstrations by the church at victims' funerals. Additionally, a posting that same day on a Twitter account affiliated with the hacker group [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_%28group%29 Anonymous] warned that Church leaders would be targeted if they made good on their threat to picket the funerals.

On May 8, 2009, members of the church protested at three Jewish sites in Washington, D.C., including the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Defamation_League Anti-Defamation League] (ADL) offices, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Holocaust_Memorial_Museum U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum] and the city's largest synagogue. Margie Phelps, daughter of Pastor [[Fred Phelps]], led the protest, holding signs stating that "God Hates [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel Israel]", "Jews Killed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus Jesus]", "America Is Doomed", "Israel Is Doomed", and "ADL Jew Bullies". The protest was apparently part of a series of upcoming protests which the church has planned at Jewish institutions in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha,_Nebraska Omaha], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis,_Missouri St. Louis], South Florida and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Providence,_Rhode_Island Providence]. The group reportedly posted a list of the upcoming protests' locations and dates, along with the statement "Jews Killed the Lord Jesus."

In an interview, Margie Phelps said that her church was targeting the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Jews American Jewish community] because church members had "testified" to Gentiles for 19 years that "America is doomed" and that "Now it's too late. We're done with them." She also claimed that Jews were "one of the loudest voices" in favor of homosexuality and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion abortion], and that "[Jews] claim to be God's chosen people. Do you think that God is going to wink at that forever?" Phelps concluded by stating, in an apparent reference to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation Book of Revelation], that all the nations of the world would soon march on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel Israel], and that they would be led by President [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama Barack Obama], whom she called the "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antichrist Antichrist]".

The WBC announced its intent to protest December 19, 2012, at funerals of victims of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting]. The online hactivist group [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_%28group%29 Anonymous] and several other groups responded by organizing a human wall to shield the victims' families. The WBC then left the area without engaging in any protests.

The church is noted for its rampant anti-homosexual rhetoric and [[Gay Bashing|gay bashing]] and runs numerous web sites such as GodHatesFags.com, GodHatesAmerica.com, and others expressing condemnation of homosexuality.

Westboro Baptist refers to Catholic priests as "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire vampires]" and "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula Draculas]" and talks of Catholic priests sucking semen out of male children's genitals like vampires suck blood from their victims. In addition, WBC calls [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI Pope Benedict XVI] such [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epithet epithets] as "The Godfather of [[Pedophilia|Pedophiles]]" and "Pervert Pope". In April 2008 the WBC protested Pope Benedict XVI during a papal visit in New York City.

The WBC are staunchly [[Islamophobia|Islamophobic]] and support the practice of [[Quran Burning]]. In response to a ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsweek Newsweek]'' article alleging that American soldiers flushed copies of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur%27an Qur'an] down the toilet at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_X-Ray Camp X-Ray] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detainment_camp Guantanamo Bay], Fred Phelps released this statement: 

So what if our guys flushed copies of the Quran down the toilet? We hope they did. They probably did; We hope they flush more. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed Mohammed] was a demon-possessed whoremonger and pedophile who contrived a 300-page work of Satanic fiction: The Quran! Like America's own whoremonger and pedophile wangled his own hokey [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon Book of Mormon]!In relation to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War Iraq War], a WBC flyer says "America bombed our church with an IED made by fag students... In His retaliatory rage God is killing Americans with Muslim IEDs: 'Saying, Touch not my anointed, and do my prophets no harm.' 1 Chron 16:22."

The WBC is also very [[Anti-Semitism|antisemitic]]. In the section about Jews, the WBC FAQ states:

The Church has previously condemned particular nations, such as Italy, which it described as a nation of "mobster-breeding perverts" and Australia, which it describes as the "land of the sodomite damned".

The Westboro Baptist Church believes that [http://real-life-heroes-and-good-guys.wikia.com/wiki/Barack_Obama Barack Obama] is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antichrist Antichrist] and that he forms an unholy trinity with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satan Satan] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI Pope Benedict XVI], whom they believe is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_Prophet False Prophet].

On May 17, 2006, the state of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois Illinois] enacted Senate Bill 1144, the "Let Them Rest In Peace Act", to shield grieving military families from protests during funerals and memorial services of fallen military service members. A first-time violation of the Act is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine and a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense, which is punishable by one to three years in state prison and a fine of up to $25,000.

Main article: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snyder_v._Phelps Snyder v. Phelps]On March 10, 2006, WBC picketed the funeral of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine Marine] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Corporal Lance Corporal] Matthew A. Snyder in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminister,_Maryland Westminister, Maryland]. The picket was held in a location cordoned off by the police, approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) from the Church, for about 30 minutes before the funeral began. On June 5, 2006, the Snyder family sued for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit named Albert Snyder, Matthew Snyder's father, as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaintiff plaintiff] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps Fred W. Phelps], Sr.; Westboro Baptist Church, Inc.; Rebekah Phelps-Davis; and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Phelps-Roper Shirley Phelps-Roper] as defendants, alleging that they were responsible for publishing defamatory information about the Snyder family on the Internet, including statements that Albert and his wife had "raised [Matthew] for the devil" and taught him "to defy his Creator, to divorce, and to commit adultery". Other statements denounced them for raising their son Catholic. Snyder further complained the defendants had intruded upon and staged protests at his son's funeral. The claims of invasion of privacy and defamation arising from comments posted about Snyder on the Westboro website were dismissed on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution First Amendment] grounds, but the case proceeded to trial on the remaining three counts.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>At the trial, Albert Snyder testified:

In August 2008, Canadian officials learned of the WBC's intent to stage a protest at the funeral of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg Winnipeg] man murdered on a bus. The protests intended to convey the message that the man's murder was God's response to Canadian laws permitting abortion, homosexuality, divorce and remarriage. In response, Canadian officials barred the church's members from entering the country.

On the lead-up to the picket, a number of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_of_Parliament MPs], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobby_group lobby groups] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT LGBT] groups appealed to the UK's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Secretary Home Secretary], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqui_Smith Jacqui Smith], requesting these individuals be blocked from entering the UK, on the basis that WBC would be inciting hatred towards LGBT people. On February 18, 2009, two days before the intended picket date, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Office Home Office] announced that [http://real-life-villains.wikia.com/wiki/Fred_Phelps Fred Phelps] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Phelps-Roper Shirley Phelps-Roper] would be specifically [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_individuals_banned_from_entering_the_United_Kingdom excluded from entering the UK] for having "engaged in unacceptable behaviour by inciting hatred against a number of communities", and that "other church members could also be flagged and stopped if they tried to enter Britain".

On December 11, 2010, the day of the funeral of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Edwards Elizabeth Edwards], a group called "Line of Love" planned to have about 200 protesters on the north side of West Edenton Street in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh,_North_Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina] while 10 Westboro members picketed on the south side of the street, two blocks away from the funeral. Westboro members who disagreed with Edwards' tolerance for gays were "promoting awareness of the dangers of homosexuality", Line of Love gave its goal as "promoting proper respect for funerals".

In May 2011, representatives of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] distanced themselves from the church, denouncing them as "hatemongers".

[[Category:Evil vs Evil]]

[[Category:Anti-Semetic]]