Westboro Baptist Church: Difference between revisions

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===Funeral pickets===

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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_bashing beaten to death by two men because of his homosexuality]. Since then, the church has attracted attention for many more actual and planned funeral pickets.

In 2003, they enetered the spotlight again when they picketed the funeral of beloved children's show host Fred Rogers.

In July 2005, the Westboro Baptist Church declared its intention to picket the memorial service of Carrie French in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise,_Idaho Boise, Idaho]. French, 19, was killed on June 5 in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkuk Kirkuk], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq Iraq], where she served as an ammunition specialist with the 116th Brigade Combat Team's 145th Support Battalion. Phelps Sr. said, "Our attitude toward what's happening with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War the war] is the Lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime."

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 2007, the church picketed the memorial service of famous televanglist Tammy faye Baker. Calling her a "False Prophetess" and an "adultress" who they believed had lied to gay people abbout God loving them.

On February 2, 2008, the group picketed during the funeral of former [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints LDS Church] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_Church president] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_B._Hinckley Gordon B. Hinckley] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City Salt Lake City], Utah, displaying picket signs intended to criticize him for being a "lying false prophet" and "leading millions of people astray". The organization also criticized Hinckley for being too accepting of gay people, accusing him of having an ambiguous voice about homosexuality rather than taking a firm stand against it. Police had difficulty determining whether the demonstration met the guidelines of protected free speech.

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In January 2011, Westboro announced that they would picket the funeral of Christina Green, a 9-year-old victim of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tucson_shooting 2011 Tucson shooting]. In response, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona Arizona] legislature passed an emergency bill to ban protests within 300 feet (91 m) of a funeral service, and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucson Tucson] residents made plans to shield the funeral from protesters.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>The church canceled plans to hold a protest during the memorial at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Arizona University of Arizona] in exchange for air time on radio talk shows. According to university officials, between 700 and 1,200 students amassed to counter four WBC picketers who appeared at the campus after the event. Jael Phelps explained to Louis Theroux in her ''America's Most Hated Family in Crisis'' interview that she and the other members of the WBC picketed at the funeral of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim Muslim] man's wife simply because the man had witnessed and scolded them for intentionally [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran_desecration burning] a copy of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran Quran] in public a week earlier.

Later in March of 2011, the church picket the funeral service of congresswoman and Vice-Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, due to the fact that Ferraro was a member of the Roman Catholic Chrurch.

On October 5, 2011, Fred Phelps' daughter, Margie, announced via her [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter Twitter] account that the church would be picketing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc. Apple Inc.] founder [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs Steve Jobs]' funeral. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS_News CBS News] and ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post The Washington Post]'' noted the irony in the fact that Margie used an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone iPhone] to create the tweet.

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On May 20, 2013, the church tweeted praising God for the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Moore_tornado 2013 Moore tornado] and that they would protest the funerals of the victims.

===Protests against Jewish institutions===

In 1996 Phelps led a protest at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Holocaust_Memorial_Museum United States Holocaust Memorial Museum] in Washington, D.C., proclaiming:

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 ===Funeral pickets===
 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_bashing beaten to death by two men because of his homosexuality]. Since then, the church has attracted attention for many more actual and planned funeral pickets.
+In 2003, they enetered the spotlight again when they picketed the funeral of beloved children's show host Fred Rogers.
 In July 2005, the Westboro Baptist Church declared its intention to picket the memorial service of Carrie French in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise,_Idaho Boise, Idaho]. French, 19, was killed on June 5 in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkuk Kirkuk], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq Iraq], where she served as an ammunition specialist with the 116th Brigade Combat Team's 145th Support Battalion. Phelps Sr. said, "Our attitude toward what's happening with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War the war] is the Lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime."
 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 2007, the church picketed the memorial service of famous televanglist Tammy faye Baker. Calling her a "False Prophetess" and an "adultress" who they believed had lied to gay people abbout God loving them.
 On February 2, 2008, the group picketed during the funeral of former [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints LDS Church] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_Church president] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_B._Hinckley Gordon B. Hinckley] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City Salt Lake City], Utah, displaying picket signs intended to criticize him for being a "lying false prophet" and "leading millions of people astray". The organization also criticized Hinckley for being too accepting of gay people, accusing him of having an ambiguous voice about homosexuality rather than taking a firm stand against it. Police had difficulty determining whether the demonstration met the guidelines of protected free speech.
@@ Line 36: / Line 40: @@
 In January 2011, Westboro announced that they would picket the funeral of Christina Green, a 9-year-old victim of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tucson_shooting 2011 Tucson shooting]. In response, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona Arizona] legislature passed an emergency bill to ban protests within 300 feet (91 m) of a funeral service, and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucson Tucson] residents made plans to shield the funeral from protesters.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>The church canceled plans to hold a protest during the memorial at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Arizona University of Arizona] in exchange for air time on radio talk shows. According to university officials, between 700 and 1,200 students amassed to counter four WBC picketers who appeared at the campus after the event. Jael Phelps explained to Louis Theroux in her ''America's Most Hated Family in Crisis'' interview that she and the other members of the WBC picketed at the funeral of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim Muslim] man's wife simply because the man had witnessed and scolded them for intentionally [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran_desecration burning] a copy of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran Quran] in public a week earlier.
+Later in March of 2011, the church picket the funeral service of congresswoman and Vice-Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, due to the fact that Ferraro was a member of the Roman Catholic Chrurch.
 On October 5, 2011, Fred Phelps' daughter, Margie, announced via her [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter Twitter] account that the church would be picketing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc. Apple Inc.] founder [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs Steve Jobs]' funeral. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS_News CBS News] and ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post The Washington Post]'' noted the irony in the fact that Margie used an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone iPhone] to create the tweet.
@@ Line 46: / Line 52: @@
 On May 20, 2013, the church tweeted praising God for the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Moore_tornado 2013 Moore tornado] and that they would protest the funerals of the victims.
 ===Protests against Jewish institutions===
 In 1996 Phelps led a protest at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Holocaust_Memorial_Museum United States Holocaust Memorial Museum] in Washington, D.C., proclaiming: