Targets of Westboro Baptist Church
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Listed below are various people who, at one time or another, have come under fire from pastor Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church for their acts which do not agree with the beliefs of Phelps or the church.
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[edit] Jim Wheeler
WBC has a "monument" on their website for Jim Wheeler, a 19-year-old homosexual who committed suicide on November 17, 1997.
[edit] Matthew Shepard
Phelps came to national attention in 1998 when he traveled with a group of WBC members to the funeral of Matthew Shepard, the murdered University of Wyoming student who was taken as a martyr by the gay rights movement. At Shepard's funeral, Phelps set up a makeshift pulpit, from which he held a sermon during Shepard's memorial service, screaming at Shepard's mother, Judy, that her son was in Hell and that she was going to Hell also because she had "raised [her] son for the devil." At one point during Phelps' sermon, a group of people wearing gigantic angel wings surrounded Phelps' pulpit, blocking the signs of his parishoners from being seen by mourners. These events are now portrayed in the play (and HBO film) The Laramie Project; Phelps has made it a personal crusade to picket every performance of the play, and even held a demonstration outside HBO's main offices the day that the film premiered.
Phelps' passionate, obscenity laden demonstration at the funeral drew the attention of CNN and various other media outlets, briefly throwing Phelps into the national spotlight. Today, it is the event that Phelps is known most for, and some still identify him solely by this event (ie., "the guy who protested Matthew Shepard's funeral").
Phelps has continued to target Shepard in the years since the funeral. The God Hates Fags website maintains a running counter of the days that "Matthew Shepard has been in Hell," along with an animated photo of Shepard's face consumed by flames. By rolling one's mouse cursor over Shepard's face, one can hear a member of WBC imitating Shepard, shrieking in a high pitched, lisping voice, "FOR GOD'S SAKE, LISTEN TO PHELPS!" In addition, Phelps constantly attacks Shepard's mother, Judy, on the God Hates Fags page, and attempts to picket each of her public appearances. [1]
In 2003, Phelps began a campaign to erect a "monument" to Shepard in Casper City Park, reading:
MATTHEW SHEPARD, Entered Hell October 12, 1998, in Defiance of God's Warning: 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is an abomination.' Leviticus 18:22.
The Casper City Council refused to erect the monument; in response, Phelps threatened to sue the city, claiming that by denying him the right to erect the monument, they are violating his right to freedom of religion. Phelps has since filed numerous other lawsuits against various other counties across the United States in efforts to erect other such monuments.[2][3][4][5]
[edit] Diane Whipple
There is a counter on WBC's website of how many days they believe Diane Whipple has been in hell. [1]
[edit] Fred Rogers
On March 5, 2003, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed S.Con. Resolution 16 to commemorate the life of Fred Rogers.
| "Through his spirituality and placid nature, Mr. Rogers was able to reach out to our nation's children and encourage each of them to understand the important role they play in their communities and as part of their families," Santorum said. "More importantly, he did not shy away from dealing with difficult issues of death and divorce but rather encouraged children to express their emotions in a healthy, constructive manner, often providing a simple answer to life's hardships." | ||
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—Honoring the life and work of Mr. Fred McFeely Rogers, Library of Congress |
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Although the U.S. Senate chose to honor Rogers for his work in children's television, the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, says they will protest his activities by also picketing the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, PBS, and WQED TV Pittsburgh on April 13 and 14.[6][7][8][9][10]
Shirley Phelps-Roper, the attorney for the Westboro Baptist Church, explained that Rogers, as a Presbyterian minister with a television program, had a responsibility to comment on homosexuality. By not doing so, she explained that he was helping to perpetuate homosexuality, which the group says falls into the category of "whoremongery and adultery, which will damn the soul forever in hell." She added that the support some Americans have given to homosexuals has been the reason behind horrible tragedies including the September 11 attacks, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster,[11] and The Station nightclub fire.
On May 3, 2003 Fred Phelps and his church protested outside the church during the funeral of Mister Rogers.
| They were met by about 150 counter-demonstrators, members of gay rights and peace groups, who marched along the sidewalks and sang songs from Rogers' program while holding signs calling for love and tolerance. While there were some heated exchanges, there were no arrests either there or at three other sites -- the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the University of Pittsburgh and Chatham College. | ||
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— Pittsburgh bids farewell to Fred Rogers with moving public tribute, Post Gazette |
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[edit] Pope John Paul II
Fred Phelps is also well known for his anti-Catholicism. This became especially evident shortly after the death of Pope John Paul II. The day after John Paul's death, Phelps held a service to "celebrate his entrance into Hell", during which he boasted, "You don't think he split Hell wide open? We're the only ones telling the truth about that son of a bitch!" That evening he posted a flier on his webpage showing a doctored photo of a screaming John Paul II with horns coming out of his forehead, with the caption:
| Deal with it, you idolatrous morons! The pope is in Hell. Westboro Baptist Church members are competent expert witnesses, having picketed hundreds of Catholic churches in all fifty states over the past fourteen years. We will bear witness on Judgment Day: Catholics are the meanest, most violent people on Earth, and their churches are filled with filthy fag priests. On John Paul II's watch, the Catholic Church became the CHURCH OF THE HOLY PEDOPHILES and sodomite feces and semen replaced bread and wine. | ||
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—Pope John Paul II is in Hell, Official WBC webiste |
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[edit] The Sago Miners
The 2006 Sago Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion on January 2, 2006 in Tallmansville, West Virginia, USA that resulted in the deaths of 12 miners. Thirteen coal miners were trapped at about 6:30 am (all times Eastern Standard Time) on January 2, in the Sago Mine (pronounced /ˈseɪgoʊ/) 121 miles northeast of the state capital of Charleston.
Phelps turned his attention upon the tragedy of The Sago Mine Disaster.[12] He announced plans to protest at a memorial for the fallen miners at Wesley Chapel on Sunday, January 15th.
| "God is not mocked!" God Hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God hates the Sago Miners and is tormenting them in Hell, hypocritical Tallmansville village, and West Virginia....They worship dunghill fag gods on "Brokeback Mountain," and their holy book is "The Da Vinci Code" - not the King James Bible. God mocked them with a lightning bolt, agonizing deaths, false reports of life leading to fools gold jubilation followed by hopeless despair. "Meet you on the other side," eh? Yes, you all will meet again - in Hell! | ||
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—Press Release from Westboro Baptist Church, Official WBC website |
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Fewer than 20 of his representatives participated in a demonstration across the West Virginia Wesleyan College campus from the church. A larger anti-Phelps group gathered to protest their presence. There was no reported confrontation between the two groups.[13]
[edit] Americans killed in war
Phelps's group has protested a total of about 80 military funerals in 30 states.[14][15]
Because of this, a number of states have passed laws regarding protesting at funerals, and making violation of regulations regarding protests of funerals crimes. Whether these measures could pass judicial review remains to be seen. In the meantime, a group called the Patriot Guard Riders has assembled to counter these protests. The group, made up primarily of motorcycle riders, acts as a buffer between protestors and those participating in the funeral.
[edit] Ed Rendell and the Amish school shooting
In October 2006, Phelp's group planned to protest the funerals of 5 Amish girls killed by Charles Carl Roberts in the Amish school shooting in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. The group cancelled at the last minute after being offered an hour of airtime by talk-show host Mike Gallagher. The church blamed Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell for the deaths of the Amish children because of remarks he made about the Westboro church. Rendell had signed legislation several months before the deaths of the children making it illegal to demonstrate within 500 feet of a funeral or memorial service. [16]
[edit] Coretta Scott King
The widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, who was in her own right a civil rights activist, worked to promote gay rights and linked the movement to racial equality, stating:
| I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people.... But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King, Jr. said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King,Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people. |
In her efforts she worked toward closer relations between the two movements and criticized black pastors who wanted to deny rights to gay men and lesbians.
In retaliation, members of the Westboro Baptist Church planned a protest of King's funeral for February 7, 2006 at noon.[17][18] Phelps quoted Leviticus 18:22 and indicated that King had given God the "middle finger."[19]
[edit] Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert
Phelps indicated that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are or will be directly responsible for God destroying America for being tolerant of homosexuals.[20]
Jon Stewart, of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, and Stephen Colbert of their The Colbert Report, apparently made Phelps get:
| miffed that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert stole his "Godless Sodomites" line at the Emmys: Apparently, you're not a godless Sodomite until he says you are, and also everybody else. | ||
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—[2], Huffington Post |
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Phelps went on a diatribe, quoting from Proverbs 14:9 and Genesis 19, calling Stewart, Colbert, and the rest of America, "Fag-enabling fools."
[edit] Sweden
Following the persecution of Åke Green, a Swedish Pentecostal pastor who had been convicted, and later acquitted, after making hostile statements towards homosexuals during service, Phelps targeted Sweden. The main 'sins' of Sweden being its homosexual-friendly politics, with gay rights increasing constantly, as well as the persecution of Green. Statements made to infuriate the Swedish public were primarily insults directed towards the royal family, as well as mocking of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, a disaster which hit Sweden particularly hard due to Thailand's popularity among Swedish tourists[21].
After Pastor Green denounced Phelps for his vitriole, Phelps and his followers turned on the pastor as well.
Phelps also publically denounced King Carl Gustaf of Sweden and the royal family, claiming they were doomed to an "eternity in Hell."
[edit] Tornado victims
WBC linked the November 2006 tornado in North Carolina, which killed 8 people, to Billy Graham, who lives there. [3]
[edit] References
- ^ Perpetual Gospel Memorial to Matthew Shepard from the official WBC website
- ^ "Matthew Shepard Monument for Casper, Wyoming" from the official WBC website
- ^ Town Votes Tonight On Anti-Gay Statue from a pro-gay website, 365.com
- ^ Petition Opposition to Reverend Fred Phelps' Proposed Anti-Gay Matthew Shepard Monument in Casper, Wyoming from Petition Online
- ^ Phelps seeks anti-gay marker from the Casper Star Tribune
- ^ Church group to protest Rogers from The Pitt News, March 18, 2003
- ^ Neighborhood menace from the Post Gazette
- ^ God, Buggery, and Mister Rogers from the Capitalism Magazine
- ^ Pittsburgh bids farewell to Fred Rogers with moving public tribute from the Post Gazette
- ^ Fred Phelps' crusade against Rogers is guided by fear, not divine from Brian Carnell's blog
- ^ Mister Rogers Caused the Space Shuttle Disaster from Brian Carnell's Blog
- ^ Hate group changes plans, opposition offers tips for community from the Record Delta
- ^ ‘They’re West Virginians’ from the Charleston Gazette
- ^ Bill pits freedom of speech vs. right to grieve in peace from the Indianapolis Star
- ^ An image of a Phelps supporter carrying a sign that reads "Thank GOD for IEDs" at the funeral of Cpl. Carrie French a 19 year old Idaho Soldier killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq
- ^ Protesters drop plans to picket Pa. Amish funerals
- ^ White Anti-Gay Group to Protest King Funeral from Jasmyne Cannicks blog
- ^ Kansas Church Uses Funerals for Anti-Gay Protests from NPR
- ^ WBC press release of protest at King's funeral
- ^ Evil Reverend Fred Phelps Diatribe Against Stewart/Colbert at YouTube
- ^ http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=1961&date=20050825
