Targets of Westboro Baptist Church

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Listed below are various people who, at one time or another, have come under fire from Pastor Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church ("WBC") based in Topeka, Kansas, U.S. either for their acts, which do not agree with the beliefs of Phelps or the church, or because they have been involved in events said to be punishment for the country or the world failing to conform with what he preaches.

WBC runs the websites GodHatesFags.com,^[1] GodHatesAmerica.com^[2] and others expressing condemnation of gays, Roman Catholics, Muslims, and Jews, as well as populations it considers to support the aforementioned groups, including Swedes, Canadians, Chinese, Burmese, Australians, Irish, Mexicans, and Americans.

Contents 1 Events 1.1 Amish school shooting 1.2 Anderson fire 1.3 2007 California wildfires 1.4 USS Cole bombing 1.5 Columbia space shuttle disaster 1.6 Columbine High School shooting 1.7 Cyclone Nargis 1.8 Cyclone Sidr 1.9 Huntsville bus accident 1.10 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake 1.11 Jokela school shooting 1.12 Hurricane Katrina 1.13 2008 Little Sioux Scout Ranch tornado 1.14 2005 London bombings 1.15 2008 Midwest floods 1.16 Minneapolis bridge collapse 1.17 Northern Illinois University shooting 1.18 2006 Riegelwood tornado 1.19 Sago Mine disaster 1.20 September 11, 2001 attacks 1.21 2008 Sichuan earthquake 1.22 The Station nightclub fire 1.23 2007 tornado outbreak 1.24 2008 tornado outbreak 1.25 Utah mine disaster 1.26 Virginia Tech massacre 1.27 Westroads Mall shooting 2 Persons 2.1 Americans killed in war 2.2 Keith Allen 2.3 Gwen Araujo 2.4 Benazir Bhutto 2.5 Sonny Bono 2.6 Gregory Bowman 2.7 Sam Brownback and Michael Guest 2.8 Lauren Burk and Eve Carson 2.9 The Cheneys 2.10 Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart 2.11 Larry Craig 2.12 Brianna Denison 2.13 Diana, Princess of Wales 2.14 Jerry Falwell 2.15 Butch Felker 2.16 Gerald Ford and Saddam Hussein 2.17 Billy Jack Gaither 2.18 Barry Goldwater 2.19 Al Gore Sr. 2.20 Billy and Ruth Graham 2.21 Gordon B. Hinckley 2.22 Bob Hope 2.23 Pope John Paul II 2.24 Ted Kennedy 2.25 Coretta Scott King 2.26 Heath Ledger 2.27 Tammy Faye Messner 2.28 Bill O'Reilly 2.29 Kevin Oldham 2.30 Danny Overstreet 2.31 Nyia Page 2.32 The Queen Mother 2.33 Ronald Reagan 2.34 William Rehnquist 2.35 Fred Rogers 2.36 Tim Russert 2.37 Matthew Shepard 2.38 Randy Shilts 2.39 Frank Sinatra 2.40 Kevin Smith 2.41 Louis Theroux 2.42 Craig Thomas 2.43 Jim Wheeler 2.44 Diane Whipple 2.45 Reggie White 2.46 Leni Wylliams 2.47 Pedro Zamora 3 Other 3.1 Averett University 3.2 Camp Lejeune 3.3 Canada 3.4 Ireland 3.5 Jews 3.6 Mexico 3.7 Muslims 3.8 Sweden 3.9 Treviso, Italy 4 References 5 See also

[edit] Events

[edit] Amish school shooting

In October 2006, Phelps' group planned to protest the funerals of five 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 Baptist 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.^[3]

On the God Hates America website, WBC stated that, “The Amish children from Pennsylvania are even now in hell. Stop spreading the lie that they were innocent. They were just as degenerate and deserving of hell as the pervert who killed them.”^[4]

[edit] Anderson fire

The WBC released a flyer claiming that a fire that killed 10 people in November of 2006 in Anderson, Missouri was a "curse" of God's. The WBC goes on to state that Missouri is "a mean, hateful little hotbed of total depravity" caused by the state's "demon-possessed" Governor Matt Blunt who "hates God and persecutes God's people, thereby bringing the wrath of God".

The flyer released by the group also states: "God is visiting the evil State of Missouri in wrath and vengeance because of their maltreatment and persecution of WBC in official actions designed to stop the preaching of God's word. Especially the wicked little town of Anderson in southwest Missouri - a location made famous for bestiality as exposed by a British documentary."^[5]

[edit] 2007 California wildfires

The WBC released a flyer thanking God for the California wildfires of October 2007. It stated that the wildfires were God's punishment of California in general and Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in particular because Schwarzenegger had earlier signed into law California SB 777.^[6]

California SB 777 is a bill that prohibits school officials from using teaching materials or teaching in a style that is negative towards homosexuality. It also prohibits discrimination of gays in public schools.^[7] In their flyer the WBC called it the "Sodomize Your Children Act."

[edit] USS Cole bombing

On October 14, 2000, the WBC released a flyer thanking God for the USS Cole bombing, a suicide bombing against the USS Cole (DDG 67), docked in Aden,Yemen, that killed 17 sailors and injured 39 others.

The flyer stated that the terrorist attack was God’s punishment on America for tolerating homosexuality, stating, “How many of those killed were Navy fags and dykes?” and, “How many of our incompetent intelligence community (CIA, NSA, FBI, et al.) who failed to warn the USS Cole about refueling in hostile Aden & Yemen were fags & dykes?”^[8]

[edit] Columbia space shuttle disaster

Phelps' church produced flyers asserting that the seven astronauts who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster are in hell and were killed first and foremost as a punishment for not using their position as astronauts to speak out against homosexuality.^[9] 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.^[10] The final reason, Phelps claimed, was because one of the astronauts, Ilan Ramon, was from Israel and thus was killed as a sign to Israel to outlaw homosexuality and break ties with America.

One of the WBC websites says of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster: "WAKE UP AMERICA!!! THERE WERE NO TERRORISTS FOR YOU TO BLAME THIS ON at 200,000 feet traveling at MACH 18 [sic] !!!! GOD STRUCK THE SYMBOL OF YOUR MIGHT AND ARROGANCE OUT OF THE SKY!!!" ^[11]

[edit] Columbine High School shooting

Following the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999 in Littleton, Colorado, the Westboro Baptist Church picketed at a memorial service for the Columbine massacre victims with signs that carried such statements such as “God Hates Columbine.”^[12] The WBC also released a news release with the text, “Two filthy fags slaughtered 13 people at Columbine High.^[13]

[edit] Cyclone Nargis

After Cyclone Nargis made landfall on Burma on May 2, 2008 causing severe destruction, the WBC released a flyer thanking God for the tropical cyclone. The flyer declared, “Thank God for the Great Cyclone that He sent to kill maybe many hundreds of thousands of stiffnecked, hardhearted Burmese Buddhist perverts. Our prayer is for many more such Buddhist rebels against God to be killed by many more and bigger cyclones. These wicked Burmese ingrates are only slightly above backslidden American so-called Christians on the scale of Hell-bound heathen.” ^[14]

[edit] Cyclone Sidr

The WBC released a flyer thanking God for Cyclone Sidr, a destructive Indian Ocean tropical cyclone that made landfall on Bangladesh on November 15, 2007. The flyer stated that, “For many centuries the people who populate Bangladesh have spit in the Face of God by ignoring the Bible and rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior – the one and only true God – choosing rather to worship the polygamous pedophile fraud Mohammed (83% Muslim) and the filthy Hindu idols and dunghill gods of the Bangladishi [sic] sodomites (17% Hindu). Cyclone Sidr is punishment from God. More and worse is on the way from God.”^[15]

[edit] Huntsville bus accident

In 2006, WBC applied for a permit to picket the funerals of children killed in the 2006 Huntsville bus accident. The WBC published a "News Release" shortly after the accident stating:

"God is not mocked!" Gal. 6:7. God Hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God hates Alabama and America because they have gone the way of Sodom and have become The Land of the Sodomite Damned. God has cursed Alabama and America: “There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.” Isa. 48:22"^[16]

While allowing the WBC to picket, the city of Huntsville utilized two of the city's public transportation vehicles as a means of blocking public view of the protesters.

[edit] 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

After the Indian Ocean earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that followed, the WBC published a statement on God Hates America.com headlined "Thank God for the recent Tsunami!!,” that welcomed reports of 3,000 Americans killed in the tsunami. The statement also criticized Sweden saying, “Sweden worships at the fag altar, affording fags more rights than God-fearing normal people, despite their filth, disease, and soul-damning behavior. Sweden goes so far as to imprison people who do nothing more than quote God's prohibition against their filthy ways! This is the ultimate goal of the fag lobby, and they will soon achieve it in America! The fags HAVE achieved it in Canada and France! Is it any wonder that God has punished these vile nations with these losses?” The statement also expressed hope "that God will send a massive tsunami to totally devastate the North American continent."^[17]

[edit] Jokela school shooting

The Jokela school shooting was a high school shooting that took place on November 7, 2007 in Tuusula, Finland in which the gunman, Pekka-Eric Auvinen, killed five male students, one female student, the principal, and the nurse at his school, before turning the gun on himself.

Following the school shooting, the WBC released a flyer with the text, "Thank God for 9 Dead Finns." The flyer also stated, “'Be not deceived; God is not mocked!' Gal 6:7 God Hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God hates Finland and Finland’s alter ego, called Sweden – Finland was once a part of Sweden, is still a bosom buddy of Sweden, and shares Sweden’s fondness for sodomites and Sweden’s fondness for persecuting Gospel preachers and Sweden’s fondness for laws that put preachers like Ake Green in jail for preaching Gospel truth about fags and dykes,” and that, “The tragedy at Jokela High School, Tuusula, - like the destructive Tsunami that killed thousands of Swedes – was sent by an angry God – punishing you atheistic Scandinavians for pushing the fag agenda.”^[18] The flyer also announced an intention to picket in Helsinki.

[edit] Hurricane Katrina

Phelps claims that Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed much of the Gulf Coast area of Mississippi and parts of New Orleans in 2005, was sent as punishment by God as "His wraith [sic] and vengeance upon America" for the bombing of WBC on 20 August 1995 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."^[19] (See also Alternative theories regarding Hurricane Katrina).

A member of the web site Something Awful registered godhatesneworleans.com to prevent Phelps from possibly claiming the domain name for his own, as it was suspected that Phelps would register the hostname in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Visitors to the site are greeted with the messages; "God hates New Orleans? What are you, 8 years old?" Religion 101: Love thy neighbor."^[20] After a few seconds, the site automatically redirects visitors to the American Red Cross site.

WBC has stated of Hurricane Katrina: "Thank God for Katrina" and "Pray for more dead bodies floating on the fag-semen-rancid waters of New Orleans." ^[21]

[edit] 2008 Little Sioux Scout Ranch tornado

On June 11, 2008 a tornado struck the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Little Sioux, Iowa, killing four Boy Scouts on the Ranch and injuring 48 others.

Shortly afterwards the WBC released a flyer stating, “ Thank God for 4 dead Boy Scouts at the hands of an Angry God and His tornadoes - a favorite weapon of His wrath. God hates Nebraska & Iowa for persecuting His servants at WBC. These Boy Scouts died for the sins of Nebraska & Iowa.” The flyer also announced the WBC’s intentions to picket the boys’ funerals.^[22]

[edit] 2005 London bombings

On July 8, 2005, the WBC released a statement in celebration of the 7 July 2005 London bombings of the public transport system of that city, which killed 55 people. 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."^[23]

In October 2005 in a hidden camera interview with a reporter from British based Sky News, Phelps said, in reference to Britons, that he "can't stand those SOBs" and said that he would be arrested if he carried any of his signs on the streets of London. He also remarked of the bombings: "Oh, I am so thankful that that happened. My only regret is that they didn't kill about a million of them. That's my only regret. Because England deserves that kind of punishment as this country [the US] does."^[24]

[edit] 2008 Midwest floods

The WBC released a flyer thanking God for the March 2008 Midwest floods. In the flyer the WBC claimed that God caused the flooding because they claim that Missouri is full of, “filthy, ungodly, demonpossessed liars & murderers.”^[25] In the flyer the WBC also announced plans to picket the flood victims’ funerals.

The WBC also claimed on God Hates America.com that God sent the floods to punish Missouri for persecuting the WBC, stating that, “At least 15 are dead as God causes the waters to rise and MO to be punished for their crimes against God's people.”^[26]

[edit] Minneapolis bridge collapse

On August 2, 2007, the WBC announced plans to picket the memorial services of the victims of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse.

A news release that the WBC released explained that, "We know Minneapolis and Minnesota very well having picketed there many times. Twice they stole our picket signs — violently, and right out of our hands — on the public sidewalk in front of The Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N. 17th St. Minneapolis, MN - as the police looked on and laughed. Typical Minnesotans. We want our property back. That area of Minneapolis is like the fag-dominated Castro District of San Francisco. There are no First Amendment rights in Minneapolis, because all fags are filthy and lawless (2 Pet. 2:7,8). They died at the Bridge for the fag sins of Minneapolis in persecuting WBC’s missionaries. Worse and more is coming from the Lord our God. Better give our signs back."^[27]

[edit] Northern Illinois University shooting

On February 14, 2008, Steven Kazmierczak shot five people dead and injured another 16 at Northern Illinois University before committing suicide. The WBC then announced plans to picket the funerals of the victims who were killed in the Northern Illinois University shooting. A news release from the WBC explained that, “God sent the Shooter. In His Wrath & Vengeance Against an Ungrateful Nation that has Forsaken Him & Embraced Filthy Fags.”^[28]

[edit] 2006 Riegelwood tornado

The WBC claims that the 2006 Riegelwood tornado in North Carolina, which killed 8 people, was a punishment from God "for North Carolina false prophet Billy Graham's sins". They also planned to protest at the victims' funerals claiming "God hates North Carolina and America: Unholy Land of Sodomite Damned".^[29]

[edit] Sago Mine disaster

The 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 121 miles northeast of the state capital of Charleston.

Phelps turned his attention upon the Sago Mine disaster.^[30] He announced plans to protest at a memorial for the fallen miners at Wesley Chapel on Sunday, January 15.

“	"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!	”
—Press Release from Westboro Baptist Church, Official WBC website

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.^[31]

[edit] September 11, 2001 attacks

A WBC website says of the September 11, 2001 attacks:

"On September 11, 2001, God Almighty struck the United States of America with the worst terrorist attack in her history." ^[32]

After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Phelps' group went to New York City to protest the rescue efforts going on at the World Trade Center site, 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 those proclaimed as WBC's enemies. Phelps subsequently commented that he enjoyed watching re-runs of the planes striking the Twin Towers.

Phelps' group also planned a protest at the funeral of David Charlebois, the gay copilot of the plane that was crashed into The Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks.^[33]

[edit] 2008 Sichuan earthquake

The Westboro Baptist Church issued a press release concerning the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in the People's Republic of China. The press release thanked “God for the Great Killer Earthquake that He sent to kill thousands of stiffhearted Chinese rebels against God.” The flyer went on to explain that, “For many centuries these vile oriental ingrates have taken God's many blessings while spitting in His Face. Now the Judgment Day draws nigh, when they shall all bow in terror to Jesus Christ unless they humbly kiss the Son - NOW.”^[34]

The WBC released another press release concerning the 2008 Sichuan earthquake after the Chinese government declared three days of mourning for the quake victims. The press release explained that, “The Bible predicts they will have many more Days of Bitter Mourning - even ‘weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth’ - for the blood of missionaries China has shed over the centuries including hundreds of CIM* men, women, and children slain in one day in 1900. China's hands drip with innocent missionary blood, that cries to God for vengeance from the ravaged soil of China.”^[35]

[edit] The Station nightclub fire

On February 21, 2003, the WBC released a flyer thanking God for The Station nightclub fire.

The church claimed that the fire was God’s punishment on Rhode Island for electing the openly gay David Cicilline mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, stating, “The 100 burned alive at the nightclub died for fag David Cicilline’s sins.” The flyer also announced the WBC’s intentions to picket at Brown University, Providence City Hall and the Rhode Island Statehouse.^[36]

[edit] 2007 tornado outbreak

WBC released a news statement concerning the February-March 2007 Tornado Outbreak. The release thanked "God for 26 killed! We wish it were 26,000!". (The actual death toll was 20) The release went on to say that "God has cursed Georgia and America: "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked". Isaiah 48:22".^[37]

[edit] 2008 tornado outbreak

WBC released a flyer thanking God for the 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak. The flyer explained that, “God killed all those people. And He did it deliberately, and discretely, and in vengeance; because America has sinned away her day of grace in departing from the Living God. It is a time to kill. ‘To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven…A TIME TO KILL.’ Ec. 3:1, 3. The whirlwind is a chosen instrument wherewith God often works His sovereign will and way upon backslidden, disobedient nations like America; to wit: ‘The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm.’ Nah.1:3.”^[38]

[edit] Utah mine disaster

The WBC announced in a news release that the victims of the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse are in hell and the WBC planned to picket their funerals, stating that, "God hates Utah and America for surrendering to the fag agenda, and because of which God is now punishing this evil, sodomite nation with disaster after disaster, including 9/11, Iraq, Katrina, West Virginia Mine Disaster, Virginia Tech Massacre, The Shuttle Disaster, etc., — and now: The Utah Mine Disaster." ^[39]

The WBC also announced, on their God Hates America website, that, “Your Utah miners are in hell! You can spend forever and a day trying to dig their bodies up so you can BURY THEM AGAIN in all the pomp and circumstance you use to worship the dead, but it won't buy them one drop of water in hell!”^[40]

[edit] Virginia Tech massacre

The Westboro Baptist Church announced the intention to protest the funerals of victims killed in the Virginia Tech massacre.^[41] The Church explained its decision, stating "Your military chose to shoot at the servants of God today, and all they got for their effort was terror. Then, the LORD your God sent a crazed madman to shoot at your children." ^[42]

On April 20, 2007, the church announced their decision to withdraw from this protest as part of a deal they made with radio jock Mike Gallagher, in exchange for airtime on his show on the 24th of April.^[43]

[edit] Westroads Mall shooting

After Robert A. Hawkins went on a shooting rampage in Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, killing eight people and then committing suicide, the WBC released a statement saying, “Thank God for Dead Shoppers.”

The church claimed that the Westroads Mall shooting was God’s punishment on Nebraska for arresting Shirley Phelps-Roper in Bellevue, Nebraska on June 5, 2007, on a contributing to the delinquency of a minor charge. An excerpt from the article states that on, “June 5th you arrested our beloved prophetess and abused those in her company; July 5th you heaped coals on that folly by imprudently piling on that already smelly thing you did; November 5th you decided to cling to it in search of your political life … now, December 5th, you got a first, minor installment payment of God’s righteous vengeance and wrath. Thank God!”^[44] The WBC also released a flyer stating their intention to picket the victims' funerals.^[45]

On December 10, 2007, the WBC picketed some of the victims’ funerals with signs reading, “God Hates Nebraska” and “God Sent the Shooter.”^[46]

[edit] Persons

[edit] Americans killed in war

Phelps' group has protested a total of about 80 military funerals in 30 states, claiming that the Iraq War is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.^[47][48]

Because of this, a number of states have passed laws regarding protesting at funerals, and defining violation of regulations regarding protests of funerals as 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 protesters and those participating in the funeral. Some of the WBC's actions against American soldiers include:

In July 2005, the WBC declared its intention to picket the memorial service of Cpl. Carrie French in Boise, Idaho. French, aged 19 years old, was killed on June 5 in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, where she served as an ammunition specialist with the 116th Brigade Combat Team's 145th Support Battalion. Her death was seen by the church as divine punishment of the United States. Phelps was quoted as saying, "Our attitude toward what's happening with the war is [that] the Lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime."^[49]

The WBC 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.^[50]

On October 29, 2005, the church put out a flyer saying "Praise the Lord for 2,010 Dead Soldiers in Iraq" and stating "We humbly pray to God to please kill many more".^[51]

The WBC’s hatred isn’t just limited to groups supportive of the Iraq War: the church has also said anti-war activist and Gold Star mother Cindy Sheehan is going to join her son, Spc. Casey Sheehan, in hell.^[52]

In 2006, harassment was directed at the family of Sgt. Rickey Jones, an Indiana soldier killed in Iraq. Their home had been vandalized and egged and the family received disturbing phone calls in which the caller said: "I'm glad your son is dead."^[53] However, the WBC did not show up to protest at Sgt. Jones' funeral in Kokomo, Indiana on March 6, 2006 claiming "it decided to stay away out of fear that it would be implicated in the vandalism at the home of Jones' family." Shirley Phelps-Roper condemned the vandalism, and the church offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.^[54]

In the spring of 2006, the church announced an addition to their picketing policy: they would begin to picket soldiers who were injured in Iraq, but did not die. On April 6, 2006, they protested outside of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC holding signs saying "Thank God for Maimed Soldiers," "Too late to pray," and "America is doomed."^[55]

The family of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, an American serviceman killed in the line of duty on March 3, 2006, sued Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church after church members picketed Snyder's funeral and made accusations that Snyder's parents "raised [Matthew] for the devil" and taught him "to defy his Creator, to divorce, and to commit adultery".^[56] The suit was filed in June 2006 in the U.S. District Court in Maryland, for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. On October 31, 2007, a jury returned a $2.9 million verdict in favor of Snyder's family; later in the day, jurors awarded the Snyders $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress.^[57][58] On February 4, 2008, U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett upheld the ruling but reduced the punitive damages from $8 million to $2.1 million. The total judgment now stands at $5 million. An appeal by WBC is still pending. ^[59]

[edit] Keith Allen

On June 21, 2007, WBC was featured in the Channel 4 documentary Keith Allen Will Burn In Hell. It showed Keith Allen profiling the Church. Allen made no secret of his opposition to the WBC's anti-gay views, and repeatedly called a member of the Phelps family a fool (in response to when a member of the church stated "don't believe everything you read"), and labeled certain punishing passages of the Bible, "utterly, utterly fucking vile." He additionally referred to a member of the Church as a "redneck". He attempted to argue against the church's beliefs when he questioned Shirley Phelps-Roper about her illegitimate son, asking why her sins should be forgiven by Jesus Christ if others' were not.

In her September 16, 2007 "Dear Shirley" column, Shirley Phelps-Roper responded to Allen saying, “He [Keith Allen] is a pitiful and sorry little old man that must shortly stand before the very God that he has defied all his relatively short and absolutely miserable life! It will not go well for him.”^[60]

[edit] Gwen Araujo

In 2002, the WBC threatened to protest at the funeral of murdered transgendered teen, Gwen Araujo (née Edward Araujo, Jr.). Araujo was killed on October 4, 2002 after acquaintances at a party learned that she was a transgendered woman with male genitalia.^[61]

The WBC also released a flyer calling Araujo a, "cross-dressing teen pervert,” and saying, “Eddie Araujo has joined Matt Shepard in Hell, where they gnaw their tongues in pain, blaspheme God & curse each other bitterly!"^[62]

[edit] Benazir Bhutto

On December 27, 2007, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, was killed leaving a campaign rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

After the assassination, the WBC released a statement on the front page of God Hates America.com thanking God for the assassination and claiming that Benazir Bhutto is in hell with her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The statement declared, “Benazir Bhutto is in hell with her father even now. She was an idolator who worshipped the false gods of Islam, a corrupter of youth and disciple of hell. Islam is a religion of idolatry, born and bred in violence, not the worship of God Almighty, and all those who practice it can expect the same end.” The statement also criticized her for her diplomatic closeness to the US, explaining that, “You cannot ally yourself with the great american [sic] whore and not suffer a painful price. She ignored her duty to God and is paying the ultimate price for it now.”^[63]

[edit] Sonny Bono

After entertainer and US Representative Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident on January 5, 1998, the Westboro Baptist Church picketed his funeral.^[64] The WBC declared that Bono’s skiing accident was a punishment from God to Bono because he failed to condemn his daughter Chastity, who is a lesbian.^[65]

Fred Phelps has stated about Sonny Bono that, “He was a kind of an amoral person in many ways. He didn't have any Christian core values.”^[66]

[edit] Gregory Bowman

The WBC announced plans to picket the funeral of Gregory Bowman, the founder of the Patriot Guard Riders in Bureau County, Illinois.

Bowman was killed on September 9, 2007, in a motorcycle accident. In response, the WBC released a statement calling the Patriot Guard Riders a "God-hating ... gang of aging, hellbound ruffians". It warns Patriot Guard members that "persecuting the church is dangerous," and that Bowman's death was God's "curse on PGR".^[67]

[edit] Sam Brownback and Michael Guest

The WBC released a flyer that they were picketing Sam Brownback, and to a lesser extent Pat Roberts, over allowing gay man Michael Guest to become U.S. Ambassador to Bucharest. ^[68]

The WBC has also stated of Michael Guest that, "The representative face of America to Europe is an out-of-the-closet fag! Guest, along with his fag lover, live as husband and wife in the American Embassy in Bucharest, flaunting their perversion at every opportunity, representing America as a fag nation!!"^[69]

[edit] Lauren Burk and Eve Carson

On March 4, 2008, Auburn University student Lauren Burk was shot to death on campus. On March 5, 2008, Eve Carson, the student body president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was also shot to death on her campus. Shortly after the two murders, the WBC issued a statement that "These two rotten Georgia peaches were snuffed out because they were perfect examples of the product Doomed america saturates college and university campuses with every year."^[70]

A group of approximately four WBC members protested at the memorial service for Carson in Athens, Georgia on March 8, 2008, then travelled to Marietta, Georgia to protest outside Burk's funeral service at Temple Kol Emeth the following day. The WBC protesters carried signs reading "God Is Your Enemy," "God Sent the Killer," and "You Eat Your Kids." Timothy Phelps stated "Well, maybe if you weren't involved in rampant sin, God would stop sending these killers."^[71]

[edit] The Cheneys

In May 2007, shortly after the birth of Mary Cheney's son Samuel, Fred Phelps released a statement calling Mary Cheney a "Dyke Daughter" and her son, a "bastard".

Mary Cheney is a lesbian and the daughter of US Vice President Dick Cheney and Second Lady of the United States Lynne Cheney. Phelps went on to call the Vice President and Second Lady "fag enablers" and claims that "God hates the Cheneys and all of doomed america [sic]!".^[72]

[edit] Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart

In a recent video sermon, Phelps targeted comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, claiming that they are among the "scoffers and mockers" referred to in the Bible, and used them as evidence that we are in the "last of the Last Days."

Phelps indicated that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are or will be directly responsible for God destroying America for being tolerant of gays.^[73]

Jon Stewart, of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, and Stephen Colbert of 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.	”
—[1], Huffington Post

Phelps went on a diatribe, quoting from Proverbs 14:9 and Genesis 19, calling Stewart, Colbert, and the rest of America, "Fag-enabling fools." He compared Colbert's comments to the "blaspheming comics" of Sodom and Gomorrah and referred to both Colbert and Stewart as "sacrilegious buffoons."

[edit] Larry Craig

After Senator Larry Craig was charged with lewd conduct, WBC released a flyer announcing they would picket him at his state and national offices when Congress resumes session. The flyer also states that; "Sen. Craig used his powerful office--(on loan from God, temporarily)--to oppose WBC, to speak against WBC, and to vote against WBC’s Constitutional rights of free religious exercise and freedom of speech. Now we know why he did that. Every member of Congress is either a fag or a fag-enabler. God Almighty has now drawn back the curtain of hypocrisy and lies for all the world to see how fags and fag-enablers run the government at every level--starting at the top."^[74]

[edit] Brianna Denison

Brianna Denison was a nineteen-year-old girl abducted and killed by a serial rapist, who may be linked to at least two other attacks in Reno, Nevada.

The WBC announced its intent to picket Denison's memorial service on February 23, 2008, stating "You taught your daughters to be whores? God sent the pervert to rape and murder your daughters."^[75] They also stated that they targeted this city because Reno law enforcement failed to protect them while they picketed the funeral of a soldier on Jan. 26th. The church made the decision to protest Denison's service because of their claim that God hates Reno. At her service, three picketers from the WBC attended, carrying signs such as "Pray for More Dead Kids," "Don't Worship the Dead" and "God Sent the Killer." They were peacefully escorted away from the convention center after having eggs thrown at them. ^[76]

[edit] Diana, Princess of Wales

Following the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in August 1997, the WBC remarked that, "Princess Di was a filthy whore, and was killed by God in the midst of her whoredoms." The WBC also released a statement that said that, "God Almighty has again manifested His hot displeasure against the prevailing depravity of these last days, by dramatically snuffing out the hedonistic life of a leading international symbol of immoral, god-defying, decadence. And the whole world seems Hell-bent to make a saint out of this Royal Whore Diana. Like her ancient namesake -- Diana of the Ephesians, Acts 19 -- this modern Diana was a goddess of perverted lust. Her soul is damned for ever."^[77]

In The Most Hated Family in America, WBC member Steve Drain stated of Princess Diana that, “She [Princess Diana] split hell wide open when she died. She's a fag enabler, and she'll be in hell for all of eternity.”

[edit] Jerry Falwell

The Westboro Baptist Church announced on the front page of godhatesamerica.com, that they intended to preach at the funeral of Rev. Jerry Falwell. "WBC will preach at the memorial service of the corpulent false prophet Jerry Falwell, who spent his entire life prophesying lies and false doctrines like "God loves everyone".^[78][79]

An area across from Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church was set aside for Phelps’ protesters. Phelps' followers left after forty-five minutes, before Falwell’s funeral had actually begun. The Christian Bikers, a group similar to the Patriot Guard Riders, also showed up for a counter-protest.^[80]

It was suggested that Mark David Uhl, a Liberty University student who intended to bring a bomb to the funeral of Jerry Falwell, may have intended to use the device against the WBC protest at the funeral.^[81][82]

[edit] Butch Felker

The WBC announced plans to picket the funeral of Butch Felker, a former mayor of Topeka, Kansas, against whom Fred Phelps ran for mayor and lost in 1993, and who died on January 3, 2008.

In a flyer released on January 5, 2008, the WBC explained that, “When Butch Felker had a little power as mayor of this so-called ‘Golden City’ [Topeka] – the moniker of Babylon (Isa. 4:14), arch-enemy of the church and people of God – the only city whose zip code is the Mark of the Beast ‘666’, and ‘where Satan’s seat is’ (Rev. 2:20), - Yes, as Mayor of Topeka, he used his eye-dropper of power with his crooked police department to unlawfully persecute WBC.”^[83]

[edit] Gerald Ford and Saddam Hussein

WBC planned to picket the funeral of former US President Gerald Ford. On his website, Phelps stated that "...God hates Former Pres. Gerald Ford and is tormenting him now in Hell" and that "Ford is to blame in large part for making America - Land of the Sodomite Damned."^[84] The WBC flyer also referenced Ford's marriage to Betty Ford, who had divorced William G. Warren. A video was released saying that Saddam Hussein is in hell and that "Gerald Ford deserves hell infinitely more than Saddam Hussein."^[85]

[edit] Billy Jack Gaither

On March 9, 1999, the WBC picketed a memorial service for Billy Jack Gaither, a gay man who was beaten to death and burned on February 19, 1999.^[86]

The WBC explained in a press release that, "WBC regrets this act of lawless violence. However, as in the case of Matt Shepard in Wyoming, WBC will not allow the homosexual lobby to use this dead fag--Billy Jack Gaither--as a poster boy for sodomite propaganda to get pro-gay laws passed and to recruit other youth to their disease-ridden, soul-damning, life-destroying, nation-dooming lifestyle."^[87]

[edit] Barry Goldwater

In 1998 the WBC picketed the funeral of former Republican Presidential candidate and US Senator from Arizona, Barry Goldwater.^[88]

Goldwater was libertarian in his views and disagreed with the Christian Right on gay rights and other issues, once going so far as to say that, “I’m frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in A,B,C, and D.”^[89]

Phelps criticized Goldwater for failing to take a negative stand on homosexuality, calling him, "a supporter of Sodomites," and explaining that, “When you want to say it's OK to be gay, then you're saying God is a liar and the Bible is not a reliable guide. You're saying it's OK to sin, because if the Bible is wrong on that weighty matter, then it's not reliable on any matter."^[90]

[edit] Al Gore Sr.

In December 1998, Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funeral of former US senator Al Gore Sr., the father of then current US Vice President Al Gore Jr., with the WBC screaming vulgarities at the younger Gore during the funeral and telling him, "your dad's in hell.”^[91]

[edit] Billy and Ruth Graham

The WBC has picketed against the well-known American evangelist Billy Graham and has called Graham a "false prophet" and a "lying whore".^[92] In The Most Hated Family in America, Fred Phelps said that Billy Graham is a, “hell-bound false prophet. I've known Billy Graham more than fifty years, and Billy, you are headed straight and irreversibly for hell. You are a lying, money grubbing, Arminian heretic . . . At 88, Graham will soon die, and split hell wide open. And Westboro Baptist Church will picket your funeral. Amen.”

The WBC released a flyer stating the intention to picket the funeral of Ruth Graham, the late wife of Billy Graham. It states that, "God Hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God hates Billy Graham and the one person he says was his closest confidant in his long, heretical, multimillion dollar, money-grubbing worldwide scam as the No. 1 false prophet of his era. To wit: RUTH GRAHAM."^[93]

[edit] Gordon B. Hinckley

The Westboro Baptist Church holds an anti-Mormon stance. This became especially evident when WBC announced plans to picket the funeral of Gordon B. Hinckley, the fifteenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Hinckley died on January 27, 2008, at the age of ninety-seven. In a flyer released on January 28, the WBC stated that, “God Hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God hates Hinckley and the Mormon hierarchy and all Mormons without exception. All such go to Hell. Gordon Hinckley is in Hell. Without the least doubt, this fraudulent old fool has pulled his last Mormon political trick, and lied to his last dumb proselyte. Anybody who believes and preaches that, ‘As man is, God once was; and as God is, man will become,’ knows nothing of salvation by the blood of Jesus Christ.”^[94]

Four members of the WBC picketed Hinckley’s funeral on February 2, 2008.^[95]

[edit] Bob Hope

Following the death of Bob Hope the WBC released a flyer stating that Hope was burning in hell and also announced plans to picket his memorial service.

The flyer explained that, “Hope lived for the praise and honor of men, despising that honor that comes from God alone, teaching things he ought not to for filthy lucre’s sake. Thus he gave the benefit of his considerable stature and influence to the vile sodomite agenda, thereby contributing to the damnation of multitudes (called the “fruit of his doings”) – and sealing his own damnation."^[96]

[edit] Pope John Paul II

Fred Phelps is 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 flyer 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.	”
—Pope John Paul II is in Hell from the Official WBC website

[edit] Ted Kennedy

After US Senator Ted Kennedy suffered a seizure at his home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts on May 17, 2008 and was rushed to the hospital, the WBC released a flyer that stated, “Thank God for smiting U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy with a dangerous, life-threatening affliction, which may be a grim harbinger of fast approaching death. WBC prays every day for his and other rebels' demise. Kennedy supported and voted for a ‘law respecting WBC (an establishment of religion)," in violation of the First Amendment just because of WBC's faithful preaching of Gospel Truth about sodomy and other soul-damning American abominations.”^[97] The flyer also announced their intent to picket Kennedy’s funeral if he died.

[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 LGBT 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 LGBT people.

In retaliation, members of the Westboro Baptist Church planned a protest of King's funeral for February 7, 2006 at noon.^[98][99] Phelps quoted Leviticus 18:22 and indicated that King had given God the "middle finger."^[100]

Twelve members of the WBC picketed at King's funeral on February 7, 2006. A group called the Feminist Outlawz mounted a counter-protest against the WBC.^[101]

The WBC explained on their God Hates America site that, “Coretta Scott King is in hell with her husband, and no amount of caterwauling or glorifying her whoredoms will change that fact. She kicked the righteous blacks off the Freedom Train to make room for her feces eating fag friends, and God will never forgive her for it.”^[102]

[edit] Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger was an Oscar nominated Australian-born actor who, after his death on January 22, 2008, became the target of the WBC's funeral picketing. Ledger had starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the 2005 Oscar nominated film Brokeback Mountain about two men who start a sexual relationship that continues throughout their lives, regardless of the fact that both have wives and eventually children.

The WBC published a news release on the same day as Ledger's death. The news release contains several scripture verses and states their intent to picket his funeral. It states that, "Brokeback Mountain star - Heath Ledger - is dead. WBC will picket his funeral. 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is abomination.' Lev. 18:22. 'For because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.' Eph. 5:6. Yes. WBC will picket this pervert's funeral, in religious protest and warning: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked." Gal. 6:7. Heath Ledger thought it was great fun defying God Almighty and his plain word; to wit: God Hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God hates the sordid, tacky bucket of slime seasoned with vomit known as 'Brokeback Mountain' - and He hates all persons having anything whatsovever to do with it. Heath Ledger is now in Hell, and has begun serving his eternal sentence there - beside which, nothing else about Heath Ledger is relevant or consequential."^[103]

It was released that Ledger's funeral would be held in Perth, Australia. Shirley Phelps-Roper said that the WBC would picket at memorial services held for Ledger in the United States, but would not travel to Australia to protest there.^[104] This decision was apparently changed with a January 28 "Open Letter to the Family of Heath Ledger" in which the WBC exhorts them to "divulge the time, date, and place of Heath's funeral in Australia" so that they can "conduct a religious service". The open letter says, "Heath would want us to appear ... he would lift up his voice in a hideous scream, to wit: 'Listen to Phelps! For God's sake, Listen to Phelps.'"^[105]

[edit] Tammy Faye Messner

Following the death of Tammy Faye Messner on July 20, 2007, the WBC released a flyer announcing a picket of her memorial.

After calling her an "adulteress fag-enabler" the flyer went on to say that, "Tammy Faye was married to childhood sweetheart Jim Bakker - in prison for fraud, but alive. Casting her whorish eyelashes about, she fastened on Roe Messner – a Kansas con artist, but still married to his slutty childhood sweetheart. For the glory of God, Tammy sloughed off Jim, Roe sloughed off slutty, and Tammy married Roe. Beautiful. Then Roe went to jail for fraud. Then Roe and Tammy got cancer. Lovely. Just the kind of perverts to endorse the fags."^[106]

Ten of Phelps' followers picketed Tammy Faye Messner’s funeral on September 10, 2007, they were met by 18 counter-protesters.^[107]

[edit] Bill O'Reilly

On July 27, 2006, Fred Phelps released a video and a statement condemning FOX News anchor Bill O'Reilly because O’Reilly, in Phelps’ words, “has only guests who join him in slandering Westboro Baptist Church - and refuses to allow Westboro Baptist Church to respond.” ^[108]

An excerpt from the video states that O'Reilly is a, “spin doctor for his father, the devil. Bill O'Reilly, the FOX TV loud mouth who brags on his show, called The Factor. And he's always fair and balanced and that The Factor is a no-spin zone. That Bill O'Reilly is a demon-possessed messenger of Satan.”^[108]

[edit] Kevin Oldham

When Kevin Oldham, a gay musician, died of AIDS-related causes on March 11, 1993, Phelps sent a photo of Kevin to his parents. The photo contained the caption: "KEVIN OLDHAM, DEAD FAG."

The WBC also released a flyer which stated, “Defying the laws of God, man and nature, KEVIN OLDHAM played Russian roulette with promiscuous anal sex and lost big time when he died of AIDS March 11."

On April 10, 1993, the WBC showed up to picket Oldham’s memorial service but left after counter-protesters from a gay-rights group arrived.^[109]

[edit] Danny Overstreet

On September 22, 2000, Ronald Gay entered a gay bar in Roanoke, Virginia and opened fire on the patrons, killing Danny Overstreet and injuring six others.

After the shooting the WBC released a flyer stating, “Danny [Overstreet] has joined Matt Shepard in Hell. The sentence is: Eternity. All the candlelight vigils, wailing, memorial services put together can't buy Danny a drop of water to cool his tongue, or a day off. Beside this, all else is irrelevant and trivial. Yo! Fags! Deal with it!” The flyer also stated that the WBC would picket Overstreet’s funeral.^[110]

[edit] Nyia Page

The WBC planned to picket the funeral of Nyia Page, a 23-month-old girl who died in Braddock, Pennsylvania. Page's frozen body was found at an abandoned playground after her father allegedly knocked her unconscious and left her outside in single-digit temperatures.^[111][112]

[edit] The Queen Mother

After Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who was better known as the Queen Mother, died in March 2002, the WBC released an “Open Letter” to the British Royal Family detailing a list of various grievances against the Queen Mother for which the WBC asserts God damned her to hell for.

An excerpt from the open letter states that: “This woman – who you fawn over as ‘Icon of the Century’, and ‘The Nation’s Favourite Grandmother’ – has changed her residence from Clarence House to hell! This woman, to whom you attribute a lifetime of, ‘service, spledour and sadness,’ instead has lived a lifetime of will-worship, selfishness and disobedience to God.”^[113]

[edit] Ronald Reagan

The WBC official website, godhatesamerica.com, has a section entitled "Ronald Reagan is in HELL".^[114] The site contends that Ronald Reagan is in hell because he knew "the truth about God and fags", but failed to hold a stance against homosexuality after Reagan's friend, actor Rock Hudson, contracted AIDS and died from the disease. Hudson was gay, a fact that was revealed after the actor's death.

The website goes on to state that Reagan "displays none of the traits of the "heroes of the faith", as they are listed in Hebrews 11" and "He had the bully pulpit, and he did what with it? He was a great whore, sloughing off the wife of his youth to wallow around with Nancy."^[114]

[edit] William Rehnquist

On September 7, 2005, the WBC picketed the funeral of the late Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist with signs such as "Judge in Hell". Their claim was that Rehnquist, during his watch, "gave America to the fags". The WBC also released a News Release that stated:

“God Hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God hates Rehnquist, the American judiciary, Bush and his sodomite administration, & irreversibly backslidden America.” ^[115]

[edit] Fred Rogers

Fred Rogers was an American educator, minister, songwriter, and television host of internationally acclaimed children's television show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. On March 3, 2003, four days after his death, a Westboro Baptist Church flyer criticized him for his membership in the Presbyterian Church USA and stated that "Rev. Rogers was an angel (messenger) of the devil, a diabolical propaganda expert, seducing vulnerable kids to lives of sin, shame, disease, misery, early death, eternal perdition."^[116]

The Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, said they would protest his activities by picketing the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, PBS, and WQED TV Pittsburgh on April 13-April 14, 2003.^{[117][118][119][120][121]}

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 gays has been the reason behind horrible tragedies including the September 11 attacks, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster,^[122] and The Station nightclub fire.

On May 3, 2003, members of Westboro 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."^[123]

[edit] Tim Russert

Tim Russert was an American journalist who died on June 13, 2008. He was also the moderator of Meet the Press on NBC.

Shortly after the journalist’s death the WBC released a statement declaring that Tim Russert is in hell because he practiced “Roman Catholic Vodoo” and used the media to promote “Satanic lies.” The WBC explained that, “God Almighty gave Tim Russert a huge bullhorn - Meet the Press, etc. whereby to decide WHAT the news would be, and thereupon to shape HOW the news would be - leaving it largely in Russert's hands to promote the cause of God and Truth in the earth, OR, to promote Satanic lies in the earth. Tim Russert chose the latter. For this reason, the Lord God decided to revoke his stewardship as an unfaithful steward- at an early age (58)”^[124]

A video was also posted on GodHatesFags.com hours after Russert’s death on June 13, 2008. Presented by Fred Phelps, it thanked God for “consigning him [Tim Russert] to hell, thereby giving WBC a timely display of divine providence as a sermon title to preach to the demon possessed, sadomanic media …”^[125]

[edit] Matthew Shepard

Fred 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. 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 parishioners from being seen by mourners. These events are now portrayed in the play (and HBO film) The Laramie Project and television movie The Matthew Shepard Story; 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. To date, it is the event that Phelps is known most for, and some still identify him solely by this event.

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. ^[126]

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.^{[127][128][129]}

[edit] Randy Shilts

Randy Shilts was a gay author and reporter who died of AIDS-related complications on February 17, 1994. Shilts’ signature book, And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, detailed the spread of AIDS in the first half of the 1980s. The book would go on to win the Stonewall Book Award and later be made into an HBO film.

Following the journalist’s death the WBC released a “News Release” stating that, “Another filthy media fag has died of AIDS and split Hell wide open – RANDY SHILTS, of 'And The Band Played On' fame. The fag dominated entertainment and media worlds are making a hero of this gerbil mongering moron, and touting his anal copulating lifestyle as a glorious thing to be emulated by American youth.” The statement also announced their intention to picket Shilts’ funeral.^[130]

Twelve members of the WBC showed up to picket Shilts’ funeral on February 22, 1994. They arrived 20 minutes after the start of the funeral and carried signs reading “Shilts in Hell.” After having eggs and fruit thrown at them the WBC picketers were escorted away by police.^[131]

[edit] Frank Sinatra

After popular singer and actor, Frank Sinatra, died on May 14, 1998, the WBC released a statement saying:

"This whoremongering son of an abortionist became Chairman of the Board of the entertainment industry for half a century. He must now atone for his sins."^[132]

[edit] Kevin Smith

When questioned about director Kevin Smith's plans to release Red State, a film containing a Fred Phelps-like character, Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of Fred Phelps, responded:

"If you are saying that this guy Kevin blah, blah is making a movie and is making a bad guy in the movie and then he is saying that my dad is a bad guy - I say - boring! I would think by now that you earth dwellers would understand that we don't care what kind of pressure you bring to bear upon us and how much you speak evil of us when you know by our manner of life that we are the Servants of the Living God - that none of these things move us and if we gave a rat's tutu about what you think about us, this might work - but alas, we know you have no respect for God or man and in particular for yourselves, so why in this world would we want you to speak any other way about us? If you would bother to CRACK a Bible, you would know that all your hateful words and hard speeches against us are tokens in the bank, and evidence that we have the Love of God abiding upon us!"^[133]

[edit] Louis Theroux

Phelps issued a news release attacking film maker Louis Theroux, who has recently made a documentary on the Westboro Baptist Church entitled The Most Hated Family in America. Phelps referred to Theroux as a "demon-possessed BBC documentary maker", and that he "grievously offended the chaste young virgins of WBC".^[134]

[edit] Craig Thomas

The WBC released a video that stated that it is "highly likely that Republican Craig Thomas has been greeted in hell by the likes of Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford." ^[135]

[edit] Jim Wheeler

The WBC has a "monument" on their website for Jim Wheeler, a 19-year-old gay man from Lebanon, Pennsylvania who committed suicide on November 17, 1997. The memorial reads:

In Loving Memory of JIM WHEELER Entered Hell November 17, 1997, at age 19 A Suicide Who Defied God’s Warning; “Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is an abomination.” Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13^[136]

In 2004 Phelps wrote a letter to the Lebanon city council asking for permission to erect a monument with the same inscription as above in a city park of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, but Lebanon city officials said that they would reject the proposed monument. The WBC also threatened to sue the city to have the monument erected.^[137]

[edit] Diane Whipple

The WBC website created a "perpetual memorial" to Diane Whipple. Whipple was a lesbian and the victim of a fatal dog attack that attracted nationwide media attention. An excerpt of the "perpetual memorial" reads:

"Diane Whipple, a filthy dyke, died in her sins on Jan. 26, 2001, as a result of being mauled by two dogs. God used literal dogs to kill a figurative dog ‒ sodomites being likened unto dogs for beast- filthiness (Deut. 23:17, Mat.7:6, Phil. 3:2, 2nd Pet. 2: 7, 8, 12, 22, Rev. 22:15). Fags & dykes = dogs & sows. She lived like a beast, died like a beast, at the hands of beasts, and is mourned by a family of beasts!"^[138]

There is also a counter on WBC's website of how many days they say Whipple has been in hell.^[139]

[edit] Reggie White

The WBC official website godhatesamerica.com has a section entitled "Reggie White is in HELL, and WBC will picket his funeral to preach this message!!!".^[140]

An excerpt of the website states: "The Church of the LORD Jesus Christ will not sit silently by while you maudlin haters of God try to preach this fool into heaven. Despite what every talking head in the sports and news world would have you believe, Reggie White was not a good man!"^[140]

The site maintains that White, who was a professional American football player that died in 2004, is in hell. Ironically, White, who was an ordained Minister, also publicly condemned homosexuality in a speech before members of the Wisconsin state legislature in 1998.^[141]

[edit] Leni Wylliams

Leni Wylliams was an Emmy and MTV Award winning choreographer and dancer who was found murdered in his house in Kansas City, Missouri on September 13, 1996. He had been, “beaten and set on fire.”^[142]

Following the dancer’s slaying the WBC released a press release stating that, “It does not look good for Leni. WBC will picket his memorial service, using the occasion to warn the living that the sodomite lifestyle guarantees Hell. That the Kansas City Star Fag Rag writing tributes, and his fellow perverts dancing and singing in his honor, will not buy one drop of water to cool Leni's tongue where he likely now is.”^[143]

[edit] Pedro Zamora

Pedro Zamora was an openly gay man who was tested as HIV-positive when he was 17 years old. He would go on to become an HIV/AIDS activist; giving lectures, appearing on various talk shows and testifying before the US Congress on July 12, 1993. He would also appear on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco.

Following Zamora’s death on November 11, 1994, the WBC released a News Release that stated that, “Pedro Zamora, another filthy fag, has died of AIDS and split hell wide open! WBC POLICY: Whenever a famous fag dies of AIDS, and the media make a hero of the beast, WBC will picket the funeral! He declared war on God & nature and lost. Dying time is truth time -- a reality check. Great respect for dead fags is to preach God's Truth to the living. Luke 16. Real comfort is God's Word!” The flyer went on to state that, “Our country is in mortal peril, in clear & present danger of Sodom's destruction at the hands of an angry God. Jude 7 In solemn religious protest & warning WBC will picket PEDRO ZAMORA'S memorial service at the Lincoln Theatre in Miami Beach on Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. The U.S. must be warned,” and that “Satan & Clinton's Plan is to convince America's youth that their sins have no fearful eternal consequences. Fags have only TWO so-called gay rights: AIDS & HELL!”^[144]

[edit] Other

[edit] Averett University

On April 20, 2005, the WBC picketed at the graduation ceremony at Averett University in Danville, Virginia because the school has a gay-straight alliance. During the protest Rebekah Phelps-Davis said, “The homosexuals are taking over, it's not going to be long before the Lord destroys this country.”^[145]

[edit] Camp Lejeune

On January 11, 2008 the bodies of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child were found buried behind a house in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean was suspected in the slaying and fled. Lauterbach had earlier accused Laurean of rape.^[146]

On January 12, 2008, the WBC released a flyer proclaiming that they would picket at Camp Lejeune on January 19, 2008. The flyer explained that, "God Hates the U.S. Marines. The wonderful, spit-and-polish Marine is over eight months pregnant and she says another wonderful Marine raped her, and now on the eve of his court martial where she is the star witness against him, she turns up dead, and he is a fugitive from justice. Wonderful. The few. The proud. Based on our extensive experience with Marines for over a decade, we can testify that these are typical Marines. WBC will picket the filthy, lawless Marine Corps - at noon next Sat., Jan. 19 - at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; in religious protest and warning: ‘Be not deceived; God is not mocked.’ Gal. 6:7. God Hates Fags! & Fag Enablers. Ergo, God hates the Marines. The Marine Corps is saturated with vile fags and dykes.”^[147]

On January 26, 2008, five members of the WBC picketed at Camp Lejeune. They were outnumbered by counter-protesters. There were no arrests at the protest.^[148] On January 26, the WBC released a flyer announcing their intention to picket Maria Lauterbach’s funeral.^[149] Four members of the WBC showed up to picket Maria Lauterbach's funeral in Vandalia, Ohio. They were outnumbered by counter-protesters.^[150]

[edit] Canada

God Hates Canada was launched by the WBC in response to Canada's passage of the controversial Bill C-250, which added penalties to the Criminal Code of Canada for inciting the hatred of or encouraging the killing of people on the basis of sexual orientation.

An excerpt of the God Hates Canada site states:

“	For years, WBC has warned that Canada is a homo-fascist state where the filthy fag agenda has become the law of the land. WBC members have been arrested at Ottawa's International Airport upon entering Canada to picket Parliament and burn the Canadian flag. In Albert [sic], WBC members were ordered by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police not to carry "God Hates Fags" signs on pain of arrest and prosecution. When WBC members did in fact actually burn the Canadian flag in religious protest to Canada's approval of same-sex marriage, the so-called Christians of Canada were the loudest in denouncing WBC and "widely reviling" her Gospel message.	”
—God Hates Canada

Westboro had previously targeted Canada, going 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.^[151]

In 2003 the WBC released a flyer thanking God for Canada’s SARS outbreak and calling for a boycott of Toronto. The flyer also said that, “We shall all pray that the plague will spread rapidly throughout Canada, killing even more than AIDS!”^[152]

[edit] Ireland

In 2007 the Literary and Historical Society, a debating society in the University College Dublin, invited Fred Phelps to participate in a debate on gay adoption. Phelps thought that it was a ploy to get him arrested for hate crimes, saying, “They know exactly what I will say on the subject of Gay Adoption. And they know that what I will say from the Bible about sodomites will land me in an Irish jail for two and maybe 10 years…”^[153] Thus a website called God Hates Ireland was launched by the WBC in response.

The website is particularly critical of openly gay Irish Senator David Norris, stating:

“	David Norris was the first sodomite to be elected to the Irish Senate, the Seanad Éireann. He is known as a prominent member of the Church of Ireland. That is very believeable considering how much the Catholic "church" caters to humanistic lusts and pedophile priests. In 1983, Norris filed a suit against Ireland to take down its law against fags. Somehow (we don't know how), the Irish Supreme Court had scraped together enough integrity and courage to turn down Norris's offer to take Ireland to Hell in a hand basket. Not long after, however, Norris appealed and won in 1993. Ireland's encouraging the fag agenda is only the tip of the iceberg that is Ireland's proud sinning.	”
—God Hates Ireland

The poor research here shows that the WBC is unaware that the Church of Ireland is in fact Protestant. The website also criticizes Ireland for being strongly Catholic, stating that, “Ireland is notorious for being huge supporters of the evil monstrosity that is the Catholic "church." You can't get much more demonic than supporting an institution that damns souls to Hell on a daily basis.”^[154]

[edit] Jews

In The Most Hated Family in America, member Steve Drain explains their opposition to Jews, saying they "killed Christ." ^[155] They have made signs that read "Temple Beth Sodom" and "Jew Fags" that feature the Star of David. WBC has said the Holocaust was "probably miniscule [sic] compared to the Jewish Holocausts against Middle Passage Blacks, African Americans and Christians -- including the bloody persecution of Westboro Baptist Church by Topeka Jews in the 1990s." ^[156] In an April 7, 2007 "Dear Shirley" column, Shirley Phelps-Roper states, "The Holocaust was an outpouring of God's wrath against the Jews for the whole world to see." ^[157]

The WBC has also said of Jews that, “Worldwide Jewry and worldwide Fagery [sic] appear to have the same problem: They both want to criminalize Gospel preaching under misleading labels. Jews label Gospel preaching as Anti-Semitism; Fags label Gospel preaching as 'Hate Crimes.' Both groups -- Fags and Jews -- are doomed!”^[158]

[edit] Mexico

Following the 2007 Tabasco flood, the WBC created a website called God Hates Mexico, which thanked God for leaving 900,000 people homeless in the event.

An excerpt of the God Hates Mexico site states that God sent Hurricane Dean as a punishment on Mexico:

“	Against God Almighty's solemn warning, Mexico flipped off God by holding a fag pride parade on June 30, 2007 in Mexico City's La Zona Rosa (Pink Zone). In retaliation to Mexico's trespass, God sent Hurricane Dean, killing many proud sinners. Our message to Mexico is a simple one: God is not mocked; God hates fags and fag-enablers. Ergo, God hates Mexico, and her irreversible destruction is near. Mexico has institutionalized fag filth, thereby incurring God's wrath. Mexico is a nation that condones, enables, and supports sin so grievous and obnoxious that God Himself calls it an abomination and says that those who engage in it are worthy of death (Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:32). You don't need to wonder why Mexico has such an awful state of affairs; they have never been right with God and their cup is nearly full. That is why there are so many illegal Mexican immigrants in Doomed america [sic]: God had pity on america [sic] and made it a super power. God has not yet brought america [sic] all the way down to the ground. When that happens, there will be no use for border patrol .	”
—God Hates Mexico

The website also states that the Inca and Aztec civilizations were, “obliterated by God Almighty because of their sins.”^[159]

[edit] Muslims

In response to a May 9, 2005, Newsweek article alleging that American soldiers flushed copies of the Quran down the toilet at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, the WBC released a statement saying, “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. 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 Book of Mormon.” The WBC went on to give a brief literary dissection of the Quran, stating that, “The Quran's 300 pages divided into 114 chapters is toilsome reading--a cheap, tacky, wearisome, and confused jumble of crude nonsense--whose Heaven is an endless adulterous orgy.” ^[160]

After it was reported in May 2008 that an American soldier in Iraq had used a Quran as target practice, the WBC released a statement declaring their intent to burn a Quran at the Iraqi embassy in Washington DC.^[161]

[edit] Sweden

Following the prosecution of Åke Green, a Swedish Pentecostal pastor who had been convicted, and later acquitted, after making hostile statements towards gays during service, Phelps targeted Sweden. The main 'sins' of Sweden being its gay-friendly politics, with increasing rights for gay people, as well as the prosecution 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^[162]. The church also demonstrated their displeasure with the Scandinavian country by picketing a hardware store that sold Swedish vacuum cleaners.^[163]

After Pastor Green denounced Phelps for his vitriol, Phelps and his followers turned on the pastor as well. There used to be a tribute to Green on the Westboro website, but it was later removed.^[164]

Phelps also publicly denounced King Carl Gustaf of Sweden and the royal family, claiming they were doomed to an "eternity in Hell." It was also reported that Princess Madeleine of Sweden was “receiving abusive faxes” from the WBC.^[165]

[edit] Treviso, Italy

The WBC announced plans to to picket in Treviso, Italy for the backlash following homophobic remarks of Deputy Mayor Giancarlo Gentilini.

A flyer released by the WBC also states that: “God hates Italy, where fags run society and the government, and are now threatening to destroy Treviso’s deputy mayor - Giancarlo Gentilini – for daring to speak a few words of Gospel truth about the filthy sodomite beasts calling themselves gays.”^[166]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Westboro Baptist Church
• Fred Phelps
• Shirley Phelps-Roper