The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an American unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, that was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. Widely considered a hate group and a cult, it is well known for its public protests against gay people and for its usage of the phrases "God hates fags" and "Thank God for dead soldiers". It also engages in hate speech against atheists, Jews, Muslims, transgender people, and other Christian denominations. The WBC's theology and practices are widely condemned by other Christian churches, including the Baptist World Alliance and the Southern Baptist Convention, and by politicians and public figures including former U.S. president Barack Obama.
WBC started protesting against homosexuality in 1989. Within a few years, the group expanded to protesting across the country at both private and public events, including at funerals, sports games, and concerts. The group staged protests at the funerals for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the West Nickel Mines School shooting. The group is also known to deface the American flag or fly it upside down while protesting, drawing counter-protests.
Although the group's right to protest and use hate speech in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution, the group has faced numerous legal challenges over its history. A 2006 Act of Congress called the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act, created primarily due to WBC, placed restrictions on protests at some cemeteries. The 2010–2011 US Supreme Court case Snyder v. Phelps shielded the group from tort liability for a 2006 protest at a military funeral. WBC also files its own lawsuits via a Phelps family law firm, and has won cases that have yielded thousands of dollars for the group. Members of the group have been banned from entering Canada and the United Kingdom after attempting to protest in those countries.
In 2016, Forbes stated WBC had about 70 members. The group primarily consists of members of Phelps's extended family, although many of its members have left or been excommunicated. Several family members, including Nathan Phelps and Megan Phelps-Roper, have left the church and become activists against it. Fred Phelps himself was excommunicated from the church around August 2013. Before his death in 2014, a church spokesperson stated that the group had not had a defined leader a very long time". Several former members have accused the group of brainwashing and abusive behavior.
History Westboro Baptist Church originated as a branch of the East Side Baptist Church, which was established in 1931 on the east side of Topeka. In 1954, East Side hired Fred Phelps as an associate pastor, and by 1955, Phelps was promoted to pastor of a new East Side church plant, Westboro Baptist, on the west side of Topeka. Its first public service was held on November 27, 1955. Westboro is independent of any denomination, and after Westboro was established, Phelps broke ties with East Side to become entirely independent. His vitriolic preaching alienated nearly the entirety of the original congregation, who either returned to East Side or joined other congregations, leaving him with a small following consisting almost entirely of his own relatives and close friends.
Phelps was a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. He founded the Phelps Chartered law firm in 1964, which has since been used to sue communities that are targets of Westboro's protests. Westboro Baptist first began protesting homosexuality in 1989 after the discovery of what they referred to as a "tearoom", meaning a public lavatory used for homosexual interactions. The group later began picketing Gage Park six blocks northwest of its headquarters in Topeka in 1991, saying it was a den of anonymous homosexual activity.Jones, K. Ryan (2008), Fall from Grace (documentary). Soon, its protests had spread throughout the city, and within three years, WBC was traveling across the country. Phelps explained in 1994 that he considered the negative reaction to the picketing to be proof of his righteousness.
On August 20, 1995, a pipe bomb exploded outside the home of Shirley Phelps-Roper, the daughter of Fred Phelps. The blast damaged an SUV, a fence, and part of the house, but no one was injured. In 1996, two men were arrested and charged for the bombing, and both admitted to causing the blast. They had believed Phelps-Roper's house was that of the pastor and wanted to retaliate against Westboro's anti-gay protests at Washburn University. One of the bombers was fined $1,751 and was sentenced to 16 days in prison plus 100 hours of community service.
Fred Phelps died of natural causes on March 19, 2014. His daughter Shirley said a funeral would not be held because Westboro does not "worship the dead". He had previously been voted out of his leadership position and, according to representatives, the organization had no defined leader in the time leading up to his death.
Positions and views Westboro Baptists believe in the Five Points of Calvinism, as reflected in the TULIP acronym that is displayed prominently at the front of the church sanctuary. They believe in limited atonement, unconditional election, and the double predestination of both the saved and the damned, which can weigh heavily on members as well as those who leave the church. According to Barrett-Fox, they see "moral living as a sign of election" and they say they have a duty to preach to the public, not to "save people" (who are predestined) but to spread a message of obedience to God. In her dissertation on Westboro Baptist, she labels this theology as Hyper-Calvinist.
They see themselves as coming from the Primitive Baptist movement. Their Primitive Baptist practices include their style of worship, approach to church discipline, liturgical preferences and seeing themselves as from a "separatist, antiestablishment" lineage (p. 66).
Anti-homosexuality WBC is known for its homophobic rhetoric. The Anti-Defamation League describes the group as "virulently homophobic", saying its anti-homosexual rhetoric is often a cover for antisemitism, anti-Americanism, racism, and hatred of other Christian groups. The Southern Poverty Law Center has added WBC to a list of hate groups for its homophobia. The group has also expressed transphobic messages in its protests. Its homophobic outlook has led its members to protest LGBT pride events and funerals of those who died due to HIV/AIDS, as well as to blame homosexuals for mass-casualty events such as the September 11 attacks.
Antisemitism
In 1996, Phelps began a campaign called "Topeka's Baptist Holocaust", whereby he attempted to draw attention to attacks perpetrated against WBC picketers, saying they were not random but organized attacks orchestrated by Jews and homosexuals. Phelps announced, "Jews killed Christ", and "Fag Jew Nazis are worse than ordinary Nazis. They've had more experience. The First Holocaust was a Jewish Holocaust against Christians. The latest Holocaust is by Topeka Jews against Westboro Baptist Church."
In another statement, he said "Topeka Jews today stir up Kansas tyrants in persecuting Westboro Baptists. They whine about the Nazi Holocaust, while they perpetrate the Topeka Holocaust."
A March 25, 2006, flier regarding a Jewish adversary of Phelps uses the phrase "bloody Jew" four times and the phrase "evil Jew" more than once every 12 sentences. The Anti-Defamation League has criticized WBC and Phelps, and keeps a sampling of WBC's fliers regarding Judaism on their website.
In an interview, Margie Phelps said WBC targeted the American Jewish community because members had "testified" to gentiles for 19 years that "America is doomed" and that "Now it's too late. We're done with them." She also claimed Jews were "one of the loudest voices" in favor of homosexuality and abortion, and that "[Jews] claim to be God's chosen people. Do you think that God is going to wink at that forever?" Phelps concluded by stating, in an apparent reference to the Book of Revelation, that all the nations of the world would soon march on Israel, and that they would be led by President Barack Obama, whom she called the "Antichrist".
Islamophobia Jael Phelps said in a 2011 interview that she and the other members of WBC tauntingly and publicly burned a copy of the Quran while being scolded by a Muslim man, calling it an "idolatrous piece of trash" and that they were giving it the "proper respect that it deserves" by doing so. They picketed the funeral of the Muslim man's wife the following week. Jael Phelps said the wife's death was partly due to her Muslim husband having spoken out against WBC, and therefore rejecting God and bringing his "righteous judgement" down upon him. She also commented that "all those angry little Muslims can just shut their mouths."America's Most Hated Family in Crisis.
In 2010, Westboro Baptists said they would again burn a Quran as an example of idolatry today.
Barack Obama conspiracy theories Margie Phelps, daughter of Fred Phelps and attorney for WBC, said in an interview with Fox News that Barack Obama would "absolutely" be going to Hell and that he was "most likely the Beast spoken of in the Revelation." She also said Obama's presidency was a sign of the Apocalypse. On January 20, 2013, picketers of the Westboro Baptist Church protested Obama's second inauguration. The protesters had a legal permit and used signs with homophobic messages as well as referring to Obama as the Antichrist.
Structure and picketing
WBC consists primarily of members of Fred Phelps's extended family. According to Forbes, it had roughly 70 members as of 2016, having previously had 80 members in 2011. In her book on Westboro Baptists, religious studies scholar Rebecca Barrett-Fox describes their identification with Primitive Baptists. Members attend a weekly service and believe in a theology of predestination which includes believing all disasters and catastrophes come from the hand of God. Members follow the organization's 'literal' interpretation of the Bible which informs their attitudes towards homosexuality and towards Judaism. The religious justification for active political hate speech has led to much controversy.WBC's travel expenses have exceeded as much as $200,000 annually. One of Westboro's followers estimated the organization spends $250,000 a year on picketing. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, it is funded entirely from within the organization and accepts no outside donations. WBC has received money from lawsuits and legal fees, through the closely related Phelps Chartered law firm, when its protests have been unlawfully disrupted. For example, the firm sued the city of Topeka several times in the 1990s, and received $16,500 in legal fees for a court case won against a Marine's bereaved father. Because the firm represents WBC in its lawsuits, it can use money from cases it wins to further fund the organization under the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976. WBC is considered a nonprofit organization by the federal government, and is therefore exempt from paying taxes. All five of Phelps Chartered's lawyers are Phelps's children, and eleven of his thirteen children are lawyers. Members of the Phelps family are expected to give ten percent of their earnings to WBC.