The Westboro Baptist Church - Hate Group or?

[Medusa]

The signs say "God Hates Fags" or "Adam and Eve - Not Adam and Steve!" and now they have turned their attention on Constance McMillen, the Etiwamba High School Senior who wanted to attend Prom with her girlfriend and was subsequently blackballed by parents and other students, being sent to a fake prom.

The Westboro Baptist Church is now planning to picket at Constance's High School Graduation.

I am sitting here wondering if other people see the Westboro Church as a Hate Group, akin to the KKK?

[Rufusboi]

Originally Posted by Medusa

The signs say "God Hates Fags" or "Adam and Eve - Not Adam and Steve!" and now they have turned their attention on Constance McMillen, the Etiwamba High School Senior who wanted to attend Prom with her girlfriend and was subsequently blackballed by parents and other students, being sent to a fake prom.

The Westboro Baptist Church is now planning to picket at Constance's High School Graduation.

I am sitting here wondering if other people see the Westboro Church as a Hate Group, akin to the KKK?

They have their own twisted logic. They are a joke. Even your moderate homophobes won't touch Westboro with a 10ft pole. Arguing with them does no good. THey love publicity. They know what envelope to push and they know what can get them into legal trouble and what can't. Best thing is to ignore them. THey want attention, they want argument, and they want the media at their pickets. Collectively ignoring them takes away any power they think they might wield. Are they akin to the KKK. Yes, they are in a way. They focus their collective hatred on one group. But I don't see them as physically dangerous. Nor do they have any power or any influence. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems like there is a collective eye roll when Phelps and his family show up. Most towns don't want them around. But you know....freedom of speech and freedom to peaceably assemble and all......I'm more worried about the Arizona "show me your papers" law than Phelps.


Rufus

[Apocalipstic]

I have no idea what to think about people so filled with hate. I have heard it is all one family?

Seriously, they seem to go way farther than other Hate groups to see publicity, which makes me think that you all are right and it is all about the publicity and nothing else.

UGH.

[Medusa]

Originally Posted by apocalipstic

I I have heard it is all one family?


UGH.

This is the part where I censor myself from making some comment about them being "inbred".

[Apocalipstic]

Originally Posted by Medusa

This is the part where I censor myself from making some comment about them being "inbred".

Yeah, sorry, I did hear that though?

[Medusa]

Originally Posted by apocalipstic

Yeah, sorry, I did hear that though?

Oh I did too! And something about how the church isnt as big as it looks and that they put a lot of energy into their website and publicity-drawing ventures.

It's just...EWW.

[betenoire]

I don't know that I see them as being as dangerous as some other hate groups, though. Hurtful and grody, yes....but dangerous? I don't know. They don't go around under a cloak of secrecy like some groups do, and to my knowledge they've not (yet) been physically violent or broken the law outright.

[Andrew, Jr.]

I saw them in action at the funeral of a soldier. It was absolutely horrible what they said and did. The media, police officiers, even the members of the Church where the funeral service was being held came outside to protect the privacy of the family of the deceased soldier. He was just 18 yo. And his siblings were youngsters, as were his parents and grandparents (young not youngsters). All I can say is Thank God he chose to be buried at Arlington National Cemetary. That drive lost most of the WBC group.

The WBC is nothing but pure hate. I am just surprised that nobody has assinated Rev. Fred Phelps yet. And he hatred is going to take generations to fix.

[Apocalipstic]

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

I saw them in action at the funeral of a soldier. It was absolutely horrible what they said and did. The media, police officiers, even the members of the Church where the funeral service was being held came outside to protect the privacy of the family of the deceased soldier. He was just 18 yo. And his siblings were youngsters, as were his parents. All I can say is Thank God he chose to be buried at Arlington National Cemetary. That drive lost most of the WBC group.

The WBC is nothing but pure hate. I am just surprised that nobody has assinated Rev. Fred Phelps yet. And he hatred is going to take generations to fix.

I think if he were to get killed like that he would become a martyr and it would be worse.

[MissGentleman]

I hate Westboro. I hate the Phelpses, I hate their extreme right ideologies.

When they're sitting around wanting to ruin a girl's graduation because she wanted to go to prom with another girl, they're also picketing gay funerals and pride marches. I really hope that one day their uber-fundie crap will be considered a hate crime and Fred Phelps will be arrested.

They're giving Christianity a bad name with these terrible acts.

All I can say is God hates Westboro Baptist.

[lyric]

I'm a documentary addict, and not too long ago, I was nosing around on Netflix and found a documentary about the Phelps family. There isn't an eloquent way to say it - these people are just nuts. Hate in any form is dangerous, and so is any group who promotes hate with such rabid conviction.

I'm not sure if this video is posted anywhere else on BFP or not, but Toxic just pointed this out to me. Has anyone seen what happened when Michael Moore took on Phelps and his family of lunatics?

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra_fAYl4Th4"]YouTube- Michael Moore vs Westboro Baptist Church[/nomedia]

[Nat]

Anti-Gay Protesters Pepper Sprayed at Marine's Funeral



A 62-year-old man has been arrested after he allegedly tried to fire pepper spray at members of the radical Westboro Baptist Church as they protested the funeral of a U.S. Marine.

The incident took place at around 10 a.m. Saturday in Omaha, Neb., where some 20 followers of the extremist Kansas sect -- who believe the deaths of American soldiers are divine retribution for the country's tolerance of homosexuality -- were staging a demonstration a block away from the funeral of Staff Sgt. Michael Bock. The 26-year-old Marine was killed in combat in Afghanistan's Helmand Province on Aug. 13.

Police told KETV that the group was facing off with counter-protesters when local resident George Vogel drove by in a pick-up truck. Officers on duty say they saw the driver extend his arm, and spray what they described as a "large amount" of mace into the air after turning a corner. When they later stopped and searched the pick-up, they allegedly found an "industrial-sized" pepper spray dispenser.

"Initial indications are he was probably targeting the Westboro Baptist Church [protesters]," police spokesman Michael Pecha told CNN.

However, it appears as though instead of hitting the radicals -- who were waving signs reading "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "God Hates Your Tears" -- Vogel sprayed a small group of counter-protesters. "You couldn't see, you couldn't breathe," Gina Moulas, who had stretched an American flag in front of the church members so mourners wouldn't see them, told the Omaha World-Herald. "It burns like someone poured gas on you and lit it."

Another anti-Westboro demonstrator Leah Kossakoski, whose husband is in the Air Force, told the paper: "The good guys got hit."

Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of Westboro leader pastor Fred Phelps, told CNN that no one in her group was injured, as they had covered their faces with their signs.

Vogel has been charged with 16 counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of felony assault on a police officer for the mace exposure, officer Pecha told CNN. He's also been slapped with one count of child neglect, since his child was in the truck at the time of the incident.

The drive-by spraying happened as Bock's family and friends were inside Omaha's First United Methodist Church. Some 600 members of the Patriot Freedom Riders, who escort the bodies of soldiers and protect their families, had ringed the chapel to shield mourners from the extremists.

Scott Knudsen, the Patriot Guard Riders captain for Nebraska, told CNN that members of his organization only ever attend funerals when they are invited by families, and never engage with church members or counter-protesters. "We don't get close to them," Knudsen said of the Westboro members. "We have our backs to them."

Knudsen added that he was disturbed Vogel's vigilantism. "It's inappropriate," he said. "It's a funeral service."

[DomnNC]

A nice lil article by CNN on Nate Phelps. I agree they are a hate group indeed and don't represent the kind of Christianity that I was raised in and know. One of these days they are going to attend the wrong funeral and a few of them are going to not make it home.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/16/wes...x.html?npt=NP1

They fund their trips by awards they get in court from suing city or county governments who try to restrict their "free speech" or even suing members of the deceased's family if they attempt to stop them. The guy who took them to court over his Marine son's funeral has to pay them $116,000 in compensation for their lawyers (which happen to be 3 of Phelp's kids). Also their "church" membership is less than 100 with 90% of that being family. The dude has 13 kids.

[The_Lady_Snow]

2 of his children have left that fold, The rest of The kids aré ALL involved including grandkids. They aré now fully aware of their rights AND have S
a Supreme Court backing. Phelps (the dad) will die but his hate legacy is here to stay.

[suebee]

Originally Posted by DomnNC

A nice lil article by CNN on Nate Phelps. I agree they are a hate group indeed and don't represent the kind of Christianity that I was raised in and know. One of these days they are going to attend the wrong funeral and a few of them are going to not make it home.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/16/wes...x.html?npt=NP1

They fund their trips by awards they get in court from suing city or county governments who try to restrict their "free speech" or even suing members of the deceased's family if they attempt to stop them. The guy who took them to court over his Marine son's funeral has to pay them $116,000 in compensation for their lawyers (which happen to be 3 of Phelp's kids). Also their "church" membership is less than 100 with 90% of that being family. The dude has 13 kids.

I saw a video of an interview of Nate Phelps when he was in Canada one time. He seemed like a very gentle and intellegent man despite the upbringing he had to overcome.

ETA: Had I taken a second to search.....

[Linus]

Yes, hate group. Southern Proverty Law Center (SPLC) has listed them under the "general hate" category (http://www.splcenter.org/node/105/activegroups -- see Kansas at the bottom)

[UofMfan]

Originally Posted by Linus

Yes, hate group. Southern Proverty Law Center (SPLC) has listed them under the "general hate" category (http://www.splcenter.org/node/105/activegroups -- see Kansas at the bottom)

I agree, hate group.

I hope the Federal Government, the IRS in particular, take action and remove their Tax Except status pronto!

[Andrew, Jr.]

The one issue I will never understand or even wrap my head around is when WBC claimed that we were to be blamed for 9/11. To me that is like saying Medusa is to be blamed for my hair to be brown.

[Nat]

yes I think they are a hate group.

[Rufusboi]

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

The one issue I will never understand or even wrap my head around is when WBC claimed that we were to be blamed for 9/11. To me that is like saying Medusa is to be blamed for my hair to be brown.

Its that twisted logic at work. According to Phelps and gang, God hates American's tolerance of gays, therefore God is punishing America, therefore 9/11 is God punishing America for tolerating Gays ....I guess America is supposed to lock us up, or declare us illegal or something.