Changes

[[Image:20001025 xnjdo FredGoreFiny.jpg|thumb|240px|right|Rev. [[Fred Phelps]] with [[Nobel Peace Prize]] winner [[Al Gore]] at a Westboro Baptist Church event.]]

[[Image:20001025 xnjdo FredGoreFiny.jpg|thumb|240px|right|Rev. [[Fred Phelps]] with [[Nobel Peace Prize]] winner [[Al Gore]] at a Westboro Baptist Church event.]]

The '''Westboro Baptist Church''' (WBC) is a [[radical]], self-proclaimed [[Christian]] church headed by pastor [[Fred Phelps]]. The church is located in [[Topeka]], [[Kansas]], and  receives most of its publicity from its infamous "God Hates Fags" protests. It was founded in 1955.<ref name=spc>[http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/groups/westboro-baptist-church Intelligence Files: Westboro Baptist Church]. ''Southern Poverty Law Center''.</ref>

The '''Westboro Baptist Church''' (WBC) is a [[radical]], self-proclaimed [[Christian]] church headed by pastor [[Fred Phelps]]. The church is located in [[Topeka]], [[Kansas]], and  receives most of its publicity from its infamous "God Hates Fags" protests. It was founded in 1955, and began picketing in 1991 - it claims to have picketed over 40,000 times since then.<ref name=spc>[http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/groups/westboro-baptist-church Intelligence Files: Westboro Baptist Church]. ''Southern Poverty Law Center''.</ref>

The WBC is closely monitored by both the Anti-Defamation League and the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]], and is regarded by the latter as a hate group.<ref name=spc /> While mainstream Christianity rejects [[homosexuality]] as sin, following [[God]]'s example, true Christians [[love]] the sinner. In contrast, WBC demonstrates no love for the sinner, and their attitude is considered to be one of hate.

The WBC is closely monitored by both the Anti-Defamation League and the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]], and is regarded by the latter as a hate group.<ref name=spc /> While mainstream Christianity rejects [[homosexuality]] as sin, following [[God]]'s example, true Christians [[love]] the sinner. In contrast, WBC demonstrates no love for the sinner, and their attitude is considered to be one of hate.

==Composition==

==Composition==

Westboro's membership is made up of Fred Phelps, 9 of his 13 children (the others are estranged), their children and spouses, and a few other families and individuals.<ref name=spc /> Almost all of the church's roughly 100 members are related to Fred Phelps.<ref name=npr>Hagerty, B.B. (2011, March 2). [http://www.npr.org/2011/03/02/134198937/a-peek-inside-the-westboro-baptist-church A Peek Inside the Westboro Baptist Church]. ''NPR''.</ref>

Westboro's membership is made up of Fred Phelps, 9 of his 13 children (the others are estranged), their children and spouses, and a few other families and individuals.<ref name=spc /> Almost all of the church's roughly 100 members are related to Fred Phelps.<ref name=npr>Hagerty, B.B. (2011, March 2). [http://www.npr.org/2011/03/02/134198937/a-peek-inside-the-westboro-baptist-church A Peek Inside the Westboro Baptist Church]. ''NPR''.</ref> Members of the family and their relationships to Fred Phelps include:

 

==Family Law Firm==

==Family Law Firm==

Fred Phelps designed his church/family as a giant law firm used to sue those angry enough to retaliate against the "church". Eleven of Phelps' thirteen children have law degrees, and work for the Phelps Chartered Law Firm which Fred Phelps founded in 1964.<ref name=spc />  

Fred Phelps designed his church/family as a giant law firm used to sue those angry enough to retaliate against the "church". Eleven of Phelps' thirteen children have law degrees. All five of the attorneys for the Phelps Chartered Law Firm, which Fred Phelps founded in 1964, are his children. The Kansas Supreme Court disbarred Fred Phelps himself in 1979 for a lack of ethics. Because the firm represents Westboro Baptist Church in its lawsuits, it can use money from cases it wins to further fund the church.<ref name=spc />  

{{cquote|"'They have a very well-respected law firm in Topeka,' Sherman says. 'People in town said, 'Well, we don't like them, but if we want to win a case, we'll go to them.'' Church spokeswoman Phelps-Roper says their booming employment and family law practice pays the bills for their travels across the country, when they shout their anti-gay message. They travel in vans to keep down the costs, which she says can add up to $200,000 a year... The protests are in themselves a source of some income, according to Potok. Over the years the Phelpses have filed lawsuits against communities that try to stop them from demonstrating. 'And as a general matter they have won,' he says. 'They know their First Amendment rights very well, and they've been very good at defending them.' When they win, they often receive tens of thousands of dollars in court fees. And their winning streak is likely to continue, now that the Supreme Court has decided that Westboro's right to free speech trumps the right of families to bury their loved ones undisturbed."

{{cquote|"'They have a very well-respected law firm in Topeka,' Sherman says. 'People in town said, 'Well, we don't like them, but if we want to win a case, we'll go to them.'' Church spokeswoman Phelps-Roper says their booming employment and family law practice pays the bills for their travels across the country, when they shout their anti-gay message. They travel in vans to keep down the costs, which she says can add up to $200,000 a year... The protests are in themselves a source of some income, according to Potok. Over the years the Phelpses have filed lawsuits against communities that try to stop them from demonstrating. 'And as a general matter they have won,' he says. 'They know their First Amendment rights very well, and they've been very good at defending them.' When they win, they often receive tens of thousands of dollars in court fees. And their winning streak is likely to continue, now that the Supreme Court has decided that Westboro's right to free speech trumps the right of families to bury their loved ones undisturbed."

-Barbara Bradley Hagerty, ''NPR''<ref name=npr />}}

-Barbara Bradley Hagerty, ''NPR''<ref name=npr />}}  

==Protests==

==Protests==

Westboro has protested or otherwise targeted the following:

Westboro has protested or otherwise targeted the following:

* Homosexuals, including [[Matthew Shepard]].<ref name=npr />

* Homosexuals, including [[Matthew Shepard]].<ref name=npr />

* The Catholic [[Pope]].<ref>http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/default.asp</ref>

* The Catholic [[Pope]].<ref>http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/default.asp</ref>

==Snyder v. Phelps==

==Snyder v. Phelps==