Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Views of Civil Rights Activist Fred Phelps

Fred Waldron Phelps Sr. (November13, 1929 – March 19, 2014) was an American minister and civilrights attorney who served as pastor of the Westboro Baptist Churchand became known for his extreme views against homosexuality andprotests near the funerals of gay people, military veterans, anddisaster victims who he believed were killed as a result of Godpunishing the U.S. for having "bankrupt values" andtolerating homosexuality.

The Westboro Baptist Church, a Topeka,Kansas-based independent fundamentalist ministry that Phelps foundedin 1955, has been called "arguably the most obnoxious andrabid hate group in America". Its signature slogan, "GodHates Fags", remains the name of the group's principalwebsite.

In addition to funerals, Phelps and hisfollowers—mostly his own immediate family members—picketed gaypride gatherings, high-profile political events, universitycommencement ceremonies, live performances of The Laramie Project,and functions sponsored by mainstream Christian groups with which hehad no affiliation, arguing it was their sacred duty to warn othersof God's anger. He continued doing so in the face of numerous legalchallenges—some of which reached the U.S. Supreme Court—andnear-universal opposition and contempt from other religious groupsand the general public. Laws enacted at both the federal and statelevels for the specific purpose of curtailing his disruptiveactivities were limited in their effectiveness due to theConstitutional protections afforded to Phelps under the FirstAmendment. Gay rights supporters denounced him as a producer ofanti-gay propaganda and violence-inspiring hate speech, and evenChristians from fundamentalist denominations distanced themselvesfrom him.

Although Phelps died in 2014, theWestboro Baptist Church remains in operation. It continues to conductregular demonstrations outside movie theaters, universities,government buildings, and other facilities in Topeka and elsewhere,and is still characterized as a hate group by the Anti-DefamationLeague and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Early life and education

Fred Waldron Phelps Sr. was born onNovember 13, 1929, in Meridian, Mississippi, the elder of twochildren of Catherine Idalette (née Johnston) and Fred Wade Phelps.His father was a railroad policeman for the Columbus and GreenvilleRailway and a devout Methodist; his mother was a homemaker. In 1935,Catherine Phelps died of esophageal cancer at the age of 28. Heraunt, Irene Jordan, helped care for Fred and his younger sisterMartha Jean until December 1944, when the elder Phelps married OliveBriggs, a 39-year-old divorcee.

Fred distinguished himselfscholastically and was an Eagle Scout. He also was a member of PhiKappa, a high school social fraternity, president of the YoungPeoples Department of Central United Methodist Church and was honoredas the best drilled member of the Mississippi Junior State Guard, aunit similar to the Reserve Officer Training Corps. He graduated highschool at 16 years old, ranking sixth in his graduating class of 213students, and was the class orator at his commencement. Aftergraduating from high school he received an appointment to the UnitedStates Military Academy at West Point; but after attending a tentrevival meeting, decided to pursue a religious calling instead.

In September 1947, at the age of 17, hewas ordained a Southern Baptist minister and moved to Cleveland,Tennessee, to attend Bob Jones College (now Bob Jones University inGreenville, South Carolina). A combination of Phelps' failure toretain the West Point appointment (which his father had worked hardto obtain), his abandonment of his father's beloved Methodist faith,and his father's remarriage to a divorcee (Phelps would later becomean outspoken critic of divorcees) precipitated a lifelongestrangement from his father and stepmother—and by some accounts,from his sister as well. Phelps apparently never spoke to his familymembers again, and returned all of their letters, birthday cards, andChristmas gifts for his children, unopened.