Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. (born November 13, 1929) is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, which is a religous group based out of his home in Topeka, Kansas that operates independently of any other Baptist church or religious organization. Phelps is known for preaching that God hates homosexuals and will punish both them and "fag enablers" (which his church defines as anyone whom they find to be insufficiently anti-homosexual).
Phelps has gained national attention for interrupting the funerals of American servicemen killed in Iraq, staging cynical, mocking protests against the United States government, the deceased soldiers, and their families. He claims such deaths, along with other tragic events such as the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, are caused by God because of his hatred of homosexuals and America's tolerance of them. Along with funerals, Phelps and his followers frequently picket various events, especially gay pride gatherings and high-profile political gatherings, and even grand openings of new Starbucks coffee houses, arguing it is their sacred duty to share their views with others. When criticized, Phelps' followers claim they are protected in doing so by the 1st Amendment. President Bush recently signed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act in response to Phelps' protests at military funerals.
All of Phelps' recent actions were in collusion with the the congregation of Westboro Baptist Church; see Westboro's notable activities.
During 1993â€"94 interviews with the Topeka Capital-Journal, four of Phelps' children asserted that their father's religious beliefs were either nonexistent to begin with or have dwindled down to nearly nothing. They insist that Westboro serves to enable a paraphilia of Phelps, wherein he is literally addicted to hatred (this statement would serve as the inspiration for the title of the book about Phelps' life). Two of his sons, Mark and Nate, insist that the church is actually a carefully planned cult that allows Phelps to see himself as a demigod, wielding absolute control over the lives of his family and congregants, essentially turning them into slaves that he can use for the sole purpose of gratifying his every whim and acting as the structure for his delusion that he is the only righteous man on Earth. Fry, Steven, and Taschler, Joe. "Phelps flock: Afterlife is prearranged." [1] In 1995, Mark Phelps wrote a letter to the people of Topeka to this effect; it was run in the Topeka Capital-Journal. Phelps, Mark. "Letter from a Son Who Left." [2]The children's claim is partially backed up by B.H. McAllister, the Baptist minister who ordained Phelps. McAllister said in a 1993 interview that Phelps developed a delusion wherein he was one of the few people on Earth worthy of God's grace and that everyone else in the world was going to Hell, and that salvation or damnation could be directly obtained by either aligning with or opposing Phelps. Phelps maintains this belief to this day.
Phelps claims his political roots lie in the Democratic Party, having run for office in Kansas five times and previously supported Democrat Al Gore in 1988 and 1992. However, his ideology directly contradicts the expressed views of the party, which supports "full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation."The 2004 Democratic National Platform for America
According to Phelps' children, he has written several unpublished biographies of medieval religious figures. Phelps is a collector of ancient religious texts and has a library of books about and by medieval- and reformation-era religious figures, which lends some support to these claims.
Phelps giving an interview about The Laramie Project in 2000.
A large portion of Westboro's pickets are "retribution pickets" revolving around the play The Laramie Project; Phelps constantly sends his followers across the country to picket every performance he finds out about. The play documents the reaction of the people of Laramie, Wyoming to the murder of Matthew Shepard. The reason for these protests is that Phelps is a character in the play and is portrayed negatively. Some of his ardent supporters claim that the play constitutes libel. Phelps himself says about his portrayal in the play: "They did not interview me, and portrayed me in a false light that amounts to defamatory misrepresentation." However, all of Phelps' dialogue in the play is taken verbatim from his own sermons.
When the play was made into a movie by HBO, Phelps traveled to New York City to picket the HBO home offices with signs reading "United You'll Fall." Whenever Phelps sends picketers, he faxes a "review" to local newspapers for publishing; every review he sends is identical: : "The fag play "The Laramie Project" is a tacky bit of melodramaâ€"unaffecting and drearily predictableâ€"without artistic merit or redeeming social value."
In the 1980s, prior to Phelps protesting at funerals, the Phelps family were supporters of then-senator Al Gore's Presidential aspirations.[3] The basement of Fred Phelps Jr.'s law office supposedly acted as Gore's Kansas campaign office, and the Phelpses hosted a fundraiser. Numerous photos exist on the Internet of Fred Phelps Jr. and his second wife, Betty Phelps-Schurle, posing with Al and Tipper Gore. Phelps Jr. also served as a Gore delegate on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta in 1988. Ivers, Kevin. "Gore Political Ties to God Hates Fags Revealed." Log Cabin Republicans, Washington branch. 25 October2000. [4]
During Bill Clinton's presidential campaign, Fred Phelps Jr. and members of Westboro campaigned for Gore, though simultaneously attacking Hillary Clinton. In January 1993, Fred Phelps Jr. and Betty Phelps-Schurle were invited to the inaugural ball in Washington, D.C.Timeline of the life of Fred Phelps, Sr. Compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center. [5]
In the ensuing years leading up to Clinton's second presidential campaign, Gore and Clinton took stances increasingly in favor of gay rights. Consequently, Westboro turned against Gore, who nevertheless invited Fred Phelps, Marge, Fred Jr., and Betty back for the 1997 inauguration; they responded by bringing the entire Westboro congregation to the White House and picketing on the front lawn during the ball, Friedman, et. al. "This Way Out Newswrap, 25 January1997." [6] with signs proclaiming that Gore, Clinton, and both men's families were going to Hell, not necessarily for their stances on homosexuality, but because they had "betrayed" Westboro. Westboro Baptist Church Flier, distributed 18 November. 2002. [7]
In 1998, Westboro picketed the funeral of Gore's father, screaming vulgarities at Gore and telling him "your dad's in Hell."
Westboro signs with political messages have read: * AL GORE FAMILY VALUES (with a cartoon of two men having anal sex) [8] * GO HOME (with a cartoon of Bill Clinton) * BABY KILLER (with a cartoon of Hillary Clinton) * BABY KILLER (with a cartoon of Bill Clinton) * FAG GORE
Phelps has failed in numerous Democratic primary elections for governor of the overwhelmingly Republican state of Kansas, in 1990, 1994, and the last time in 1998, when he came in second with 15,000 votes out of a total of over 103,000 votes cast, or 15%.1998 Kansas Primary Results. Compiled by Congressional Quarterly. [9]
In the aftermath of the election, in an incident that would be repeated years later when Phelps circulated a fuzzy petition to outlaw homosexual work protection, many of the Kansas Democrats who had cast votes for Phelps came forward to express their distaste for him. They claimed that Phelps had lied about his intentions to numerous constituents, using double-talk and fuzzy language to confuse them; neglected to mention his stances on race, religion, and homosexuality, and campaigned mainly on the platform of a "good ol' boy" Southern gentleman and retired lawyer unfairly prosecuted by the system. 365Gay.com staff. "Phelps Clan Forces Vote on Gay Rights Law. 5 January2005. [10]
More recently, Phelps was the subject of nationwide controversy when his family proposed, in a referendum, the removal of workplace protection for homosexuals in Topeka. The measure was defeated, fifty three percent to forty seven percent. Also in 2005, Phelps' granddaughter Jael was an unsuccessful candidate for Topeka's City Council; Jael was seeking to replace Tiffany Muller, the first openly gay member of the Topeka City Council.
Phelps has repeatedly championed Fidel Castro for Castro's stance against homosexuality; in 1998 Harper's magazine published a letter Phelps sent to Castro in which he praised Castro and lambasted the U.S. In 2004, when a pro-homosexual Cuban refugee announced plans to travel to Cuba, Phelps sent another letter to Castro "warning" him of the man's plans and requesting travel visas for a group of WBC congregants so that they could follow the refugee around Havana with signs bearing anti-U.S. and anti-homosexual slogans. Castro also ignored that appeal.
Phelps also hates Scandinavians and Lutherans in particular, whom he considers to be hellbound heretics. That may be because a Lutheran girl of Swedish origin, Luava Sundgren, separated his son Mark from the rest of his family. As Tarja Halonen won the Finnish presidential election in 2000, Phelps made issue of the fact that Halonen, a lawyer by profession, though heterosexual herself, had in her youth worked as the human rights lawyer of SETA, a Finnish LGBT organization. Phelps threatened on his webpage to come with his congregation to burn the Finnish flag in front of the Finnish Parliament. This threat united Finnish GLBT communities, reservists and hackers, who cracked his website and defaced it by replacing every page with a Finnish flag. The Finnish police stated that his safety could not be guaranteed should he arrive in Finland, and that should he carry out his intentions he would be arrested for defacing the national flag. He did not carry out his threat.
Phelps seems to have targeted his hatred against Sweden instead of Finland after the prosecution in June, 2004, of Swedish pentecostal pastor Ã…ke Green on hate-speech charges for comments about homosexuality; both countries are traditional Lutheran countries. On the Westboro website godhatessweden.com, Phelps declares the heavy Swedish losses in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, initially calculated (exaggeratedly) at 20,000, to be God's punishment of Sweden for the prosecution of Green, and depicts a granite monument designed by himself to Green as a Christian martyr, announcing plans to erect copies of it throughout the U.S. In response, Green has called Phelps "appalling" and "extremely unpleasant," stressing that while Phelps proclaims hatred for homosexuals and condemns them to Hell, Green hopes for them to repent and go to Heaven.
In 2003, before the fall of Saddam Hussein during the Iraq War, Phelps wrote Hussein a letter praising his regime for being, in his opinion, "the only Muslim state that allows the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to be freely and openly preached on the streets." Anti-Defamation League. "Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church: In their own words." 2006. [11] Furthermore, he stated that he would like to send a delegation to Baghdad to "preach the Gospel" for one week. Hussein granted permission, and a group of WBC congregants traveled to Iraq to protest against the U.S. The parishioners stood on the streets of Baghdad and heavily patronized Baghdad establishments holding signs condemning Bill and Hillary Clinton and anal sex. Tooley, Mark D. "The 'God Hates Fags' Left." Front Page Magazine. February 9, 2006. [12]
Though the children who remain loyal to him claim that they were only spanked as children, there is an abundance of evidence to support the claims of two of his daughters and two of his sons that Phelps was physically abusive to his children and wife.
Phelps' sons Nate and Mark, who claim that they were among the most abused, each suffer from permanent debilitating injuries consistent with their accounts of Phelps beating them with a mattock handle. According to the boys, he woke them one Christmas Eve in the 1970s while under the influence, bent them over a bathtub, and struck them nearly 300 times with the mattock handle.
In 1972 Nate and Jon (whom today Topeka residents consider to be his father's most ardent and vulgar supporter) showed up to school covered in welts, bruises, and bleeding wounds; the school nurse determined that Nate exhibited signs of shock. Social services then investigated the family, but Nate claims that their father threatened them with death if they spoke about their beatings. Phelps likewise issued threats against individual police officers and school staff, and filed a lawsuit against the school claiming they beat his children; the charges against Phelps, and Phelps' lawsuit, were dropped, but the affidavit that the school principal issued to social services remained on file as concrete evidence to support the stories of child abuse. Even Phelps' loyal daughter, Margie, who now acts as his personal attorney, admits the incident occurred.
In the early 1990s, Nate Phelps was diagnosed as suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. [13] He and his brother Mark have each been diagnosed as having suffered damage to the muscle tissue and tendons in their buttocks and legs, and both have scarring on their backsides, which they claim is the result of Phelps beating them with a custom-made, four-inch-wide strop. Around 1994 Nate was diagnosed as suffering from bone chips and severe damage to the muscle tissue in his knees.
Marge Phelps, the boys' mother, suffers from bone chips and severe cartilage damage in her right shoulder, consistent with a story three of the Phelps children tell about Fred throwing her down a flight of stairs.
Many of the Phelps children who remain at Westboro openly admit to using physical violence against their children; Phelps' son Jonathan boasted to the Topeka Capital-Journal in 1994 that he regularly beat his wife and his children:
Jonathon Phelps, who admits he beats his wife and four children, for emphasis reads from Proverbs, 13:24: "He that spareth his rod, hateth his son. But he that loveth him, chasteneth him betimes."
...Betty Phelps, wife of Fred, Jr., glowers... Anytime you spank a child, you're going to cause bruising, she explains. And sneers: "I'll bet your parents put a pillow in your pants." Jonathon, staring straight ahead and not looking at the reporter, states in a barely controlled voice of malevolent threat that, should the reporter tell it differently than just heard, said scribbler is evil and going to hell. Assuming there'll be space, the doomed dromedary of capital muckraking must tell it differently [lie]. Phelps, Jon. Personal interview conducted by the Topeka Capital Journal. Reprinted in Addicted to Hate, Chapter 2
On occasion members of the church have dared police and government officials to attempt legal action against them.
In spite of the evidence, Phelps' loyal children, especially Margie, Fred Jr., Rachel, and Rebecca, all deny that there was ever any abuse in the home, to them, their siblings, or their mother. Hays, Kristen L. "We weren't beaten, Phelps siblings say." The Topeka Capital Journal.[14]
Very recently, the ACLU filed a lawsuit in Missouri on behalf of the church. See the following article for more information: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/15095418.htm
Phelps was first arrested in 1951 and found guilty of misdemeanor battery after attacking a Pasadena police officer. He has since been arrested for assault, battery, threats, trespassing, disorderly conduct, contempt of court, and several other charges; each time, he (along with Westboro and its other members) has filed suit against the city, the police, and the arresting officers. Though he has been able to avoid prison time, he has been convicted more than once: Notable Names Database. Fred Phelps entry. [15]Musser, Rick. "Fred Phelps versus Topeka." Republished from Culture Wars & Local Politics, ed. Elaine B. Sharp. University of Press Kansas. 2000.Cloth ISBN 0-7006-0935-0, Paper ISBN 0-7006-0936-9. *1994: Contempt of court *1994: Two counts of assault (reduced to disorderly conduct on appeal)
Phelps' 1993 convictions stemmed from a raid on the offices of his family's lawfirm, "Phelps Chartered," in which $37,000 worth of equipment was seized as evidence. Phelps later sued the city of Topeka for seizing the equipment and won $43,000 in damages. By the time an appeals court overturned the ruling, the statute of limitations had expired and Phelps was allowed to keep the money.
Phelps' 1995 conviction for assault and battery carried a five-year prison sentence, with a mandatory 18 months to be served before he became eligible for parole. Phelps fought to be allowed to remain free until his appeals process went through. Days away from being arrested and sent to prison, a judge ruled that Phelps had been denied a speedy trial and that he was not required to serve any time.
In December 1996, in the wake of Fred Phelps' assault and battery conviction, two Topeka police officers came forward claiming that then-police chief Beavers had, in 1993, enacted a "no-arrest" policy that actively ignored complaints against Phelps and WBC members unless they were blatantly physically violent and/or witnessed by several persons. Beavers was quoted as saying:
The Phelpses are not going to live in my house. Don't these officers know the Phelpses can sue us and take our houses? Commander, do you understand my order?
An investigation was launched by the City of Topeka and the Topeka Sheriff's department in 1996. It was determined that Chief Beavers had been allowing Phelps and WBC protestors to commit crimes without arrest, and that Phelps and WBC members had taken advantage of their knowledge of the policy by becoming more abusive towards Topeka citizens; in following years, Topeka citizens formed a loose support group on the Topeka Capital-Journalmessage board recalling abuse they had suffered from Westboro members during this period, which included threats of sexual assault to women and children; some claimed that they had caught members of Westboro going through their garbage looking for personal information to use against them. Following the findings of the city and Sheriff's office, Beavers was asked to resign, and his successor immediately repealed the "no arrest" policy.
Canada
On one occasion, Phelps and his congregation had their signs confiscated by customs, and responded by going to the federal capital and burning and spitting on the Canadian flag, and threatening to urinate and defecate on it. Since that time, Canada has passed hate crime legislation, alternatingly referred to by the informal "Fred Phelps Law" and "Jack Chick Law." Phelps has also claimed that his congregation, along with him, have been arrested in Canada for hate speech. Should Phelps ever try to enter Canada again, he would be arrested and tried for violation of hate crime laws, a fact which prompted the founding of "Godhatescanada.com."
In Topeka, Kansas, there is much speculation regarding Phelps' health. He is reported to be suffering from an advanced form of liver cancer due to his drinking (a rumor which, started in the late '90s, would appear to be false or no longer true) or Parkinson's Disease and has made few recent appearances. Recent photographs showing apparent partial facial paralysis suggest that he may have suffered a very mild stroke for which he was never hospitalized. Also, the length and incoherence of many of his recent sermons, as well as a large number of bizarre claims (including "George Bush worships Mr. Peanut, whose name is the great god Goober" ), suggest to many that he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, senility, or has suffered brain damage due to his amphetamine and barbiturate addiction in the 1960s and his later alleged alcoholism.
Since the early 1990s, Phelps has targeted several individuals and groups in the public eye for criticism by the Westboro Baptist Church after their deaths. Prominent examples include President Ronald Reagan, Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, National Football League star Reggie White, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints murdered college student Matthew Shepard, the late children's television host Fred Rogers, Scandinavians, and US soldiers killed in Iraq. He has also targeted Joseph Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington Massachusetts. The following video clip features Shirley Phelps, a daughter of Fred Phelps who appeared on Fox News, defending the WBC and attacking homosexuality. [16] Elsewhere and more recently, the miners who died in the 2006 Sago Mine disaster and the late Coretta Scott King have been targeted by Phelps and the WBC. The groups and individuals are attacked for being homosexual, supporting homosexuality, failing to condemn homosexuality, or their deaths are suggested to be caused by God as punishment for the USA's tolerance for homosexuals.See http://www.thesignsofthetimes.net/wbcvideonews/wbcvideonews.html for how he is doing most recently. There are very recent videos of him talking.
On May 24, 2006, the United States House and Senate passed bills which would ban protests at military funerals in national cemeteries. The "Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act" would bar protests within 300 feet of the entrance of a cemetery and within 150 feet of a road into the cemetery from 60 minutes before to 60 minutes after a funeral. Those violating the act would face up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison. [17] This bill was signed by President Bush on Memorial Day, 2006.
To counter the Phelps' protests at funerals of fallen soldiers, a group of motorcycle riders has formed the Patriot Guard Riders to provide a nonviolent, volunteer buffer between the protestors and mourners. While the proposed bans might be found unconstitutional, the Patriot Guard riders are protected by the same First Amendment freedoms of assembly, expression and religion which the Westboro Baptists have used as their own defense.
On June 5, 2006, Albert Snyder, the father of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, who was killed in the line of duty on March 3, 2006, and whose funeral was picketed by Phelps, sued Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church, Inc., in the U.S. District Court in Maryland, for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit also involves accusations made on Phelps's websites that Mr. and Mrs. Snyder "raised [Matthew] for the devil" and taught him "to defy his Creator, to divorce, and to commit adultery". [29]
Because of his outlandish behavior and activism, some have speculated whether Phelps might be an elaborate prankster or agent provocateur. Such speculation has come from across the spectrum, both from liberals who find him to be too much of a caricature of their arguments regarding the religious right and conservatives who believe he must be consciously trying to discredit social conservatives [30]:
The group is so outrageous that some among the extreme-right have speculated that Phelps is a plant aimed at giving the anti-gay movement a bad name, said Mark Potok, the director of the intelligence project at the Southern Poverty Law Center which tracks hate crimes.
Conservative author Keith R. Wood made this suggestion in a column in 2004, and it has been repeated elsewhere since then. Such claims, however, have been contradicted by testimony given by Phelps' estranged children who have argued their father's beliefs are very real.
* Addicted to Hate: The Fred Phelps Story - In 1994, a reporter working for Stauffer Communications, Inc. filed a lawsuit about ownership of a book he had been researching for them, which details Phelps' life and activities. Stauffer Communications asserts copyright over the material, and never permitted publication, but it remains available on the internet.
