Free Republic

Blue Collar Logic

Megan Phelps-Roper, who grew up indoctrinated with hatred in the Westboro Baptist Church, left the church in 2012 after what can only be described as an awakening. “She left the church a while ago, and recently did a TED talk on why she left and how it happened. And it’s fascinating because, I mean, there are parts of it that sounds like she’s just lifting lines from Glenn Beck about how to deal with the world,” Co-host Stu Burguiere said Thursday on The Glenn Beck Program. Interestingly, Phelps-Roper’s conversion began in the hateful universe of social media, where she encountered...

It won't shock AT readers to learn that the Left is deceitful, but here's another piece of evidence: a fundraising letter from Ralph Neas's People for the American Way (PAW) arrived in the mail today. The outside of the envelope and the letter inside display a large photo identified as "Demonstrators at Presidential Inauguration." The signs held by these "demonstrators" read: "God Hates Obama," "Fags Love Obama," and "Hell to the Chief." Anyone paying the slightest attention knows that signs with the word "fag" and "God hates..." most likely originate from the despicable Westboro Baptist Church, and sure enough, a...

Poor Kim Davis. Not only did the anti-gay marriage crusader go to jail in defense of what she believes to be a fight for religious liberty (she might want to bone up on her James Madison), but now she’s being attacked by one of the most vile pseudo-religious organizations ever to spawn. The Westboro Baptist “Church.”

Joel Osteen might be focused on positivity and prosperity, but folks coming to hear his sermon on Sunday had to drive to Lakewood Church seeing some pretty negative signs. Members of the Westboro Baptist church were seen along the roads to the church and the signs they were waving at the drivers were very inflammatory. According to KHOU on Sunday, the Westboro Baptist church members shouted their message through bullhorns surprising the congregation members who call Lakewood Church their home.

TOPEKA, Kan., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Remember when "God" said he wanted to plaster a pro-tolerance message on a billboard in the back yard of the Westboro Baptist Church? Well, thanks to the donations of more than 3,700 funders, God -- or at least the mysterious person running God's Facebook page -- has raised more than $80,0000 in support of a "God Loves Gays" billboard in Topeka, Kan.

Westboro Baptist Church Planning Anti-Gay Protest Outside Robin Williams' Funeral - because of late actor's role in The Birdcage Says it will 'preach in lawful proximity' to star's funeral to 'warn the living' Williams played a gay man in the movie The Birdcage 16 August 2014 Members of the controversial Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church are planning a protest at tragic actor Robin Williams' funeral over his portrayal of a gay man in the movie The Birdcage.

Fred Phelps, a former street preacher who led a family ministry that raged against what he perceived as a morally bankrupt society, died Thursday. His legacy of picketing funerals of military veterans and disaster victims, promoting coarse language to condemn conduct he viewed as amoral, and waging legal battles that protected his actions under the First Amendment, earned him an international reputation of a man’s whose absolute conviction was never swayed in the face of widespread contempt. “The level of his vitriol, the savageness of his comments, were just unmatched anywhere. His rhetoric was such he united people both on...

Death is always a tragedy. Hate makes it more so. Today, a man known for hate died. CNN concluded that his infamy was worth a breaking news alert. But how do we respond? How does this breaking news relate to the gospel's good news? I've had some run-ins with Westboro, though I don't like to use the words "Baptist" and "Church" when referring to it. (My apologies to the city of Westboro, but your sacrifice is appreciated to rescue the words "Baptist" and "Church.") I actually have a reminder of the Phelps family that I see every day. If you...

If Fred Phelps didn’t exist, it would be necessary to invent him. ................................................ Indeed, Phelps was one of the LGBT community’s best friends—precisely because he was so outrageous. Every time Maggie Gallagher or Robert George would get up and give some vaguely reasonable defense of ‘traditional’ marriage, Phelps’s posse would show up with their tricolor posters and homophobic rhetoric. Phelps was like the emperor with no clothes on. There was nothing disguising his feelings; he made it clear that being anti-gay really was all about hate.

Fred Phelps Sr., the former head of the Westboro Baptist Church, died late Wednesday night, according to a family member. Phelps' son, Timothy told 13 News that his father died just before midnight. Timothy Pheps works at the Shawnee Co. Jail. Ironically, another son who is a member of the church, attorney Jonathan Phelps told us Thursday morning, "Pastor Phelps is doing just fine." That, of course, could have been a spiritual reference. Over the weekend, we learned that Phelps was reportedly "on the edge of death." In a statement on his Facebook page, Nathan Phelps, who has been estranged...

Reports that Fred Phelps, 84, founder of the Topeka, Kan., church known for its anti-gay message and protests of military funerals, is on his deathbed have some looking forward to the Westboro Baptist Church pastor’s passing. The Facebook page Fred Phelps Death Watch was created March 16 and has nearly 1,900 likes. The page states, “While we wait for God to take him, because he hates homosexuals, let’s relive some of his more memorable moments while we wait.”

The founder of Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps, notorious for leading hateful protests against gay rights, is actually a Democrat with long history of endorsing Democratic candidates. On Tuesday, Politico provided some background on Phelps' political history, most of which saw him endorsing Democrat candidates and running for office a number of times as a Democrat. In the 1990's, Phelps ran in three Kansas Democratic primaries for Governor in 1990, 1994, and 1998, receiving only 15% of the vote. He also ran for Senator in 1992, receiving 31% of the vote, and for mayor of Topeka in 1993 and 1997....

Fred Phelps Sr., the founder of the Kansas church held in disgust worldwide for its antigay protests of prominent funerals, is in hospice care and "on the edge of death," according to one of his estranged sons. Nate Phelps posted the information on Facebook Saturday night, adding the revelation that his father had been excommunicated from the church in 2013. A church spokesman told the Topeka Capitol-Journal that Phelps was indeed in the hospice but that Nate Phelps "is not well informed." The spokesman also refused to comment on the allegation that the elder Mr. Phelps has been excommunicated. Another...

The estranged son of the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church said his father is "on the edge of death." Fred Phelps Sr. became famous for organizing picket lines of brightly-colored signs carrying hateful messages against tolerance during the funerals of military personnel and famous figures. His actions led to at least two federal and several state laws restricting protests during military funerals. In a statement on his Facebook page, Nathan Phelps, who has been estranged from his father for 30 years, said the senior Phelps was dying in hospice care in Topeka, Kan., and that he had been ex-communicated...

You know Fred Phelps. You loathe Fred Phelps. You despise everything he stands for, like his family members’ infamous protests at soldiers’ funerals with their awful “God Hates Fags” signs. They’ve been a symbol for many years of the religion-based animosity against the LGBT community — to the point that they’ve been labeled a “hate group” and even the most fundamentalist Christian groups denounce his church’s activities.... /snip/... Tonight, on Facebook, Nate (one of Fred's sons, excommunicated from the church) posted this: I’ve learned that my father, Fred Phelps, Sr., pastor of the “God Hates Fags” Westboro Baptist Church, was...

This sort of thing ought to be left to the Westboro Baptist Church. The Washington Free Beacon reports that a Chicago judge has intervened on behalf of SCI Illinois Services, Inc., a national funeral-home chain, and ordered the local Teamsters chapter to suspend picketing at 16 funeral homes in the area. What prompted the legal action? The company testified in its filing that union members blocked grieving family members from leaving its parking lot, used bullhorns to shout obscenities at workers and mourners, and unleashed a German Shepard on a dead woman’s daughter and husband. The funeral home was eventually...

CORPUS CHRISTI - A family-run church known to picket military funerals is threatening to protest a memorial service planned for District Judge Tom Greenwell. The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas issued the release this afternoon of their plans to be at the United Methodist Church on Shoreline Boulevard Thursday afternoon. Greenwell committed suicide last Monday inside his office at the Nueces County courthouse. The sheriff's office is still investigating what led to his suicide. A handwritten will was found that left everything Judge Greenwell owned to a 36-year-old man named Albert Fuentes. Greenwell told KZTV back in 2006 that...

PHOENIX - The notoriously outspoken and often controversial Westboro Baptist Church has made several threats through social media intending to picket the funerals of the 19 firefighters killed in the Yarnell Hill wildfire near Prescott. Westboro Baptist Church posted several tweets from their Twitter account within the last 48 hours, connecting the firefighter deaths to punishment for the world's apparent tolerance of homosexuality. In a tweet posted at 2:56 p.m. Monday, the church said, "Westboro Baptist Church THANKS GOD for AZ fires that killed 19 firefighters!" In another post, they retweeted Arizona Senator John McCain, adding their intent to picket:...

A 5-year-old girl set up a lemonade stand across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church compound, and now the group is targeting her. ... The efforts have clearly irritated Westboro members, Equality House resident Davis Hammet said. "She was so awesome. She was such a sweetheart," Hammet said. "She was right in front of this hate group. She was unfazed and unafraid, and they are so very vile and rude to people." ... Jayden told her father that she wanted to set up a lemonade stand to help a charity. After doing research, they settled on Equality House because...