The Most Hated Family in America

            The Westboro Baptist Church is widely known for its extreme values and beliefs; namely those against homosexuality. The church is led by former civil rights activist and lawyer, Fred Phelps, and mostly consists of members of his own family. Journalist Louis Theroux’s documentary ‘The Most Hated Family in America’ follows the organization and sheds light on the beliefs that they have. Since the start of the war in Iraq, they have been protesting at funerals of U.S. military killed in action as a protest against an America that tolerates homosexuality. Their began their picketing protests over twenty years ago in places they thought that gay people might be meeting up, as well as gay pride parades and marches.

              According to the Westboro Baptist Church, just about every tragedy in the world is God’s punishment for homosexuality and the growing acceptance of the gay community. Even the church’s website is named “godhatesfags.com”.  Some of the “bible words and sentiments” in which the church writes on large signs and brings to protests include “GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL, and FAGS ARE NATURE FREAKS”. Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of Fred Phelps, is the most well-known spokesperson for the church. Phelps-Roper has been highly criticized for her beliefs and how she chooses to express them, as well as how she is raising her children to demonstrate hatred. When Theroux asks the younger children of the church what they are protesting against, they can’t even answer the question.

              The church is headquartered in a residential neighborhood in Topeka, Kansas, close to the Kansas State capitol. The WBC is tax-exempt like all other incorporated churches in the United States. This is due to the fact that they avoid direct advocacy and are allowed to hold opinions on public issues. While they don’t accept any outside donations, the church ends up receiving a lot of its money from winning lawsuits and legal fees. This helps pay for their almost $200,000 annual travel cost.

              When it comes to politics, founder Fred Phelps and the church tend to make their views pretty clear. Along with their many protests at American soldier’s funerals, they also enjoy protesting marriage equality, which comes as surprise to no one. However, they insist that they disapprove of racism and physical violence of any kind. President Obama recently signed a new law to help restrict picketing at funerals of soldiers. Under this law, protests must be held at least 300 feet away from the funeral sight and are absolutely prohibited two hours before or after the service. If this law is violated by the Westboro Baptist Church or anyone else, significant penalties and civil lawsuits can be enforced. Fred Phelps feels that Obama is disregarding the first amendment with this law and apparently has plans to challenge the new law in court. The entire group has referred to Obama as the “antichrist” and that he is working with Satan. Margie Phelps, attorney for the Westboro Baptist Church and Fred Phelps’ daughter, told fox news that Obama’s presidency is “a sign of the apocalypse”.

              In the documentary, they also show protest against such people as Elizabeth Taylor, activist and retired Anglican bishop Desmond Tutu, tennis player Martina Navratilova and Princess Diana saying, “anyone who’s in the news and who supports the filthy fag agenda, we’re gonna make a sign about.”

              I thought that that Louis Theroux did relatively a good job of representing the Westboro Baptist Church and Phelps family as who they really are. It is sad to see the younger members of this church basically being brainwashed by their elders and most likely being ostracized by their peers for the horrible things they’ve been forced to believe in. Some of them even seem like they know the things they are preaching are silly, which hopefully means that someday they can turn their way of thinking around.

              ‘The Most Hated Family In America’ documentary chronicled the Westboro Baptist Church and the Phelps family of Topeka, Kansas. They see gays as their biggest issue to tackle and are on a crusade for righteousness. Their pickets and protests have caused a big stir and they are widely criticized by just about everyone who has heard of them.

Works Cited

About Westboro Baptist Church. N.p., n.d. Web. Sept. 2012. <http://www.godhatesfags.com/wbcinfo/aboutwbc.html>.

Klapper, Ethan. "Westboro Baptist Church To Obama On New Funeral Protest Law: There's 'Prime Real Estate At 301 Feet'" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 Aug. 2012. Web. Sept. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/westboro-baptist-church-obama_n_1752534.html>.

Louis Theroux: Most Hated Family in America | Watch Documentary Online Free - Documentary Heaven. Louis Theroux: Most Hated Family in America | Watch Documentary Online Free - Documentary Heaven. N.p., n.d. Web. Sept. 2012. <http://documentaryheaven.com/louis-theroux-most-hated-family-in-america/>.

Lowder, J. B. "Why the Westboro Baptist Church Remains Tax-exempt." Slate Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. Sept. 2012. <http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2011/03/subsidized_hate.html>.

"Southern Poverty Law Center." Westboro Baptist Church. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/groups/westboro-baptist-church>.