Westboro Baptist Church : Research Resources

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Articles

[See also the articles in our news archive]
Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church: In Their Own Words Report by the Anti-Defamation League
Homophobia Online: The Westboro Baptist Church Portion of the report, “Poisoning the Web: Hatred Online,” prepared by the Anti-Defamation League
Kansas anti-gay church embarrasses Topekans The Oakland Tribune, Nov. 4, 2002
Love and Hate in Topeka : The Theology of Fred Phelps “On 17 April 2004, Washburn University (Topeka, Kansas) hosted a lecture on Fred Phelps and his theology of hatred toward homosexual persons. The speaker was Rev. John Rankin, who debated Mr. Phelps in Casper, Wyoming in October 2002. At the Washburn lecture, Rev. Rankin read his opening statement from the debate, outlining several ways in which Mr. Phelps’ beliefs deviate from Scripture on its own terms and from the biblical God of love.”
Pastor Who Takes Pride in Hate Traces the Emotion to Bible Los Angeles Times, Nov. 16, 1999
Responding to the Westboro Baptist Church The Anti-Defamation League, which like us considers the Westboro Baptist Church to be a hate group, has prepared this helpful information on how to respond to the cult.
What led Fred Phelps to his beliefs and actions?, The Wichita Eagle, Apr. 2, 2006
Why The Supreme Court Ruled For Westboro TIME, via Yahoo! News, Mar. 3, 2011 — on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ‘free speech’ ruling in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church.

Debates / Forums

Does God Hate Homosexuals? Mars Hill Forum #70, 13 October 2002, at the Casper Open Bible Church, Casper, Wyoming.

“The goal of the Mars Hill Forum is to seek truth by embracing the love of hard questions. Rev. John C. Rankin has organized one hundred Mars Hill Forums since 1993.”
– About Mars Hill Forum

– Article continues after this advertisement –

“The guest of the forum was Fred W. Phelps, Sr., pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. Pastor Phelps and his church have conducted some 20,000 picket demonstrations across America in protest of various sins. He believes that preaching hatred of homosexuals is part of the gospel he is called to proclaim. John Rankin opposes this viewpoint, arguing that “the true Gospel calls all people to repentance, based on the love of God for all sinners, homosexual or otherwise, and based on the evidence that God is good.”

Pastor Phelps asked John Rankin these questions:
1. “I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau.” (Malachi 1:2-3) How do you explain those verses?
2. Does God love people in hell?”
– Mars Hill Forum #70

Multimedia

God Hates America [Caution: Offensive Content] Fred Phelps, in a production video by his Westboro Baptist Church, abuses the Bible to try and find support for his twisted behavior.
Shirley Phelps Roper on FOX New’s Hannity & Roper program [Caution: Offensive Content] Hate speech from one of Fred Phelps’ family members.

News and News Archive

Westboro Baptist Church news tracker, provided by Religion News Blog

See Also

Cult of Christianity
Hate Groups
Homosexality, Lesbianism, Bisexuality, and Transgenderism

• Why the Westboro Baptist Church remains tax-exempt By J. Bryan Lowder, Slate, Mar. 4, 2011
  

  Because they avoid direct advocacy. Nonprofits are allowed to hold opinions on public issues, of course. Only overtly political activities (electioneering, for example) are forbidden.

Web Sites

Pro
God Hates Fags The Westboro Baptist Church home page.

Contra
GodLovesFags.com This website provides “information to the gay and lesbian community about what it really means to be gay and believe in God.”

This website used to include the following explanation:

GodLovesFags.com was registered as a web domain on April 17, 1998. The owner of the domain registered it out of disgust for Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church’s website: godhatesfags.com.
[…]

[We monitor] Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church while providing information to the gay and lesbian community about what it really means to be gay and believe in God.

GodLovesFags.com does not discriminate on the basis of religion. We try to provide as wide a variety of gay religious information as we can.

– GodLovesFags.com FAQ (no longer online)