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EXETER — The Anti-Defamation League has condemned the demonstration planned for Monday in Exeter by members of what it calls the "virulently homophobic" Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church.
Diane Kolb, associate director of ADL's New England Region, said she hopes her group's condemnation will encourage others to speak out against members of Westboro Baptist Church.
"We have issued the statement condemning the attitude and the behavior and the opinion of these folks," Kolb said. "The position of ADL is that we must counter hate speech with more speech so we have been working with all of the groups that have been targeted to encourage them to speak out. We are supporting whatever action or inaction that they feel is appropriate for their school."
The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is an organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.
Rev. Fred Phelps, 71, will lead his anti-gay crusade into town on Monday to protest Phillips Exeter Academy's decision last May to allow gay and lesbian faculty and staff to serve as dormitory parents.
The church also plans to protest against PEA alumnus Gore Vidal, an American novelist, playwright, and essayist well known for his attack of sexual norms. The group claims Vidal advocated jail for its members for picketing the funeral of an openly gay student beaten to death in Wyoming in 1998.
The ADL recently issued a report titled "In Their Own Words: Fred Phelps & The Westboro Baptist Church."
The report examines so-called "hateful" remarks the church in Topeka has made over the last decade.
While putting a public face on its crusade against homosexuality, the ADL contends in the report found on the organization's Web site that Phelps and the church have issued hate literature attacking blacks, Jews, other minorities and Christians with "great force."
The ADL maintains members of the church have staged protests at many non-gay events in some cases, targeting mainstream public officials and government entities that Phelps believes to be encouraging homosexuality.
The Westboro Baptist Church spreads its message using faxed fliers and news releases that are often posted on the group's Web site.
"Fred Phelps has made patently clear his mission of targeting gays with hateful rhetoric and public demonstrations," said Robert Leikind, executive director of ADL, New England region, in a written statement Friday. "What is less widely known about Fred Phelps is that he and followers of the Westboro Baptist Church have also attacked Jews, blacks and Christians. He and his church continue to spread vile rhetoric against many groups."
Portsmouth resident Tracy Singer said those who have a problem with the pastor's thinking need to stand up to him.
"Do you know what I would say to him if he came to town?" Singer asked. "I'd tell him he's wrong; God does love everybody, even him with his hateful ignorant view and we'll pray for his soul."
Instead of attacking a person for his or her race or sexual preference, Singer said his focus should be to denounce pedophiles.
"The focus about who needs to be a role model for others is distorted. It is about who has a healthy mind and a healthy heart," she said.
Singer pointed to how many men of organized religious organizations have been accused and convicted of sex crimes against children and young adults.
The bikers shield the families of dead soldiers from the protesters, and overshadow the jeers with patriotic chants and a sea of red, white and blue flags.
“The most important thing we can do is let families know that the nation cares,” said Don Woodrick, the group's Kentucky captain. “When a total stranger gets on a motorcycle in the middle of winter and drives 300 miles to hold a flag, that makes a powerful statement.”
At least 14 states are considering laws aimed at the funeral protesters, who at a recent memorial service at Fort Campbell wrapped themselves in upside-down U.S. flags. They danced and sang impromptu songs peppered with vulgarities that condemned homosexuals and soldiers.
The Patriot Guard was also there, waving up a ruckus of support for the families across the street. Community members came in the freezing rain to chant “U-S-A, U-S-A” alongside them.
“This is just the right thing to do. This is something America didn't do in the '70s,” said Kurt Mayer, the group's national spokesman. “Whether we agree with why we're over there, these soldiers are dying to protect our freedoms.”
Shirley Phelps-Roper, a daughter of Fred Phelps and a lawyer for his church in Topeka, Kan., said neither state laws nor the Patriot Guard can silence their message that God killed the soldiers because they fought for a country that embraces homosexuals.
During the 1990s, church members were known mostly for picketing the funerals of AIDS victims, and they have long been tracked as a hate group by the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project.
The project's deputy director, Heidi Beirich, said that other groups have tried to counter the Phelps message but that none has been as organized as the Patriot Guard.
“I'm not sure anybody has gone to this length to stand in solidarity,” she said. “It's nice that these veterans and their supporters are trying to do something. I can't imagine anything worse, your loved one is killed in Iraq and you've got to deal with Fred Phelps.”
Kentucky, home to sprawling Fort Campbell along the Tennessee line, was among the first states to attempt to deal with Mr. Phelps legislatively. Its House and Senate have each passed bills that would limit people from protesting within 300 feet (about 100 metre) of a funeral or memorial service. The Senate version would also keep protesters from being within earshot of grieving friends and family members.
Richard Wilbur, a retired police detective, said his Indiana Patriot Guard group comes to funerals only if invited by family. He said he has no problem with protests against the war but sees no place for objectors at a family's final goodbye to a soldier.
“No one deserves this,” he said.
HELENA, Mont. -- A Kansas church group that abhors homosexuals and claims
"God's hatred is one of His holy attributes" is planning a religious protest in Helena next month, targeting several area churches, the
Montana Supreme Court, and the University of Montana.
The Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, Kan., gave notice in a fax Monday of its intention to picket Helena's "pro-gay" churches,
as well as the "fag-infested" University of Montana.
"We need to be sure the people of Helena call to mind that there is a God, a standard, and a day of judgment, and it's not OK to be
gay," Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of the Westboro Church, said in a phone interview Tuesday.
The six Helena churches targeted by the group are the Calvary Baptist, St. Helena's Cathedral, St. Peter's Episcopal, St. Paul's United
Methodist, Our Redeemer's Lutheran, and First Presbyterian.
"You can put this mess right at their
doorstep," Phelps-Roper said of the six churches. "They've carried the big lie that God loves everyone. Does he love those people that
have been burning in Hell since the flood? These churches have enabled the sin that plagues this generation."
The group called its arrival in Helena a "religious protest and warning" that was initiated by a Montana Supreme Court ruling, which
found that gay and lesbian partners of the Montana university system have the same right to health insurance benefits as their
heterosexual partners.
The group's fax included a picture of the Montana Supreme Court, along with a reference to that court as the "People's Republic of
Sodom."
Travis McAdam, research director at the Montana Human Rights Network in Helena, said the Westboro Church is led by Fred Phelps, the
father of Phelps-Roper -- one of his 13 children.
Many of the church's congregants, which Phelps-Roper placed at 100, are related to Phelps by blood, according to the Anti-Defamation
League.
Phelps, along with his family, has made a career protesting gay and lesbian issues around the country, including the funeral of gay
murder victim Matthew Shepard. The Southern Poverty Law Center has classified the church as a hate group.
"Communities have resoundingly rejected these people," McAdam said. "They're generally treated with scorn by the mainstream, and
they're not able to generate much sympathy and support locally. They're really the nastiest of the anti-gay groups that are out there."
St. Paul's United Methodist Church, one of six churches targeted by the group in Helena, said it will stand by its Doctrine of Social
Principles despite the group's attack.
The Westboro Church has gained the attention of equal rights groups, including the Anti-Defamation League. The church's protest signs
often bear such statements as "Fags Die" and "Hell is real: Ask Matt" -- a referring to the death of Shepard.
The ADL said the group's fliers, such as that received Monday, typically emphasizes the race or religion of those it believes are gay.
This, according to the ADL, suggests that the church's hate goes beyond it's abhorrence for homosexuals.
"What appears to be anti-gay rhetoric is often a vehicle for the church's anti-Semitism, hatred of other Christians, and even racism,"
the ADL said.
By Michelle Firmbach, Exeter News-Letter Staff Writer
Relevant links
http://blank.org/addict/ http://fredthemovie.com/
http://www.geocities.com/nottodayfredtopeka/
http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/default.htm http://godlovesfags.com/
http://www.godhatesamerica.com/
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,4872,00.html
http://www.baptistwatch.org
http://www.godhatesfags.com/
This site is the main website of Fred Phelps' church, The Westboro Baptist Church. The main goal of the site shows and explains why
Phelps and his followers are against homosexuals. To get a better understanding of the Westboro Baptist Church, there is audio of
Phelps' sermans, pictures of his picketing, news updates and archives.
In 1994, Jon Michael Bell filed a lawsuit against The Topeka Capital-Journal saying the newspaper owed him overtime salary as well as
clarification that his work on the project Addicted To Hate was owned by the newspaper. Bell's work appears on this Web site as part of
the court case, therefore making it a public document.
This site is all about Fred Phelps. If you do not know much about him and want to learn, this is the place. There are videos clips,
pictures, links, and text to help the viewer learn about the controversial Westboro Baptist Church pastor.
Unity Boulevard began shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when Jared and a few friends protested Westboro's picketing. The
number of picketers with Jared -- and support for the group -- swelled almost immediately. This is Unity Boulevard's site.
This site within the Antidefamation League website provides viewers an overview of the Rev. Fred Phelps and his church Westboro Baptist
Church. It also discusses the views his church has on other subjects. This includes religion (Jews and Christians), gays, blacks, and
America itself.
This site provides all kinds of information about gays and lesbians for those interested in keeping up with the latest news. To do so,
godlovesfags.com contains links to other gay/lesbian sites and what they are featuring each week. There are also essays and articles
from those feeling a need to voice their opinion about this sensitive subject. And for those interested in keeping up with the Rev.
Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church, this site contains phelpswatch, which lists his current and future protests.
This site provides an archive af WBC faxes and is supportive of Rev. Phelps actions and message. It also includes a map of the United
States citing various events as evidence of the wrath of God on humanity.
This is a story chronicling the formation and rise of the URL godhatesfags.com.
A site dedicated to Matthew Shephard that informs visitors about the Westboro Baptist Church.
the funeral
of gay murder victim Matthew Shepard, they held up signs reading "No Fags in Heaven" and "God Hates Fags." According to their Web site,
they have staged "20,000" protests across the nation and around the world in the last decade. They believe that "God's hatred is one of His holy attributes." They are the congregants of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas.
Incorporated in 1967 as a not-for-profit organization, the virulently homophobic Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) considers itself an "Old
School (or, Primitive)" Baptist Church. The Church is led by the septuagenarian Reverend Fred Waldron Phelps Sr., and many WBC congregants
are related to Phelps by blood. His wife, several of his children and dozens of his grandchildren frequent the church. While WBC has
picketed the gay community at hundreds of events nationwide, most of the individuals protested by the Church are not homosexual. In
fact, WBC most often targets people it mistakenly claims are gay or those it believes to be encouraging homosexuality. Many WBC fliers
emphasize the race or religion of these individuals, suggesting that the Church's hate spreads beyond its abhorrence of homosexuality.
What appears to be anti-gay rhetoric is often a vehicle for WBC's anti-Semitism, hatred of other Christians, and even racism, though in
the 1980s Fred Phelps received awards from the Greater Kansas City Chapter of Blacks in Government and the Bonner Springs branch of the
NAACP for his work on behalf of Black clients. Trained as a lawyer, Fred Phelps was disbarred in 1979 by the Kansas Supreme Court,
which asserted that he had "little regard for the ethics of his profession." The formal complaint against Phelps charged that he
misrepresented the truth in a motion for a new trial in a case he had brought, and that he held the defendant in the case up to
"unnecessary public ridicule for which there is no basis in fact." Following his disbarment from Kansas State courts, Phelps continued
to practice law in Federal courts. In 1985, nine Federal court judges filed a disciplinary complaint charging him and six of his family
members, all attorneys, with making false accusations against them. The Phelpses fought the complaint but lost. In 1989, Fred Phelps
agreed to surrender his license to practice law in Federal court in exchange for the Federal judges allowing the other members of his
family to continue practicing in Federal court. In 1991, WBC staged its first public demonstration, targeting a park in Topeka
allegedly frequented by gays. Thousands of protests have followed, and WBC shows no sign of slowing down. In addition to speeches on
the picket lines, the Church spreads its hateful message via faxed fliers and "News Releases." These faxed documents also appear at
WBC's notorious Web site, Godhatesfags.com, along with photos of Church pickets and a schedule of upcoming demonstrations. A second WBC
Web site, Godhatesamerica.com, contends that the United States is "doomed" because it supports gays. According to Fred Phelps, "God
invented the Internet for us to preach on." The following quotations from WBC materials and other sources expose the Church's views
on Jews, gays, Blacks, Christians and the United States. WBC's own words best demonstrate the wide range and disturbing nature of its
hatred.
Virulently homophobic, the Westboro Baptist Church has picketed the gay community at hundreds
of events nationwide. Many of its fliers emphasize the race or religion of these individuals.
- Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. (founder and pastor of
the Westboro Baptist Church, disbarred lawyer, activist, author; born 1929) and Margerie "Margie" M. Simms, wife of Fred Phelps
(since 1952).
- Fred Phelps Jr. (lawyer, born
1953), son of Fred Phelps, and Betty Joan (Schurle) Phelps (lawyer, born c. 1952), second wife of Fred Phelps Jr.
(Phelps Jr.'s first wife died under suspicious circumstances, see Former Members section below)
- Benjamin Phelps (designer of the Westboro website, born c. 1976), son of Fred Phelps Jr., and Mara Jones-Phelps, wife of Benjamin Phelps (daughter of Robert and Kathryn Jones, believed to be of Pittsburgh). They both have a daughter and son (born March 3, 2003 and March 13, 2006, respectively).
- Sara Phelps (reported age 24 as of February 2005), daughter of Fred Phelps Jr.
- Elizabeth "Libby" Phelps (reported age 22 as of March 2005), daughter of Fred Phelps Jr. She is one of the two Phelps granddaughters featured on a hidden camera interview broadcast by British television network Sky News.
- Jacob Z. Phelps, son of Fred Phelps Jr.
- Margie Jean Phelps (lawyer, born c. 1956), daughter of Fred Phelps. Margie is one of two Phelps daughters who write insulting response letters posted on the Westboro website; her collection can be found under the heading "Dear Margie". Phelps Chartered biography
- Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper (lawyer, born c. 1957), daughter of Fred Phelps, and wife of Brent D. Roper (human resources lawyer for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), author, born c. 1963) (Brent is also her brother, as he was purportedly adopted by the Senior Phelps, however this is not confirmed). As with Margie, she writes insulting response letters posted on the website, under the heading "Dear Shirley". Shirley also is active in writing many of the WBC Epics. One of Shirley's many TV interviews Phelps Chartered biography
- Fred Phelps Jr. (lawyer, born
1953), son of Fred Phelps, and Betty Joan (Schurle) Phelps (lawyer, born c. 1952), second wife of Fred Phelps Jr.
(Phelps Jr.'s first wife died under suspicious circumstances, see Former Members section below)
video of Shirley unable to asnwer questions about her sins
- Samuel Phelps-Roper (born c. 1979), son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper, and Jennifer Hockenbarger (born c. 1977), wife of
Samuel Phelps-Roper (since 2002)
(see Hockenbarger clan discussion below) - Joshua F. Phelps-Roper, daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper.
- Margy "Megan" Phelps-Roper (reported age 13 as of November 1999), daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper.
- Rebekah Phelps-Roper, daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper.
- Isaiah Phelps-Roper, son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper.







"I'm a very sick man"