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The Vileness That is Westboro

Do you know this man?

Fred Phelps

This is Fred Phelps.  There's a special little corner of hell reserved for him.

Fred is the leader of a vile, hate-based organization known as Westboro Baptist Church.  Westboro has made a name for itself by staging protests at things like the funerals of soldiers, the funerals of hate-crime victims, other Christian groups that they don't like, and, recently, the San Diego Comic-Con.

Fred, and his congregants (which are mostly members of his extended family) hate pretty much anyone that isn't them - gays, Catholics, most mainline Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus - and aren't afraid to say so.

The Westboro theology (one can almost freely interchange Westboro the organization and Phelps the person) is built on the premise that they're right and everyone else is wrong, and woe be unto those who might question anything that the church teaches.

This is brought out in stark clarity in this video of an ABC news segment about a young woman named Lauren Drain.  Ms. Drain is the daughter of two Westboro members who was thrown out of the church for having the temerity to raise questions about hypocrisies that she saw within the group. (From Yes But However, via Skippy.)

Ms. Drain has found herself completely cut off from her parents and younger siblings over her criticisms of Westboro.  Her young sister has rejected her, and her parents speak of her expulsion in much the same way as you might talk about throwing a spider out of the house.  "That's the Lord" is how Ms. Drain's mother responds when the question is raised about kicking out other children questioning Westboro.  No remorse.  No hesitation.  No thought.

One might be tempted to dismiss Westboro as an irrelevant fringe group, and indeed mainline Christian groups generally distance themselves from WBC.  I think that's a mistake.  The ease with which parents can cut themselves off from their children and siblings can disengage from siblings is chilling.  The degree of venomous, hateful indoctrination received by the children within the group is alarming.  No preschooler should ever be singing "God hates the world".  That's sick.  That's evil.

Westboro is a shining example of what unquestioning faith and obeisance to an ideology can lead to.  The way to combat such an ideology is to drag it into the harsh light of day and confront it.

-Jay