Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an American hyper-Calvinist hate group. It is known for engaging in inflammatory homophobic and anti-American pickets, as well as hate speech against atheists, Jews, Muslims, transgender people, and numerous Christian denominations. It is a Baptist church that is not affiliated to any Baptist denomination and has been denounced by the Baptist World Alliance, the Southern Baptist Convention, and other mainstream Christian denominations.
WBC has been involved in actions against gay people since 1989, later seeking a crackdown on homosexual activity at Gage Park near its headquarters. In addition to conducting anti-gay protests at military funerals, the organization pickets celebrity funerals and public events. Protests have also been held against Jews, Mormons, and Catholics. Many protests have included WBC members defacing the American flag, flying the flag upside down on a flagpole, and holding protest signs with inflammatory statements; the most notable of which being "God hates fags" and "Thank God for dead soldiers". WBC is monitored as such by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center.
In 2016, Forbes stated WBC had about 70 members. It is headquartered in the west side of Topeka, Kansas. The group was once headed by Fred Phelps, although its representatives said there had been no defined leader for some time before his death in March 2014. The group consists primarily of members of Phelps's extended family; however, family members have left the group in protest at its hostile actions and attitudes. Several former members have accused the group of brainwashing.
The WBC came to public attention when it began its "picketing ministry," meaning their practice of holding controversial protests to raise awareness of the church and its beliefs. In line with their belief in predestination, the pickets are not aimed at winning followers, but only at warning them of their coming damnation. They began picketing in June 1991, and claim to have picketed more than 40,000 times since then. Though this works out to nearly six protests a day, the church regularly schedules that many or more daily protests on an ongoing basis, although it doesn't hold every protest it advertises. At its protests, WBC members hold inflammatory signs bearing messages like "God Hates F---," "God Hates Jews," "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for AIDS."
WBC has been involved in actions against gay people since 1989, later seeking a crackdown on homosexual activity at Gage Park near its headquarters. In addition to conducting anti-gay protests at military funerals, the organization pickets celebrity funerals and public events. Protests have also been held against Jews, Mormons, and Catholics. Many protests have included WBC members defacing the American flag, flying the flag upside down on a flagpole, and holding protest signs with inflammatory statements; the most notable of which being "God hates fags" and "Thank God for dead soldiers". WBC is monitored as such by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center.
In 2016, Forbes stated WBC had about 70 members. It is headquartered in the west side of Topeka, Kansas. The group was once headed by Fred Phelps, although its representatives said there had been no defined leader for some time before his death in March 2014. The group consists primarily of members of Phelps's extended family; however, family members have left the group in protest at its hostile actions and attitudes. Several former members have accused the group of brainwashing.
The WBC came to public attention when it began its "picketing ministry," meaning their practice of holding controversial protests to raise awareness of the church and its beliefs. In line with their belief in predestination, the pickets are not aimed at winning followers, but only at warning them of their coming damnation. They began picketing in June 1991, and claim to have picketed more than 40,000 times since then. Though this works out to nearly six protests a day, the church regularly schedules that many or more daily protests on an ongoing basis, although it doesn't hold every protest it advertises. At its protests, WBC members hold inflammatory signs bearing messages like "God Hates F---," "God Hates Jews," "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for AIDS."
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