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Who is the Westboro Baptist Church?

Who is the WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH? Often maligned as ignorant homophobic trolls, the Westboro Baptist Church is actually a group of educated homophobic trolls, and most of them are lawyers. In this infographic we trace the history of WBC, from civil rights attorneys to bigoted hate group to aimless trolls. Phelps/WBC Fred Phelps graduates from high school at the age of 16 and is admitted to West Point Military Academy -- but decides instead to become a preacher after attending a Methodist revival. 1946- Phelps enrolls at Bob Jones University, then drops out. Then attends Prairie Bible Institute and John Muir college, where he is profiled for preaching against.. 1951 66 sins committed on campus by students and teachers, promiscuous petting, evil language, profanity, cheating, teachers' filthy jokes in classrooms, and pandering to lusts of the flesh. 99 1952- Marries Margie M. Simms 1955- First Service is held at the Westboro Baptist Church Phelps gets a law degree from Washburn University and founds the Phelps Chartered law firm, taking on mostly civil rights cases. 1964- 6GI systematically brought down the Jim Crow laws of this town.99 66 We took on the Jim Crow establishment, and Kansas did not take that sitting down. They used to shoot our car windows out, screaming we were nigger lovers. 99 -Shirley Phelps-Roper (daughter) 1986, Phelps receives a civil rights award from the Greater Kansas City Chapter of Blacks In Government. COTERNDED GOV ACEMENT O PEOPLE. 1987, Phelps receives an award from the Bonner Springs branch of the NAACP for his "steely determination for justice during his tenure as a civil rights attorney." FOR TH NAACP 1909 HATIONAL WTF? Until the mid-1970s, the Phelps family's main income reportedly comes from using the children to sell candy door to door for several hours each day. The Church is sued by two companies for failure to pay for the candy resold by the Phelps children. 1972+ Phelps files a $50-million class action suit against Sears after a local outlet is several days late delivering a television set. Litigation continues for six years and is eventually settled with Sears paying Phelps $126, about $60 less than Phelps' son originally paid for the TV, which he never receives. 1974 WTF? 1979 Phelps is disbarred in Kansas after suing and harassing a court reporter who was late with a document. He continues to practice in Federal courts until 1989, when he agrees not to after a disciplinary complaint from nine Federal judges. GOD HATES FAGS FAGS DIE GOD LAUGHS 1991- Westboro Baptist Church begins anti-gay picketing of a park in Topeka, where gays supposedly meet. Fred Phelps runs for U.S. Senate in Kansas, getting 30.8% percent of the vote in the Democratic primary. 1992 The Church begins picketing of AIDS victim's funerals prompting a Kansas City law about picketing near funerals. 1993- MATT IN NO SPECIAL ZAWS FOR 1997 GodHatesFags.com is launched. HELL FAGS 1998- WBC gains world wide attention for picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard. They also pickets Jerry Falwell after he makes a conciliatory gesture toward a gay former aide. Westboro Baptist Church is not affiliated with any other church or denomination, but claims its doctrines are consistent with the Primitive Baptists, who have rejected any connection to WBC. WBC begins picketing soldiers' funerals, derived from Phelps' belief that soldiers who participated in an army that included gays were fullly complicit in sinful behavior. 2005 WBC protests the funeral of Matthew Snyder, a U.S. marine killed in Iraq which led to a lengthy legal battle. 2006 2007, Jury awards Snyder's father's claim that the WBC should pay and Snyder's court costs as well as punitive damages for "reprehensible actions." The Snyder family was awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages, plus $8 million in punitive damages. emotional damages 2009, Judgment is overturned by an appeals court. It is ruled that Snyder would have to pay $16,000 toward the Phelps' legal costs. 2010, After a petition from Snyder, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. 2012, In an 8-1 ruling, the SCOTUS upholds the appeals court's ruling in favor of Phelps and the WBC. What Westboro said, in the whole context of how and where it chose to say it, is entitled to 'special protection' under the First Amendment and that protection cannot be overcome by a jury finding that the picketing was outrageous 99 -Chief Justice John Roberts WBC releases a parody song on YouTube called "God will always hate you, Whitney,' after Whitney Houston's death. 2012 Shirley Phelps-Roper tweets that the church will picket Sandy Hook funerals. 2012 5 petitions are created against WBC and have passed the 25,000 thresh- old required to elicit a White House response. 314,000 have signed a petition to legalize WBC as a hate The most of any We THE WHITE HOUSE VISHINGION group. The People petitions. 195,000 have sign petitions to question the WBC's tax exempt status. The Church is a 501(c) (3) and remains as such because they avoid direct advocacy such as overt political activities. The easiest way to lose this status is to contribute money or efforts to a candidate's campaign, though being lawyers, they have never made this mistake. their attacks ad hominem and non-persuasive, 'Gore is a fag pimp' and laughs,' they have managed to avoid rules against lobbying. WTF? By making 'Planes crash god VERDICT: As this history reveals, the Westboro Baptist Church was once a homophobic religious group, but now have become nothing more than attention seeking trolls who use any national tragedy to feed on the attention we all give them. game and give them the attention they deserve: none. It is time we stop playing their visual.ly Sources: RichardDawkins.net, cjonline.com, adl.org, Wired.com, aolnews.com, supremecourt.gov, examiner.com, slate.com, whitehouose.gov

Who is the Westboro Baptist Church?

shared by visually on Jan 24
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Often maligned as ignorant homophobic trolls, the Westboro Baptist Church is actually a group of educated homophobic trolls, and most of them are lawyers. In this infographic we trace the history of W...

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