Fred Phelps, 1929–2014
The preacher who embraced hate
As a 21-year-old student at John Muir College in Pasadena, Calif., Fred Phelps made a name for himself by publicly lecturing his fellow students about “promiscuous petting, evil language, and pandering to the lusts of the flesh.” When he was kicked off campus, which happened on more than one occasion, he resumed his preaching from across the street. Phelps went on to found the Westboro Baptist Church, and over the years, he and his small band of followers gained international attention by picketing outside the funerals of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Carrying signs bearing slogans like “God hates fags” and “Thank God for IEDs,” the protesters proclaimed that all of America was damned by God for enabling homosexual behavior and that the soldiers who fought and died under its flag were therefore destined to burn in hell.
Phelps, who in 1955 founded the WBC in Topeka, “was a much-loathed figure at the fringe of the American religious scene,” said The New York Times. His congregation, which consisted almost entirely of members of his immediate family, first gained notoriety in 1998, when they picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming whose death from a brutal beating sparked a national debate about hate crimes. Phelps relished the criticism and thrived on confrontation. If no one were offended, he once said, “what right would I have to claim that I was preaching the Gospel?” But Phelps’s outrages knew no bounds. His group demonstrated at the funerals of Sandy Hook Elementary students in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., massacre. His methods were all but universally rejected. Even the Ku Klux Klan condemned his teachings and staged counterprotests in an effort to drown out his vitriol.
A 2011 Supreme Court ruling upheld the WBC’s right to protest at funerals under the First Amendment, said NPR.org, but that did not prevent ordinary citizens from coming together in opposition, effectively rendering Phelps and his followers irrelevant. A motorcycle group called the Patriot Guard Riders began arriving in force at military funerals to create a human shield between mourners and WBC members. Even the group itself appeared to be fraying, said TheGuardian.com. At least four of Phelps’s 13 children and many of his grandchildren broke from the church and cut all ties with its patriarch. There were also allegations of severe dysfunction within the family, including mental and physical abuse. Some reports indicated that Phelps himself had recently been excommunicated. In the end, it was his unyielding message of hate that defined his life and led to his isolation. “You can’t believe in the Bible without believing that God hates people,” he said. “He hates the sin, and He hates the sinner. He sends them to hell.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
October 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's consolation prize, government workers during shutdown, and more
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
The Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being released
The Explainer Triumphant Donald Trump addresses the Israeli parliament as families on both sides of the Gaza war reunite with their loved ones
-
Robert Redford: the Hollywood icon who founded the Sundance Film Festival
Feature Redford’s most lasting influence may have been as the man who ‘invigorated American independent cinema’ through Sundance
-
Patrick Hemingway: The Hemingway son who tended to his father’s legacy
Feature He was comfortable in the shadow of his famous father, Ernest Hemingway
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashion
In the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th-century clothing
-
Ozzy Osbourne obituary: heavy metal wildman and lovable reality TV dad
In the Spotlight For Osbourne, metal was 'not the music of hell but rather the music of Earth, not a fantasy but a survival guide'
-
Brian Wilson: the troubled genius who powered the Beach Boys
Feature The musical giant passed away at 82
-
Sly Stone: The funk-rock visionary who became an addict and recluse
Feature Stone, an eccentric whose songs of uplift were tempered by darker themes of struggle and disillusionment, had a fall as steep as his rise
-
Mario Vargas Llosa: The novelist who lectured Latin America
Feature The Peruvian novelist wove tales of political corruption and moral compromise
-
Dame Maggie Smith: an intensely private national treasure
In the Spotlight Her mother told her she didn't have the looks to be an actor, but Smith went on to win awards and capture hearts