- Birth Name: Fred Waldron Phelps Sr.
- Birthplace: Meridian, MS
- Birthday: November 13, 1929
- Died: March 19, 2014
- Occupation: Preacher, Church founder
- Church: Westboro Baptist Church
- Wife: Margie Simms
- Children: Shirley Phelps Roper, Nathan Phelps
- Net Worth: $10 Million
Fred Phelps founded one of the maximum controversial church buildings in the past century. For nearly each news story, the church participants had been vocal about their opinions. Most currently, Westboro leaders and participants picketed the overdue Paul Walker’s funeral citing he’s in hell for selecting to worship cash, fame, and extra over God. WOW!
The church has gone after pretty much every person with their traditional views on homosexuality as well. On January 15, 2006, Westboro participants protested a memorial for 2006 Sago Mine disaster victims, claiming that the mining coincidence was God’s revenge towards America for its tolerance of homosexuality. Phelps was also very vocal about the Laramie Project, a play about the life and loss of hate crime victim Matthew Shepard.
Fred Phelps has led his church in over 100 protests, demonstrations since 1991. Critics have considered Phelps and his church’s stance on public problems to be exposure stunts. It has sincerely worked if this is the case. The church has an extensive membership and gets some donations from wealthy donors. One church member claimed the church spends over $250,000 a year on protest and picketing. The church has acquired cash from lawsuits and legal charges. In one case, they sued the city of Topeka in numerous instances in the 1990s. WBC obtained $16,500 and is pursuing another $100,000 in legal charges for a case won in court. The WBC is considered a nonprofit organization through the federal government and is consequently exempt from paying taxes. The church’s net worth is expected at $10 million.
Fred Phelps Sr’s loss of life has prompted simply as much uproar as his life. Satanist have come out and said, “God will turn Phelps gay while he dies.” Ouch!!!
It appears all the chaos the church has caused expressing their perspectives has backfired. In 2007 participants of Westboro Baptist Church had been sued for an indication they held at some stage in a gay Marine’s funeral. The church believed the loss of life of soldiers in the Iraqi war had been punishment for the service’s recognition of homosexuality. The family of the honorable Marine was awarded $11 million from a jury that observed the leaders of the fundamentalist church had invaded the family’s privateness and prompted emotional distress. The government had also taken offense to the group’s ongoing protest and created numerous bills in numerous states consisting of Indiana to restrict protest at funerals called “Let Them Rest Bill,” which can deliver up to 3 years in prison.
The drama of Westboro and Phelps was an excellent larger story in the church. In August 2013, Fred Phelps was excommunicated from the Westboro Baptist Church after advocating a kinder approach among church participants. The ex-communication occurred after the formation of a board of male elders in the church. Among the all-male board of elders are Drain, Timothy Phelps, Jonathan Phelps, Samuel Phelps-Roper, Charles Hockenbarger, and Fred Phelps Jr.. The board had defeated Shirley Phelps-Roper, the church’s longtime spokeswoman, in an energy struggle. After Phelps was voted out of Westboro Baptist Church this past summer, he was moved out of the church and right into a house, in which he was watched to make sure he wouldn’t damage himself.
In 2014 Fred Phelps died of herbal reasons, and his daughter Shirley, a former spokesperson for the church, says his funeral will not be held there because Westboro does not trust in funerals.
