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The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) as "potentially the most offensive and extreme hate group in the United States." They gained infamy for staging protests at military funerals and spreading the slogan, "God Hates America." A quick search for "God Hates Fags" in Internet Explorer leads straight to the WBC's official website.
The WBC spends more time picketing than in prayer. Although they are infamous for their anti-LGBTQ+ stance, they have also targeted events like the Southern Baptist Convention, Comic-Con, Kansas City Chiefs games, and Broadway shows. Surprisingly, even the Ku Klux Klan has publicly distanced itself from the WBC. Below are ten bizarre details about this church, which is so extreme that even the KKK refuses to associate with them.
10. They Also Despise Christians
According to the WBC's website, denominations like the Assembly of God, Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Catholics have allegedly turned their backs on God. They have also publicly criticized prominent religious figures such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Billy Graham.
Despite identifying as a Primitive Baptist Church, Westboro has no ties to any other churches, denominations, or organizations, including other Baptist groups. The WBC views participation in most religious communities as akin to Devil worship.
9. Nearly All Members Belong to the Same Family
From 1955 until 2014, the dynasty was headed by senior pastor Fred Phelps, who was joined by nine of his children. Very few individuals outside the family have ever become part of their group.
The Westboro Baptist Church's compound consists of four houses located in a Topeka, Kansas, neighborhood. These homes share a spacious, fenced backyard equipped with security gates, surveillance cameras, and a prominent banner promoting the WBC. Members avoid interaction with outsiders. The church currently has approximately 70 members, and their membership continues to shrink.
8. Numerous Individuals Are Departing the WBC
Four of Fred Phelps’s 13 children have left the church. Additionally, more than 20 teenagers and young adults, primarily Phelps’s grandchildren, have exited the organization in recent years. In 2013, WBC spokesperson Steve Drain dismissed concerns about these departures, stating, "They’re not of us. They seek to define God on their own terms. Good luck with that."
While many have been affected by the church’s hate-driven demonstrations, the most deeply impacted group is the children raised within the WBC. Isolated from the outside world, they are indoctrinated into the church’s ideology from a young age.
Libby Phelps, author of Girl on a Wire: Walking the Line Between Faith and Freedom in the Westboro Baptist Church and granddaughter of Fred Phelps, left the group in 2009 at the age of 25. From childhood, Libby participated in WBC protests, unaware of what homosexuality even meant. To her, these demonstrations were simply family outings with her cousins.
Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, WBC members celebrated what they saw as divine retribution against the US. However, Libby did not share their enthusiasm. When her cousin Joshua exited the church, she was forbidden from communicating with him. After photos surfaced of Libby and her sisters at the beach in bikinis, the church held an intervention, prompting Libby to make the decision to leave.
7. They Ousted Their Longtime Leader
In a surprising turn of events, Fred Phelps was allegedly expelled from the WBC in late 2013, just months before his death. Most details came from Nate Phelps, Fred’s estranged son. The church refused to comment publicly. "We don’t owe any explanation to you," WBC spokesperson Steve Drain told The Topeka Capital-Journal. "We don’t share internal church matters with anyone."
When Fred Phelps passed away in 2014, no funeral was held. One of his children tweeted, "In this church, we do not worship the dead."
6. Fred Phelps Was Once a Civil Rights Advocate
Fred Phelps, a former lawyer, relocated to Topeka in 1954, the same year the Supreme Court ruled against segregation in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Jack Alexander, a Topeka civil rights activist, recalls that Phelps handled discrimination cases that other attorneys avoided, representing numerous African Americans when no one else would.
However, Nate Phelps asserts that his father harbored racist views even while fighting against discrimination. He frequently made derogatory comments: "After clients left his office, he would call them stupid and use racial slurs." The Kansas Supreme Court disbarred Phelps in 1979 for harassing witnesses.
5. The Atheist Who Became a Member of the WBC
In 2001, Steve Drain, then 35 and a self-proclaimed atheist, visited Topeka to film Hatemongers, a documentary about the WBC. However, after interacting with church members, he surprisingly joined their cause. Drain later admitted he had expected Fred Phelps to be a "charismatic fraud," but after meeting him, he believed Phelps was "the most misjudged person in the world."
Drain relocated his family from Tampa to Topeka to become part of the church. He swiftly rose to prominence within the group, designing provocative signs like "God Hates Fags" and "God Hates America," and producing numerous videos for the WBC’s online platform.
4. They Are Highly Educated Individuals
Several of Fred Phelps’s children are attorneys. They manage a law firm established by their father, and the WBC has been embroiled in numerous legal battles. (More on that later.)
3. The Ku Klux Klan Despises the WBC
As previously noted, even the notorious Ku Klux Klan finds the Westboro Baptist Church repugnant.
During the WBC’s protests at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day in 2011, the Knights of the Southern Cross, a faction of the KKK, gathered to counter-protest. Imperial Wizard Dennis LaBonte explained to CNN that his group was there to honor the troops. "It’s the soldiers who fought and died who secured their right to free speech," he stated.
One more, just to be clear.
2. The Westboro Baptist Church Is Financed Through Member Contributions and Lawsuits
The WBC allocates $200,000 to $300,000 annually for travel costs related to picketing. Members are obligated to contribute 30 percent of their earnings to the church. Most members hold high-paying jobs, with many being lawyers, as noted earlier.
The WBC also generates income through litigation. In the 1990s, they secured $43,000 in legal fees from Topeka for insufficient protection during protests. In 1995, they won over $100,000 in a lawsuit challenging Kansas’s Funeral Picketing Act, claiming it infringed on their First Amendment rights.
1. Dating Is Strictly Prohibited
Although WBC teenagers attend public schools, they only interact with fellow church members. Romantic relationships are forbidden at any stage of life.
Lauren Drain, Steve Drain’s daughter, was excommunicated from the WBC in 2008 at the age of 22 for engaging in online and phone conversations with a man. In her memoir, Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church, she recounts her teenage years. Her family joined the church when she was 15, and she initially fully embraced its doctrines. She became an enthusiastic protester and an outspoken member.
However, she was eventually forced to leave her family home. After her departure, her father erased all traces of her, removing her photos and cutting ties. He did not attend her wedding. Both Lauren and Libby Phelps, another defector, discovered the harsh treatment the WBC reserves for former members. They see themselves as "examples of the world’s corruption." Leaving the church’s rigid environment makes it challenging for defectors to reintegrate into normal society.
+ Music Is Used as a Tool for Hate
The WBC has produced more song parodies than even Weird Al Yankovic.
Following the death of Michael Jackson, the WBC intended to protest at his funeral. They created a parody of "We Are the World," renaming it "God Hates The World" and altering the lyrics to reflect their message.
God hates the world and all her people You everyone face a fiery day for your proud sinning It’s too late to change his mind, you lived out your vain lives Storing up God’s wrath for all eternity
Another instance of their twisted take on popular music is their version of Lee Greenwood’s "Proud To Be An American." While the original lyrics celebrate freedom, the WBC’s rendition declares, "I’m ashamed to be an American where fags are free to roam."
