At curbsides, outside funerals and before state capitols, Phelps and his followers have branded this a nation of sinners, of people bound to live eternity in a fiery hell. They have called homosexuals the disgusting face of evil, and fallen American soldiers proof of God's wrath. And they've sneered at every other faith.

They are unapologetic in delivering their message and have no hope of convincing you, just as they say there is no hope for this doomed nation.

It's simply their duty, they believe, to let it be known that God hates you. That you're going to hell. That you're wrong and Fred's right.

...

No army of zealots is waging this campaign. Westboro Baptist has only about 75 members, nearly all of them Phelps' relatives...

Their belief in predestination -- the idea that God determined at the time of one's creation whether they were bound for heaven or hell -- is not unique. It stems from John Calvin's branch of the 16th century Protestant Reformation and is taught in mainstream churches.

Where Westboro parts ways, of course, is its emphasis on God's hatred and the way it spreads this message. Members believe they must alert the world's depraved sinners of their fate even though such people have no chance of going to heaven. They're not doing this to save you -- they're doing it to save themselves.

...

He raised 13 children, nine of whom defend him unwaveringly. Others tell of an abusive, unstable patriarch driven to fits of rage by nearly anything -- from the way a child peeled an apple to forgetting to wipe one's shoes...

Shirley Phelps-Roper, a daughter of the pastor who frequently acts as a church spokeswoman, lost one of her sons to the outside world.

"Of course it's heartbreaking, on a level, for a short period of time," she said. "Because what you come to terms with is that the child is going to hell."

...Neither Phelps nor his congregants -- who believe both he and they are prophets -- claim to be without sin, but the pastor is infuriated when asked about their wrongdoings.

Children have had babies out of wedlock. Some have drifted from Westboro, which they believe to be the only true church on earth. The Bible's messages -- as Phelps preaches them -- have, at times, been ignored with this very family.

Why are some sins different? Why are followers forgiven for sins that would gain an outsider the label of hellbound whore?

Phelps rises from his chair and walks away.

Labels: homophobia, religion