# Fred Phelps

Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. (13 November 1929 – 19 March 2014) was an American pastor who founded the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas known for its incendiary protests against gays. In 2013, he was reportedly excommunicated from the church and allegedly abandoned his anti-homosexual views, dying in 2014.
    See also: The Most Hated Family in America

## Quotes
### 1990s

* In our experience, no modern country is more repressive of human rights than the USA. The vaunted First Amendment is nothing but empty words on paper…we will journey to China at our expense, and tell our story of modern American repression of human rights, upon invitation.
** Fred Phelps, writing to the Ambassador to the United States from the People's Republic of China, February 26, 1997.
** About the Westboro Baptist Church. Anti-Defamation League.

#### Letter to Boris Yeltsin (1997)

* Homosexuals now pervade and control American government at every level and branch. Thus, only those churches that support and promote the militant homosexual agenda enjoy religious freedom. Any church in America that dares to preach what the Bible says about soul-damning, nation-destroying moral filth of the vile homosexual beasts among us, loses all Constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and speech rights.
** Fred Phelps, in a letter to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, July 5, 1997.
** About the Westboro Baptist Church. Anti-Defamation League.

#### Letter to Saddam Hussein (1997)

* We understand that Iraq is the only Muslim state that allows the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to be freely and openly preached on the streets without fear of arrest and prosecution. Alas, the United States no longer allows the Gospel to be freely and openly preached on the streets, because militant sodomites now control our government, and they violently object to the Bible message...The same majoritarian sodomite tyranny that now guides the Clinton administration's repressive policies toward Gospel preaching on America's streets, is apparently responsible — at least in part — for the merciless slaughter by starvation of 400 innocent Iraqi babies each day in your country. If our government and laws will allow it, and at the invitation of your government, we would like to send a delegation from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, to preach the Gospel on the streets of Baghdad for one week in the near future.
** Fred Phelps, in a letter to Saddam Hussein, November 30, 1997.
** About the Westboro Baptist Church. Anti-Defamation League.

### 2000s

* All ye having business before this honorable Court draw nigh, give your attention and ye shall be heard. No, no. Draw nigh and bend over. They're going to rape you up the butt!
** As quoted in "The President of the United States gets his jollies masturbating horses" (15 August 2006), Universal Armageddon.
* Back off!
** As quoted in "The Fred Phelps Song" (2009), YouTube.
* You lying piece of shit!
** As quoted in "The Fred Phelps Song" (2009), YouTube
* Go have another helping of feces!
** As quoted in "The Fred Phelps Song" (2009), YouTube
* Oh, so good.
** As quoted in "The Fred Phelps Song" (2009), YouTube
* I said the President of the United States gets his jollies masturbating horses!
** As quoted in "The President of the United States gets his jollies masturbating horses" (15 August 2006), Universal Armageddon.
* Shut the hell up!
** As quoted in "The Fred Phelps Song" (2009), YouTube

#### God Hates America (2001)

    Concerning the September 11 attacks. The following quotes were taken from: "Sermon_20010914.mp3". WBC Download Center. Westboro Baptist Church. September 14, 2001.
* God hates America, and those calamities last Tuesday are none other than the wrath of God, smiting fag America... That wasn't any accident. That wasn't any coincidence. There's only America to blame for those tragedies.
* How many do you suppose of those hundred and thirty soldiers died in the Pentagon last Tuesday were fags and dykes? And how many do you suppose were working in that massively composed building structure called those two World Trade Center buildings, Twin Towers? There were five thousand or ten thousand killed and, counting all those passengers in those airplanes, it's very likely that every last single one of them was a fag or dyke or a fag enabler, and that the minute he died, he split hell wide open, and the way to analyze the situation is that the Lord God Almighty, pursuant to His threatenings and warnings, killed him, looked him in the face, laughed and mocked at each one of them as He cast each one of them into Hell!
* God hates America, and God demonstrated that hatred to some modest degree only last Tuesday -- sent in those bombers, those hellacious 767 Boeing bombers, and it was a glorious sight. What you need to do is see in those flames -- those sickening, twisting, burning, life-destroying flames, brightly shining from every television set around the world! You need to see in those flames a little preview of the flames of Hell that are going to soon engulf you, my friend. Burn your soul forever!
* You are a Bible pervert, Bush! And I knew it, the minute you hired that fag Scott Evertz to run your White House and told Rumsfeld to hire that fag [Stephen] Herbits, Steven Herbits, to screen all the applicants for employment to the Pentagon.
** "Sermon_20010914.mp3". WBC Download Center. Westboro Baptist Church. September 14, 2001
* I tell you, my friends, it's a sin to pray for the USA. And nobody that's intelligent, and that fears God, will fly the American flag any way but upside-down, the international signal of distress... It's too late to pray for the USA.
** "Sermon_20010914.mp3". WBC Download Center. Westboro Baptist Church. September 14, 2001
* This evil nation has smeared fag feces blended with fag semen and dyke feces on the Bible!"
** "Sermon_20010914.mp3". WBC Download Center. Westboro Baptist Church. September 14, 2001

#### Neighborhood Menace (2003)

* Mr. Rogers gave aid and comfort to homosexuals. He was a man who preached tolerance of all sorts of people in ways that directly contradicted the Bible. His syrupy teachings led millions astray. He was a wuss and he was an enabler of wusses.
** As quoted in Neighborhood Menace (March 2003), a column by Tony Norman on Post-Gazette.com.

#### Thank God for the Tsunami (2004)

* Thank God for the tsunami, and thank God that two thousand dead Swedes are fertilizing the ground over there [in Asia]. How many of these two thousand, do you suppose, were fags and dykes? This is how the Lord deals with His enemies. And the Lord has got some enemies. And Sweden heads the list. You filthy Swedes. You filthy Swedes!
** Sermon on the Asian tsunami, audio excerpt played in The Chaser's War on Everything

#### Bill O'Reilly & Rush Limbaugh: Satan's SpinDoctors (2006)

* Bill O'Reilly is a demon-possessed messenger of Satan. O'Reilly regularly slanders Westboro Baptist Church on his program, and he only has guests who join him in slandering Westboro Baptist Church, and refuses to allow Westboro Baptist Church to respond! Thus, Bill O'Reilly is a blaspheming hell-bound hypocrite claiming to be fair and balanced and running a no-spin zone. Hah! O'Reilly is of his father the Devil.
** "Bill O'Reilly & Rush Limbaugh: Satan's SpinDoctors." WBC Video News. Westboro Baptist Church. July 27, 2006.
* God hates fags! God hates America! Thank God for dead soldiers! You're going to hell!
** "Bill O'Reilly: Satan's SpinDoctor." WBC Video News. Westboro Baptist Church. July 27, 2006.

#### 9/11: God's Wrath Revealed (2006)

    The following quotes were taken from: "9/11: God's Wrath Revealed" WBC Video News. Westboro Baptist Church. September 8, 2006.
* Thank God for 9/11. Thank God that, five years ago, the wrath of God was poured out upon this evil nation. America, land of the sodomite damned. We thank thee, Lord God Almighty, for answering the prayers of those that are under the altar.
* We told you, right after it happened five years ago, that the deadly events of 9/11 were direct outpourings of divine retribution, the immediate visitation of God's wrath and vengeance and punishment for America's horrendous sodomite sins, that worse and more of it was on the way. We further told you that any politician, any political official, any preacher telling you differently as to the cause and interpretation of 9/11 is a dastardly lying false prophet, cowardly and mean, and headed for hell. And taking you with him! God is no longer with America, but is now America's enemy. God himself is now America's terrorist.
* Stiff-necked America, in flagrant rebellion against God, is indulging a caterwauling orgy of sinful maudlin cinementality on the 5th anniversary of God's 9/11 vengeance upon this evil nation for its sodomite sins!
* For ten long weary years prior to 9/11, WBC warned you daily on the mean streets of this nation that your sodomite sins will be avenged by an angry God except you repent. You persecuted us for our trouble, thereby aggravating your great transgression. On 9/11/01, God Almighty dealt backsliding America a staggering blow.
* It is the obligation of Westboro Baptist Church to put the cup of God's fury to America's lips, and cause America to drink it. And you will drink it!
** "9/11: God's Wrath Revealed" WBC Video News. Westboro Baptist Church. September 8, 2006.

#### Insult to God Almighty (2007)

* Same-sex marriage, by any name, civil union or otherwise, is the ultimate smashed-mouth in-your-face insult to God Almighty, and you think He's going to let England and America and the rest of this evil world get by with it? God Almighty has not joined fags in holy wedlock. God no longer keeps America safe. America is doomed. We're getting the pants beat off of us, in Iraq, in Afghanistan. God is now America's terrorist, that's who Bush is fighting, that's the terrorist that he best be afraid of. You tweaked His nose, you jackass, you tweaked His nose! God put it in your wicked heart to start that war. That's the message we've got at the funerals of these dead soldiers. God duped you into starting a war, so He could punish you. And any preacher preaching it any other way is a lying hell-bound false prophet. So almost eighteen months now and the siege has got people eating their babies, and their small children, and each other! You're going to eat your babies! God Himself duped Bush into a no-win war, and He did that by the technique of putting a lying spirit in the mouth of all his trusted advisers, to punish America.
** O'Connor, Geoffrey (Director) and Theroux, Louis (Writer). (April 1, 2007). The Most Hated Family in America.

#### Virginia Tech Massacre: God's Wrath (2007)

    The following quotes were taken from: "Virginia Tech Massacre: God's Wrath" WBC Video News. Westboro Baptist Church. April 23, 2007.
* The Lord sent a world-class whopper of a massacre to Virginia Tech, killing thirty-three, drawing headlines like 'Shocked!', 'Horrified!', 'The worst massacre in US history!'. Well, we wish you were thirty-three thousand killed, but we are thankful to our Father for thirty-three.
* President Bush and thousands of others, politicians and preachers, are making speeches and lying in their teeth, all agreeing that they can't explain such tragedies, but they're just certain a loving God had nothing to do with the massacre. They say, evil did it, like Star Wars, some evil force.
* Bush said, in a big memorial service the other day, we've come to mourn and grieve and try to make some kind of sense out of this senseless tragedy that makes no sense. Well, wrong, President Bush. It makes perfect sense, to those who believe the Bible. [The victims of the massacre] died for America's sins and persecuting Westboro Baptist Church.
* God is punishing America for the way they have persecuted us at Westboro Baptist Church, and worse and more of [the Virginia Tech massacre] is coming and this evil sodomite nation is doomed.
** "Virginia Tech Massacre: God's Wrath." WBC Video News. Westboro Baptist Church. April 23, 2007.
* For sixteen years, America has conducted a crusade of terror against Westboro Baptist Church: bombing and vandalizing our property, raiding our church with lying search warrants, seizing and destroying our goods, assaulting and battering us, putting our people in the hospital, slandering, threatening us with death, suing us, prosecuting us, arresting and jailing us, blaspheming, mocking and scoffing at our message from God, vilifying us, demonizing and marginalizing us, a technique that they hope would silence all those who are trying to preach, saying that we're just a bunch of kooks... Only brute beast blindness explains America's conduct against Westboro Baptist Church. By refusing to heed Westboro Baptist Church, that God hates fags, and by continuing to persecute Westboro Baptist Church, America is pouring gasoline on the raging fires of God's wrath. America may expect many more dead and maimed bodies from Iraq, many more Katrinas and other natural disasters, and many more Virginia Tech massacres. Westboro Baptist Church rejoices, not grieves, when we see God's vengeance... Think, America. Think Iraq. Think Katrina. And think Virginia Tech massacre, because worse and more is on the way.
** "Virginia Tech Massacre: God's Wrath." WBC Video News. Westboro Baptist Church. April 23, 2007.

#### Jerry Falwell Split Hell Wide Open (2007)

    "Jerry Falwell Split Hell Wide Open", WBC Video News. Westboro Baptist Church. May 18, 2007.
* On Tuesday, May 14, the old fat false prophet Jerry Falwell died and entered hell. As the old preacher used to put it, he split hell wide open... Hell from beneath was moved to meet Falwell at his coming, rousing the dead, even those that used to be bigshots on Earth now in hell greeting him with such words as these: 'Why, hello, Reverend Fraudwell, you old money-grubbing pervert!' ... As a young preacher in Springfield, Missouri, Falwell was a true Calvinistic Baptist preacher who believed and preached the truth. But he saw early on that his lust for power and lucre could never be satisfied if he was faithful to the word of God. And so the old fool like the false prophet Balaam sold his soul for a mess of free will-ism, God loves everybody-ism, Arminianism, lies — sold his soul for lies.

#### Ireland (2007)

* We warned that WBC has had lots of experience with Ireland's militant sodomite citizenry, steeped for many decades in ignorant, blind idolatrous Catholicism, belching out their vile fagspeak, slander and blasphemy against God and His word.
** Sermon about Ireland, July 29, 2007. Letter from UK Border Agency: WBC has been banned from the UK. GodHatesFags.com. February 19, 2009.

#### Snyder v. Westboro Baptist Church (2007)

    The following quotes were taken from: Federal Jury Awards Nearly $11 Million Over Funeral Protests; Oklahoma Set to Crack Down on Illegal Immigration; Noose Outrage. Presenter: Rick Sanchez. CNN Live Event/Special. October 31, 2007 - 20:00 ET.
* All [the Snyder v. Westboro Baptist Church case] was, was a protestation by the government of the United States against the word of God. They don't want me preaching that God is punishing America by killing those servicemen.
* The very idea of putting a preacher on trial for what he preaches, the very idea, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves!

#### George Carlin In Hell (2008)

    "George Carlin in Hell" WBC Video News. Westboro Baptist Church. June 24, 2008.
* George Carlin is now in hell, and it is not relevant that George Carlin boasted that he does not believe in hell when he lived on Earth. Be assured, Carlin believes in hell now... George Carlin, the filthy blasphemer, the obscene potty-mouth skeptic, agnostic and profane atheist, who had nothing but disdain for the God and the Bible all the days of his tragic life, is now at this minute and forever writhing and screaming in exquisite pain, pleading for mercy from that God he flipped off while performing for HBO lucre... When Carlin died, June 22nd, he split hell wide open...Hell from below was moved beneath thee at thy coming, it stirreth up the dead for thee. Are thou as weak as we George Carlin?! The worm is spread under thee and the worm covers thee.George Carlin is in hell. Deal with it. You will soon join him there. America is doomed. We will picket George Carlin's funeral..Amen!

#### God Hates Canada (2008)

    The following quotes were taken from: "God Hates Canada." WBC Video News. Westboro Baptist Church. July 31, 2008.
* Canada is a filthy country run by fags, which has Draconian laws making it a crime to preach the Gospel there. All of these cowardly kissy-poo preachers who telecast their milquetoast sermons into Canada have to edit out every single word critical of fags -- snip, snip, snip -- or the fag officials of Canada will arrest and criminally prosecute the Canadian affiliates, and shut down their stations! There's no freedom of speech in Canada. There's no freedom of religion in Canada. It is against the law to read the Bible in Canada.
* Our church has had a lot of bad dealings with those demon-possessed Canadians! A big Canadian flag flies at our church upside-down, the international symbol of distress. We fly it day and night, to educate and warn people about the fagi-nazi regime just to the north of us. Canadians are afraid of their tyrannical fag-run government. You can determine for yourself about Canada, and keep as far away from them as you can.

#### God Hates Australia (2009)

    The following quotes were taken from: "God Hates Australia", WBC Video News, Westboro Baptist Church (12 February 2009).
* God hates Australia, land of the sodomite damned! The fag-infested land of Australia is burning. The fire of God's wrath is sending hundreds of those filthy Australian beasts straight to hell! We at Westboro Baptist Church are rejoicing, and we are praying that the dear Lord would burn many more Australians alive!
* Don't you stupid Aussies get it? Australia is doomed! Nothing, and nobody, can help you. You have sinned willfully after you have received knowledge of the truth.

#### Fag-Lover Obama (2009)

    "Fag Lover Obama." WBC Video News. Westboro Baptist Church. June 4, 2009.
* The president whose moral values would permit him to kill his unborn grandchildren if his daughters get pregnant by mistake, that same president has now issued a formal proclamation glorifying sodomite sin!
* This evil man has proclaimed June as the month to be proud of abominable sins against God!... God then affixed the death penalty for doing what the LGBT fags do, fornicating day and night, and what Obama gratuitously said we must be proud of!
* This jackass of a president ought to proclaim pride month for decency, abstinence and chastity, not for the most abominable sins known to mankind — in the estimation of God Almighty, that is. Obama will bring down the curses of God upon the whole creation. Remember, you ignorant Americans, you Obama-worshippers around the world, we warned you. He raises a false argument ordering that nobody discriminate against fags. Listen up, you Bible-ignorant moron! It is neither wrongful nor sinful to discriminate against sin!

### 2010s

* You are good people.
** To the Equality House of Planting Peace (August 2013), as quoted in "Fred Phelps Excommunicated From WBC for Changing Stance on Homosexuality? Reverend's Grandson Says He had a 'Change of Heart' Before Death" (May 2014), Breathe Cast.

#### Thank God for the Violent Shooter (2011)

* Thank God for the violent shooter, one of your soldier heroes in Tucson. God appointed the Afghanistan veteran to avenge himself on this evil nation. However many are dead, Westboro Baptist Church will picket their funerals. We will remind the living that you can still repent and obey. This is ultimatum time with God. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Luke 13:3. This nation unleashed criminal violent veterans on Westboro Baptist Church for telling you to obey God. We told you at your soldiers' funerals that they are dying for your sins. You hate those words and you will not stop sinning. So you sent violent veterans, so-called patriot guard riders, to attack and try to silence Westboro Baptist Church. Then you sent violent crippled veteran Ryan Newell with 90 rounds of ammunition, planning to shoot five Westboro Baptist Church members while picketing. God restrained the hand of them all, then he turned the violent veteran on you. 22-year-old Jared Loughner opened fire outside a Tucson, Arizona grocery store, shooting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Federal Judge John M. Roll, and sixteen others. At least six are dead and counting. Congress passed three laws against Westboro Baptist Church. Congresswoman Giffords, an avid supporter of sin and baby-killing, was shot for that mischief. A federal judge in Baltimore, part of the massive military community in Maryland and in the District of Columbia, put Westboro Baptist Church on trial for faithful words from God. Federal Judge Roll paid for those sins with his life. Today, mouthy witch Sarah Palin had Representative Giffords in her crosshairs on her website. She quick took it down, however, because she is a cowardly brute like the rest of you. The crosshairs to worry about are God's and he's put you in his and your destruction is upon you. You should have obeyed. This nation of violent murderers is in full rebellion against God. God avenged himself on you today by a marvelous work in Tucson. He sits in the heavens and laughs at you in your affliction. Westboro Baptist Church prays for more shooters, more violent veterans, and more dead. Praise God for his righteous judgments in this Earth. Amen.
** Fred Phelps, on the 2011 Tucson shooting. As quoted in Westboro Baptist Church To Picket Christina Green’s Funeral. Anorak News. January 10, 2011.

## Quotes about Phelps and the WBC

* We need more Fred Phelps in this world. May you rest in peace sir. No, I'm not kidding! This world needs to get back to the biblical standards that our God made for us. This guy was not afraid to preach it, and I respect that.
** Edward Farrell, vice mayor of Maricopa, Arizona, Facebook, 2014-03-24, quoted in Sarah Ruf (2014-03-25). "Farrell praises Westboro head in Facebook post". Maricopa Montior. Reacting to a satirical obituary, "Fred Phelps, Man Who Forever Stopped March Of Gay Rights, Dead At 84". The Onion. 2014-03-20. , and to a commenter asking if his praise of Phelps was a joke
* The Ku Klux Klan, LLC. has not or EVER will have ANY connection with The 'Westboro Baptist Church'. We absolutely repudiate their activities.
** Ku Klux Klan, white supremacist group
* Fred Phelps is a patriotic American, and we need more people like him to survive as a nation.
** Michael Savage, conservative talk radio host, December 14, 2009
* I think that the pastor [Fred Phelps] is not a very nice person. I think he's an angry person who's twisted the Bible and picked and chosen verses that support his anger, that sort of justify his anger, and he's instilled that in his children and they've passed it on to their children. Although the second and third generation are by and large quite nice people from what I saw, they still live under the influence of their Gramps.
** Louis Theroux, British-American broadcaster and host of documentary The Most Hated Family in America. As quoted in America's most hated family. BBC News Magazine. March 30, 2007.
* There's a lot of weird stuff in [the Christian Bible] and when you take that and you add this angry, domineering kind of a father figure, which is Gramps [Fred Phelps] , and you add that he has sort of separated them off from other people, other families and driven them to achieve a lot, and he was kind of a charismatic guy, and still is up to a point. He was a very verbal, very persuasive, an extremely compelling speaker. All these things added together combined to make a powerful influence.
** Louis Theroux, British-American broadcaster and host of documentary The Most Hated Family in America. As quoted in America's most hated family. BBC News Magazine. March 30, 2007.
* But the heart of Calvinism is the doctrine of absolute predestination, which posits that in the council halls of eternity past, an omniscient and omnipotent god preordained who would be saved, and who would be damned. Mankind would have no say or choice in this, since they are dead in their trespasses and sin. If you are selected you gain eternal life. If you lose, you suffer the most extreme physical and mental anguish forever. My father has simply refined Calvin's doctrine to the point where the vast majority of us are going to hell. And he and his followers are among the privileged few chosen by God.
** Nate Phelps, Fred Phelps' estranged son
* I feel sorry for my father as I would for anyone who displays this kind of hate and evil viciousness. These can only be the manifestations of tortured, injured and agonizing souls.
** Mark Phelps, Fred Phelps' estranged son. As quoted in A letter from a son who left the Phelps family / church. LiberalsLikeJesus.Org/God&gays.html.

## External links

* "God Hates Fags", says Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church
* Profile at IMDb