UPDATE ,

In addition to his profane statements about gay people, Phelps has taken up a new object of hatred: America.

Fred has started a sister site, creatively titled www.godhatesamerica.com. On Sept. 11th, 2001, Fred and his merry band of followers were seen trotting about his hometown of Topeka, KA, carrying signs that read "FDNY (the New York Fire Department) IN HELL". Fred also posted the following message on his web site:

"The Rod of God hath smitten fag America! … At left is the filthy face of fag evil. (Hijacked American Airlines pilot) David Charlebois. One of the hundreds of fags and dykes and fag-/dyke-enablers working for American Airlines… . If the fags have a secret funeral for David Charlebois — in order to frustrate WBC’s plan to picket his funeral — WBC will picket his house… . The multitudes slain Sept. 11, 2001, are in Hell — forever!" (1)

In the months following 9/11, Fred also claimed that murdered New York Times reporter Daniel Pearl, the seven astronauts who died in the space shuttle Columbia disaster, and even children's television show host Fred Rogers ("Mister Rogers' Neighborhood") were suffering similar fates. For even though these people had not been gay, they had not been preaching Fred's message of a Biblical Reconstructionist America where gay people are executed for being gay. Therefore, they were all labeled "fag-enablers", and confined to the same fate as gays.

I will put it as simply as this: Fred Phelps is, by no means, a man of God. He is a man who picks and chooses from the Bible to further his own malicious ranting. I try not to be judgmental, but I truly believe that Fred will be first against the wall when Jesus comes again.

Footnotes (1) Southern Poverty Law Center. "Reaping the Whirlwind". Winter 2001. http://www.splcenter.org/cgi-bin/goframe.pl?dirname=/.&pagename=sitemap.html

2ND UPDATE

It is not enough that Fred has damned Matthew Shepherd to Hell, picketed his funeral with signs that read "AIDS CURES FAGS" and other cheerful bon mots, and placed a ticker on his website (godhatesfags.com) that illustrates how long Matthew Shepherd has "been in Hell." Now, he's taking his hatred to Matthew Shepherd's hometown, Capser, Wyoming.

365gay.com reports that Phelps has petitioned for a "memorial" to Matthew Shepherd that would be erected in downtown Casper. The monument would be 5 to 6 feet high, made of marble or granite, and bear a plaque:

"MATTHEW SHEPARD, Entered Hell October 12, 1998, in Defiance of God's Warning: 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is abomination.' Leviticus 18:22."

Sadly, it appears that there is nothing that would prevent Phelps from erecting such a monument. This is due to the fact that, in 1965, the city of Casper erected a monument depicting the Ten Commandments in the same park where Phelps plans to erect the statue. Phelps is arguing that if one part of Scripture is represented on public property, then any other part of Scripture can be represented on that selfsame property. He has also made it known that if he does not get his way, he will sue the city of Casper.