Westboro Baptist Church Research Paper

Not affiliated with any southern baptist or general baptist churches, the thirty-nine member (The Journal) Westboro Baptist Church is primarily known for its continued protest against the LGBT community, the Catholic Church, and the military (Wikipedia). The westboro Baptist Church’s first public service was held on November 27, 1955(Wikipedia). This was the first time the church publicly condemned the world. Most recently the Westboro Baptist Church have agreed with the shooting at the Pulse Night Club in Orlando, Florida stating that God sent Omar Mateen to kill the gays because “God hates fags.” While other churches preach about loving one another as god has loved them, the westboro

The Westboro Baptist Church is a group that has been in the spotlight for the last two decades because of their unusual tactic of picketing at soldier’s funerals. The act is motivated by the notion that America’s moral are being corrupted by their acceptance of homosexuality. The act of picketing of soldier’s funerals according to the group is motivated by the fact that it is a time when mourners are emotionally vulnerable and they think of their mortality. They believe that by picketing in soldier’s funerals their message is stronger. However, this tactic has caused much consternation from both the public and the government. In the interest of the public, state legislatures have enacted laws against the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church. The landmark case of Snyder v. Phelps would have been the deciding factor against the group, but the Supreme Court held in favor of the group because their actions were protected by the First Amendment. This then would present the notion that the First Amendment trumped public interest in the decision. However, that is not the case because the case was an IIED case among others, it was a personal one. As long as the group coordinates with public authorities and does not break laws, then their acts are nothing more than nuisances that should not get in the way of celebrating the life of the dead.

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is known for their obscene protests where they display signs that discriminate towards homosexuals. Although the members of the WBC considered themselves a part of an actual church, the church mainly consists of the family members of its founder, Fred Phelps (Clay, 2016). The church holds beliefs that are similar to Calvinism, a denomination of Christianity. Similar to the Calvinists, the members of the church believe that they are a part of an elect group of people that God has chosen to be his own (Clay, 2016). Because they are a part of God’s elect, they feel they must speak against the homosexuality that is present in America and in other places of the world. They travel around the world protesting and shouting hurtful phrases that cause people to

Leaving the monuments up will just be rallying points for these group to cause more violence. President Donald Trump suggested that taking down the Robert E. Lee monument was the same as taking down the Washington Monument. Trump commented that Washington, like Lee was also a slave

Facts: Westboro Baptist Church, led by Fred Phelps organized a protest on public property to make their beliefs known to others, which is protected by the first Amendment. They do not believe in homosexuality and wars they feel like support homosexuality. They have protest numerus military funerals. Their Protest of Matthew Snyder’s Funeral was on public property and they notified the authorities before picketing the funeral.

I did some research and what keeps coming up is the U.S. Marine Matthew Snyder. The church protested his funeral and it sparked tremendous outrage amongst a lot of people. What is sad is that the court ruled that the protesters were protected under free speech. The ruling was an 8-1 and was won by a land slide in the churches favor. This blew me out of the water reading that Chief Justice John Roberts stated that "Whether the First Amendment prohibits holding Westboro liable for its speech in this case turns largely on whether that speech is of public or private concern." And in this specific case, the judges determined the words on Westboro’s signs indeed dealt with “matters of public import” (Gregory 2011). Free speech is a beautiful thing, but when you want to basically shit on someone’s funeral especially when that person fought for your freedom is wrong in my eyes and there should be bans for protesters on certain occasions. Private matters should be only the family and others not a huge mob of people ragging on soldiers and other situations. I am not a soldier and it made me mad that these people would basically slander this man who died to fight for

The Westboro Baptist Church has long been regarded in the media as a group filled with hate and detestation for virtually anyone who does not practice their teachings. In reality, the members of the Westboro Baptist Church hold a strong belief that the messages that are portrayed through their picketing and social media websites are actually acts of love that reveal the severity of the actions that most humans partake in. Most of the members were born into the Church and therefore believe that the words they proclaim are the absolute truth. Although most Americans do not agree with the teachings and practices that the Westboro Baptist Church preaches, it is important to learn about and try to understand the various aspects of the church in

Westboro Baptist church was established in 1955. Located in Topeka, Kansas, Their goal is to “preach the Word of God to this crooked and perverse generation”. They take on such goals by publically protesting these horrendous phrases on street corners, gay festivals, and more

Background: The (Snyder v. Phelps) case dealt with the First Amendment and what it protects. A congregation of the Westboro Baptist Church was protesting Matthew Snyder’s funeral and caused the family a lot of emotional distress. Matthew Snyder was a former Marine who died while serving a tour in Iraq. The protestors were holding up signs that said, “Semper Fi fags, God Hates the USA, Thank God for IEDS.” (Lee Epstein, Pgs 469-72). The Westboro Baptist church has picketed many military funerals. They resent that the military will allow homosexuals to fight for their country. In June 2006, the father, Albert Snyder filed the lawsuit against the Westboro Church. He claimed that the protest caused the family intense emotional distress and that the church intentionally meant to inflect the distress. The Westboro Baptist church said that what they did was protected under the First Amendment. Although this is the first court case that’s been brought up against the Westboro Baptist church and made it to the Supreme Court. They’ve done forms of protests for many years. For example they’ve picketed anything they believe to have in relation to homosexuality. They’ve even protested some of the Kansas

With most churches believing in peace and other freedoms, the Westboro Baptist Church believes in an alternate form of God, a being that is malevolent and vindictive. From this, the church pickets and protests against many modern day events, such as the gay-rights movement and overseas war funerals, in which the church responds with hateful signs such as “America is Doomed, Fags Have no Rights, God Blew Up the Troops”, and other anti-American slogans. Because of these protests, the Church is regarded internationally as being a cult, which preaches hate. Unfortunately, the First Amendment, which allows them to, protects their speech, no matter how unpopular it is. As long as the Church follows all police and protesting laws, and as long as the speech does not fall under: defamation, true threats, incitement to lawless action, or obscenity, then the Church can protest what they wish, without prosecution of the

One of the biggest questions that people wonder when they encounter the Westboro Baptist Church, is how they can get away with what they are doing. Is the Westboro Baptist Church violating any laws? The Supreme Court ruled eight to one, that the Westboro Baptist Church is within their first amendment rights, and that their picketing, and attendance at fallen soldier's funerals are within their rights (Richey, 2011). The court case was brought about by a father of a fallen soldier who felt that the Westboro Baptist church had violated his son's rights by protesting at his son's funeral (Jonsson, 2011). People were enraged at the court's ruling, and felt that situations like those of the fallen soldier's could have been avoided if the Supreme Court had ruled differently (Richey, 2011) It is likely that the case opened up the door for the Westboro Baptist Church to feel more confident about their actions, since the Supreme Court basically stated that there will not be any

This society is built with a default, and that default is to shun the disliked, the unknown, and the minority. “So long as the most vulnerable people in our population are consigned to places that the rest of us will always shun and flee and view with fear, I am afraid that educational denial, medical and economic devastation, and aesthetic degradation will be inevitable" (Kozol). The question is, is that the right way to turn? The Dixie Chicks are one of many examples of people in modern day society who spoke out for what they believed in and who were punished by the default. While they may not fall under the medical denial or economic devastation that Kozol is referring to, they fall under the category of aesthetic degradation. The action

In 2013, the hate group planned to picket the memorial of Sgt. Stefan Smith, a Third Infantry Division soldier killed in Afghanistan a month before. As word spread of Westboro’s plans, community members launched a Facebook group organizing a counter-protest. The group drew nearly two thousand supporters who planned “to create a human barrier/shield

As a representative of the Westboro Baptist church, I would like to inform you that we have had one of our annual meetings to discuss the perceived problems in our community, and have come to a conclusion. Homosexuality is rampant in the streets, and other, much more dangerous religions are beginning to appear in our homeland, threatening the entire population. Therefore, we must take action.

The members of the cult-like Westboro Baptist Church are very well known to show up at big events and protest against homosexuality. Not only do they protest, but often their claims are just downright ludicrous and bordering on insane.