Funeral protesters meet growing opposition

As of late, members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Ks. have found themselves under increasing scrutiny as more often than not, mourners at military funerals are greeted with their signs and rants that simply are not deemed appropriate in a funeral setting. The independent church (who has no known affiliations with Baptist conventions or associations) boasts a record of protesting some 30,000 events, mostly funerals of military personnel killed in action. The reason for protesting? According to WBC, these men and women have died because God hates homosexuals. Many struggle to find the connection in their message.

Procession for Jacob Carver in Harrisonville

Exercising the freedom of speech is part of our constitutional rights and WBC pastor Fred Phelps shows no signs of giving up his rights any time soon. In fact, he and WBC (a congregation of about 50, mostly made up of his family, which includes a handful of lawyers) spend around $200,000 per year to protest- and as long as there's money, Phelps vows to protest.


Last month one of the protests hit close to home. The funeral of Cpl. Jacob Carver of Freeman was held in Harrisonville and word was out that the Phelps clan was going to be there. However, the handful in WBC's entourage were met with as many as 3,000 local folks who showed up to shield those attending the funeral from the protesters. After setting up, the WBC group was immediately surrounded by as many as 200 people holding large American flags and the face-off began. While many words were exchanged, there was no physical violence. Unable to be heard much further than across the street, Westboro group finally packed up and left.

Underinflated tires in Oklahoma

Nationwide, the troubles for WBC seem to be getting worse, too. Recently while protesting a funeral in McAlester, Oklahoma, WBC returned to their vehicle only to find it had several flat tires and oddly enough, no one in town was available to fix them. A call was placed to AAA and a tow truck took the vehicle to have the tires repaired some distance away.


More resistance was met last month in Weston, Mo. at the funeral of First Sergeant C.J. Sadell where WBC arrived to find the location they planned to protest from completely filled with townspeople. In fact, the small town of  Weston was filled with over 2,000 people who came to the streets to shunt the protesters. WBC couldn't find a spot to set up, so they left before having the opportunity shout their message.


While those who show up to help shield funeral attendees from WBC are usually a passive group, there is a growing movement to squelch WBC as much as possible by simply showing up anywhere WBC shows up. While the WBC web site (which we refuse to name here) openly lists their protest schedule, there are several oppositional web sites where groups are able to get together and lay out their strategies. Many of these groups can be found on Facebook and other social networking sites.


So what does the future hold in regard to the Westboro Baptist Church protests? No one is certain. The Phelps family has made it clear that they have no intention of stopping. However, one can be certain that as situations escalate, increased violence is bound to follow. 


Most of all, expect the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) at the ready to defend the Westboro Baptist Church as they exercise their freedom of speech while protesting funerals of the very men and women who died for that freedom.