Westboro Baptist Church
Tiny Topeka, Kansas congregation founded by Fred Phelps, almost entirely composed of his extended family. Notorious for picketing military funerals with anti-LGBT signs. Documented severe shunning of departing members by remaining family.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — small isolated extended-family group with extreme insularity and severe shunning.
In context
Westboro Baptist Church, founded in 1955 by Fred Phelps, comprises a few dozen people, almost all from the Phelps extended family. Megan Phelps-Roper's 'Unfollow' (2019) and Lauren Drain's 'Banished' (2013) document the extreme behavioural control, mandatory picketing schedules, total information control, and severe shunning of those who leave. Snyder v. Phelps (2011, US Supreme Court) upheld their First Amendment right to picket funerals. Membership has declined steadily since Fred Phelps' 2014 death.
Key control doctrines
- Hyper-Calvinist double-predestination
- America under God's curse for tolerating homosexuality
- Picketing as commanded ministry
Notable public ex-members
- Megan Phelps-Roper
- Grace Phelps-Roper
- Lauren Drain
- Nate Phelps
Legal cases & controversies
- Snyder v. Phelps (2011)
- Multiple international travel bans
- UK Home Office 2009 ban
Timeline
- 1955Fred Phelps founds the church in Topeka
- 1991First high-profile picket at Topeka's Gage Park
- 2011Supreme Court upholds picketing rights in Snyder v. Phelps
- 2012Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper leave
- 2014Fred Phelps dies
Sources
- Megan Phelps-Roper, 'Unfollow' (2019)
- Lauren Drain, 'Banished' (2013)
- Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443 (2011)
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Search the source title plus the group name to find the original.