Earlier this month, Topeka, Kansas Westboro Baptist Church members, led by founder and pastor Fred Phelps, picketed Rockhurst High School during the first stop of the church’s I-70 GodSmack Tour.
According to their website, the church members hold daily peaceful protests on sidewalks throughout the nation. Members protest issues including homosexuality and war.
When Rockhurst president, Father Terrence Baum, learned of the protest in early August, he was disappointed the school was chosen as a stop on the tour. Baum considered the picket an annoyance to the school because Rockhurst does not conform to Phelps’ views. Student Government Assoication president senior Darius Grayer was shocked by the cause stated for the protest, which was posted on the Westboro Baptist Church’s website.
“[I wanted] to show them who we are, not who they think we are,” Grayer said. “We are a brotherhood, a community of friends.”
Phelps’ daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, organized and scheduled the protest. When asked why, Phelps-Roper referred to the statement posted on the Westboro Baptist Church’s website.
“Things are coming to this country,” Phelps-Roper said. “We are bringing the final call to America.”
The Rockhurst administration decided to take a stance of non-engagement for this protest, much like the stance taken in a previous encounter between Phelps and Rockhurst in 2006. Baum asked through a letter that parents and students should not speak with the protestors. The administration notified the students of the protest during an assembly that explained what stance the school would take during the protest. To prevent confrontation and other problems, the Rockhurst administration released students at 1:50 p.m. instead of 3 p.m. However, protestors arrived at the school before the scheduled protest time of 2:45 p.m., displaying placards containing inappropriate language while students were dismissed.
“Those little rebels were trying to sneak away,” Phelps-Roper said. “We knew they would be out.”
On a larger scale, the Westboro Baptist Church has gained national attention through a number of different protests. Recently, Phelps and his congregation caused national controversy when he led a protest at a soldier’s funeral in Virginia, holding signs that said, “God Hates America” and “God Blew Up the Troops.” The resulting civil lawsuit, filed by the soldier’s family, was argued before the Supreme Court during October. The family is suing the Phelps family for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A decision is expected in Summer 2011.
“By lawsuits, we have gotten on the global scene,” Phelps-Roper said. “I hopped on board and I am loving it!”
Phelps-Roper compared “doomed America” to the ancient-city of Pompeii and its destruction. She stated that the end of America will be much worse than Pompeii, and God has already punished Americans through events such as the Gulf oil spill, power plant explosions and the collapsing of mines.
“[There is] a fixed number of days before America is doomed,” Phelps-Roper said.
By protesting at military funerals, the church is exercising its First Amendment Rights, including the freedom of speech. With over 44,000 pickets in the last 20 years, and two at Rockhurst, Phelps and his followers preach their beliefs through the use of signs and t-shirts at pickets at high schools, businesses and funerals.
“We got to be unapologetic, unambiguous,” Phelps-Roper said.
Currently, Phelps and some of his congregation are traveling throughout the nation to protest.
