"# I'm ashamed to be an American Where the fags can freely roam" "# They spread their filth around this land, every pervert calls... #" "'For several days I've been living among members of the Westboro Baptist Church.'" "'A fire-and-brimstone Christian group made up almost entirely of a single family.'" "# God hates the U..." "S..." "A... #" "Welcome to our picket!" "'Since the Iraq War, they've picketed dead soldiers' funerals 'in protest against an America that tolerates homosexuality.'" "Members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka are protesting..." "America is doomed!" "God hates fags!" "Are you a homosexual?" "Are you or not?" "Shirley Phelps taught her 11 kids not just to hate homosexuals..." "We're servants of the living God." "That's all that matters." "But that all homosexuals should die." "'The Westboro Baptist Church is probably the most controversial church in America.' Obey your God!" "Is this in the Bible?" "Fags eat faeces." "That's a fact, hon!" "This programme contains some strong language." "'The church is situated in a suburb of Topeka, Kansas." "'Its pastor is the family patriarch Fred Phelps, also known as Gramps.'" "Hi." "Hi there." "You must be Shirley." "Yes." "I'm Louis." "Hi, Louis..." "'But the day-to-day operations are now run by the pastor's daughter, Shirley, 'a lawyer and mother to 11 children.'" "So these are your signs." "You've got "God hates fags" here." "And "God hates you"." "Don't think of fags as just those guys taking it up the tailpipe." "You've got "God hates fags" here." "Think of it as people who are involved in some perverted sex act." "I'm talking about anything other than one man, one woman in their marriage bed." "So beneath that are there gradations of iniquity, as it were?" "If you see a nation or a people who have risen up with one voice to say that it's OK to be gay, they are a doomed people, they have crossed the line." "When you say "gay pride", you have given over any notion that you're gonna admit that you're sinning." "You understand that?" "Being gay is an innocent, alternate lifestyle?" "That's what I believe." "Then you can't say, that you believe it's not a sin." "So you condemn yourself cos by your words are you justified and by your words are you condemned." "But it wasn't a big thing for Jesus." "He had other priorities rather than homosexuality." "It's not one of the Ten Commandments." "Yes." "Which one?" "Thou shalt not commit adultery." "That's not being gay, it's cheating on someone." "The streets of this nation are full of married men having fag sex." "That's adultery." "So don't try to pretend that you don't come under the umbrella of adultery just because you're a fag." "Hi, guys." "Hi." "Hi." "This is Gabriel." "How do you do?" "Go put your stuff away.This is Grace." "'For the last few years, the church has taken its message of God's hate 'to the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan," "Reasoning they were struck down by God for fighting for a depraved and doomed nation." "What is the plan?" "We'll get out here and put these signs in the air." "At the funeral?" "You call it that, but they're worshipping the dead." "You do research into the soldiers that have died?" "Staff-Sergeant Kevin Zeigler." "He died of an IED." "That's a..." "Roadside bomb." "Right, an improvised explosive device." "Exactly." "His family was told that he and another soldier died while trying to disable the explosive." "He was 31." "Do you think it's possible that by getting in people's faces in this way, you're more likely to put people off the word of Jesus Christ and the Bible?" "you're more likely to put people off the word of Jesus Christ and the Bible?" "Have you thought about that?" "Just human psychology?" "You think our job is to win souls to Christ." "You do research into the soldiers Just human psychology?" "You think in people's faces in this way," "By getting in their face and putting signs in front of them, we just make what was already in their heart come out of their mouth." "What do you really think?" "This is what I really think." "But.." "There's a part of you that doesn't think that?" "No, there's not." "The commandment has gone forth." "America is doomed." "Because we are the evil angels." "EVIL angels?" "Exactly." "Not because we're evil, but we're bringing the message of the evil that God has determined upon you." "And once we have delivered the message.." "I thought God didn't do evil?" "My goodness!" "Come on, guys." "Let's get outta here." "Let's bail! This is our corner." "Come on, little boys!" "Zach, hop in in case he wants you..." "So.." "I'm gonna keep a bit of a distance." "Cause I'm not part of the picket." "I'm just here as a journalist..." "Yes. .." "Shirley." "Yes." "'Today's picket was at an intersection near a church in Kansas City." "'Among the picketers was the pastor's wife, though of the pastor himself there was no sign." "'Like many states, Missouri has established strict regulations 'to try and limit the Phelps' contact with the bereaved 'and I was relieved to see how far from the funeral the church members had to be.' to see how far from the funeral the church members had to be.'" "ALL CHANT:" "God hates America!" "America is doomed!" "This is shameful." "Yeah." "Right down shameful." "Yeah, hon." "You've got little kids like this..." "You obviously raised your brat for the devil, your big gluttonous brat for the devil!" "And you go to Hell." "I don't agree with the lifestyle." "I don't agree with the lifestyle." "Yes, you do." "No, I don't." "You love fags, you hate God, so just shut up!" "What was he talking about?" ""I don't agree with fags, but que sera sera..."" "Fuck you!" "You think you can fix this?" "You think you're gonna change God?" "Because you are rebellious brat." "I've only been out here for 25 minutes or so.." "but so far the reaction has been approximately 100% negative." "Would you agree?" "Yeah." "Is there another way of delivering the message," "Maybe like a letter of consolation to the soldier's family?" "We write letters all the time, but not consolation." "You angered God and now he's cursed your family!" "There's no consolation there." "They're not gonna have any consolation." "As a picket today, how would you rate this, marks out of ten?" "As a picket today, how would you rate this, marks out of ten?" "Hon, they're all tens." "All of them." "Would you say ten out of ten as well, Jacob?" "Yeah, God did this, therefore it's perfect." "Does everything get ten out of ten?" "Yeah." "Thank God for all of his judgments." "Not one word falls to the ground." "Not one word falls to the ground." "A little later, Shirley and I regrouped at the family's homested." "'where most of the 70 or so churchgoers live.' 'where most of the 70 or so churchgoers live.'" "So this is the centre of the headquarters right here?" "You can call it that." "What would you call it?" "My back yard." "But it's also the back yard of all these other houses?" "There are actually lines, but we took the fences down." "You don't live communally with the other members of the church?" "No." "Where does Pastor Phelps, the patriarch, live?" "On that second floor." "Up there?" "In that building you've got the house part to this side and the church part to that side." "Have you wondered if you might be part of a cult?" "What do you have to be to qualify as a cult?" "It's a religious group that exercises an inordinate amount of control over its members." "You have to have other things also." "Brainwashing and a charismatic leader at the top?" "Maybe Fred Phelps, your father, could qualify." "I don't care about all that nonsense." "We're the ones who are adhering to the doctrines of faith of all mainline religions." "They're not." "So what else you got?" "'To help her run the ministry, Shirley relies on her two eldest daughters, Megan and Bekah.'" "This is Bekah's room, OK." "I don't see any posters of pop bands." "No." "Can we look in your closet?" "I guess you can." "You have quite a lot of clothes." "Yeah, pretty much." "Are there rules about what you can wear?" "Modesty." "Our parents don't have to tell us." "We know what we can wear." "We know what's appropriate." "How do the girls at your school dress?" "One word - whore." "Do you agree?" "And what do the other people at your school think of you?" "They hate us, but we're nice to everyone." "Why do they hate you?" "Because they hate the message." "Because we tell them they're going to hell." "You can't live the way you're living and expect to go to heaven when you die." "Shall we do the next room?" "Yes." "So, basically, your circle of friends is mainly or exclusively limited to people who are part of this church?" "Yeah." "Do you have any friends outside this group?" "No true friends." "Friendship with the world is enmity with God." "May I ask if you've had boyfriends?" "No, we haven't." "No." "Why not?" "Because that's not what we're about in this life we're not about serving ourselves." "It's a temptation that's not needed and it takes up time we don't have." "When you come on with a lot of this stuff about the Bible, some might think you're arrogant." "If they're offended by the judgements that we make, that we make according to Gods standards, that is a clear indication that they hate God's word and that they're headed for Hell." "# We're marching, we're marching" "# We are marching, Lord" "# We're marching, we're marching" "'The end of my first day at the church and during a choir practice, I had a moment to reflect.'" "# The beautiful city of God... #" "'I felt I had been bombarded with religious rhetoric 'and it was preventing me from getting to know the church members as people." "'With the girls especially, I sensed there was another side to their story 'and I was curious to know more.'" "# Beautiful" "# Beautiful city" "# A beautiful city" "The next day and I was on my way to see Jael niece to Shirley, cousin to Megan and Bekah, 'and in her day job, a nurse in training." "'It would be a chance to meet another of the younger women and also to ask about some of the other family members who were no longer in the church." "Having run off, or been excluded." "Hi." "How are you?" "Good." "Can we come in?" "Uh-huh." "Can you show us around?" "This is the computer study area." "This is a picture of the girls in the church when they were younger." "Let's see that." "Who's that?" "Cathy." "She's gone?" "Yes." "And who's that?" "This is Betty, this is Fred Junior's wife." "This is my Aunt Liz." "This is Dot." "She's gone?" "Right." "This is Becky." "That's my grandma." "This is her daughter Sharon who has also gone" "Is everyone else gonna stay?" "Everybody else?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "As far as we know." "I think so." "Are you gonna stay?" "Yes." "Do you like it?" "I love it." "Do you?" "Yes, I really do." "As far as you're concerned, those people that have gone away, they're going to Hell?" "Yeah." "What if you don't believe in the Bible?" "You're going to Hell." "So I'm going to Hell?" "Yes, Louis, you're going to Hell." "You are." "Anyway, this is my room." "Ta-da!" "There's pictures everywhere." "What is this one?" "You like it?" "Yeah." "It's the Wrath of God as revealed from Heaven." "Do you think that's what it might look like when the Scripture is fulfilled?" "That kind of thing, natural disasters, it's gonna be so awesome." "Has there ever been a time when you felt, um, tempted?" "I don't want to talk about that." "I don't think it's appropriate." "I won't dwell on anything inappropriate if I can possibly help it." "I'll take that as a yes." "I'm not gonna answer that question!" "We're going to seek that which is good and abhor that which is evil." "That's why we're not gonna dwell and tell you about every single sin we ever did in our life." "It's not sinfull to get married." "Is it?" "And if you wanted to do that.." "How would you do that?" "I don't think that'll ever happen." "Why wouldn't that happen?" "Are you kidding me?" "Because I'm Jael Phelps and I serve God, that's why." "That's why." "And I'm not gonna go seeking after that because it's foolishness." "Your father Jonathan, he got married." "Your grandfather, Gramps, he got married." "Shirley got married." "Why should you be any different?" "Louis, we're living in the last of the last days." "Time is very short." "Times are very different than 15 years ago." "There could be someone..." "Yes, but I'm not gonna plan it." "I'm not gonna seek after it and I'm not gonna dwell on it." "That's not my interest." "It's not my focus." "This is so silly." "I don't wanna talk about it any more." "OK?" "So I don't wanna go there." "'That afternoon, I had an appointment to see Steve Drain." "I'm Louis." "Hi, Louis..." "'As his service to the church, Steve handles online media 'and is an all-round helper to the man he now calls Gramps.'" "You wanna see how we make signs?" "The famous signs. "God hates fags."" "'But in his old life, I heard he and I had something in common.'" "Is it true that you first came here as a documentary film-maker?" "Yes." "You brought your family here from Florida?" "Mm-hm." "Are you glad you did that?" "Absolutely." "It's the only thing I can say I'm really glad that I did." "Really?" "Hmm." "Is Gramps a disciple of God?" "Anybody who is an ambassador from God, preaching a sincere message, is a prophet and Gramps is a prophet, as are all these other people here." "So these are some of the ones..." "Some of these are kind of random?" "They're not random." "This one..." "Liz Taylor?" "Course she's a fag lover." "Course she is!" "Desmond Tutu?" "How do you choose...?" "He lies about the Scripture every time he opens his mouth!" "How do you choose who to make signs about?" "There's no logic here." "He lies about the Scripture a fag lover." "Course she is!" "There's plenty of logic." "Anybody in the news who supports the filthy fag agenda, we'll make a sign about." "Did you feel this way about homosexuality before you came here?" "No." "What was your feeling...?" "I was the smartest man in the world." "I embraced the philosophy of libertarianism." "I was a genius." "It was OK to be gay?" "I was a genius." "What is this?" "Look at this." "That's a little offensive." "To who?" "People in Britain consider her an icon." "Princess Diana?" "She'll be in Hell for all of eternity." "I can't believe my ears." "Oh, my goodness gracious!" "'In addition to the funeral pickets, the church also does a multitude of local pickets of churches and other targets chosen by the pastor.'" "So where are we actually going to now?" "We're going to a picket here at the Jew Church." "The...?" "What did you say?" "The Jew Church." "That sounds anti-Semitic." "They hate God." "The worship of the rectum." "The rectum?" "Yeah, the rectum." "That sounds insane when you say that." "They worship that which they desire." "It's an expression of the flesh." "It's a metaphor?" "Of course it is." "Idolatry, fornication, all manner of sexual perversions go hand in hand, Louis." "This is callous defiance against God Almighty." "The Jews killed Christ." "You're gonna try and say they worship the same God as I do?" "They killed Christ." "News flash, Brainiac, Christ WAS Jewish." "I'm telling you Christ was God." "He lived in a Jewish area so a lot of Jews were involved." "What do you mean, they were involved?" "They called for his crucifixion." "The Romans did it." "The Jews did it." "You see these wonderful signs, "God Hates Fags, Temple Beth Sodom," ""Jew Fags, God Is USA's Terrorist"?" "These are wonderful signs." ""Fag Troops"?" "# America" "# God showed his wrath to me" "# He cursed this land" "'That evening, Steve invited me to drop in on a special taping of one of the church's online sermons.'" "Everything OK, Steve?" "'Hinting that there might be an opportunity 'to have my first face-to-face with Pastor Phelps." "Everything OK up there?" "Yeah, we just wanted to make sure we got our technical difficulties straightened." "just wanted to make sure we got our Steve!" "Come on." "Where have you gone?" "Hello?" "Where are you?" "Here." "All right..." "What is going on?" "Yeah, yeah..." "Why don't you go ahead and...?" "Hi, guys." "How do you do?" "I'm Louis." "Hi, Louis." "From the BBC." "You must be Pastor Fred Phelps." "Yes." "Glad to see you." "What is happening?" "Pay close attention." "Billy Graham, Hell-bound false prophet." "I've known Billy more than 50 years and Billy, you are headed straight and irreversibly for Hell." "and Billy, you are headed straight and irreversibly for Hell." "You are a lying, money-grubbing, Arminian heretic." "At 88, Graham will soon die and split Hell wide open." "And Westboro Baptist Church will picket your funeral." "Amen." "Thanks, Gramps." "That was awesome." "OK, guys." "What do you want?" "You are basically the pastor of the church and the pater familias of the whole group." "Did you see that newspaper story down at the bottom of the stairs?" "No." "Steve was gonna give us a tour downstairs, then he was in a rush." "We've got a schedule to keep." "You're here to shoot us We're not here to cater to you." "We've got a schedule to keep." "You are basically the pastor of many children do you have?" "Don't bother me with silly questions." "Get to some stuff that I'm the only one that can answer." "Then we'll have a good interview here." "In fact, were we supposed to have an interview?" "Can we have an interview?" "Not now." "Not now?" "No, not now." "You were saying...how many children you have.." "Hey guys, let's go on downstairs." "You already answered that question." "Everybody in the civilised world knows how many children I've got and how many grandchildren and how many great-grandchildren." "Is he stalling for time?" "Shall we go downstairs?" "Yeah." "Thank you for having us." "Sure." "Glad to see you." "There's the article he was talking about, Time magazine." "Did that go OK?" "Yeah." "What is the big deal about asking how many children.." "He probably would've had more time for you if you had a more sincere, relevant, theological question." "That was a sincere question." "I sincerely was curious to know his answer to the question." "But you already knew how many children he had." "Yeah, but I wanted to know how many he'd say he had." "Because I know that he had 13, but that 4 have fallen away." "Well, you know that he has 13, and 4 have fallen away." "I wanted to hear what HE had to say about it." "You want us to say it in a certain way?" "I wanted to know how many he would say..." "You have the guy who has by far, head and shoulders, more scriptural knowledge, knowledge of the Bible, the moral realm than anybody who has crawled over this Earth and you ask him a silly, dull question?" "How many children do you have?" "You're wasting your opportunity." "The next day.And I joined Shirley as she did her after school run Where are we going?" "To pick up the children." "'By now I had sensed how impregnable the church members' beliefs are." "'I wanted to understand how that faith is instilled in the children.'" "They go to normal schools?" "I'm surprised they're not home-schooled." "There's two reasons for that." "The first one is I couldn't do the job justice." "Secondly, these children need to be in the faces of this community." "That is part of our testimony." "Do they preach at school at all?" "No." "Only their presence." "Only like they're walking picket signs." "They see these kids and think, "God hates fags" or "America is doomed"." "Do they have friends at school?" "Well, they have friendly acquaintances I don't know if you'd call them friends." "They can bring them home?" "You think these kids want to come to our house?" "It's very nice." "Where would that go?" "Pretty quick you'll get into the discussions." "But that's how I met my husband." "He hung out with my brother." "I'm saying that when they come round, they're welcome." "Could they bring girlfriends or boyfriends home?" "I will not have my kids calling themselves dating anyone." "or doing activities that resemble what this generation calls dating." "To what end would they do that?" "What would be the purpose?" "So they can fornicate?" "Fun." "Fun?" "Does that equal fornicating?" "Not necessarily." "Well, what does it equal?" "Holding hands?" "No." "Sending little notes to each other?" "How are you, Gabriel?" ".." "So you can teach 'em how to fornicate later?" "So they can learn early?" "You've got fornication on the brain!" "That's what this generation is all about." "'One of the pickets that afternoon was outside a hardware store that sells Swedish vacuum cleaners." "'Apparently, Swedish authorities imprisoned a local pastor for preaching against homosexuality 'which was enough to make the whole nation a target." "'I'd seen some of the youngest members of the clan hold placards." "'I wondered how much of the message they understood.'" "How old are you, Shirley?" "Seven." "Seven." "Do you know what the sign means?" "No." "No?" "Shirley, she doesn't know what it means." "Fags, troops, flags, symbols," "They're all idols that this nation worships above God." "Does that help you at all or have I said a lot of words that were too big?" "Maybe she's just making up numbers because she doesn't really get it." "Noah, do you know what fag troops are?" "Yeah." "What?" "It's this nation." "All these fags." "It's a nation of fags." "That's what fag troops means." "It is a nation of fags, yes." "Wait, you're not gonna let him get away with that." "Fag soldiers!" "I'm sort of glad that they don't understand the meaning better." "Noah, do you know what else you could be, besides a fag, to be in trouble with God and be included in that sign?" "What else?" "Swedish?" "Swedish and..." "But if you're not a practising fag, what are you? What if you support fags?" "What does that make you?" "You're a dyke?" "You could say you're grooming him into the weird behaviour that is characteristic of your group." "You could explain your moral outlook in a classroom." "Are you calling our service to our God weird behaviour?" "You don't get to call our service to God weird and thereby make it so." "Your statement doesn't make it right, doesn't make it a fact." "The world calls it weird." "I don't care." "The world hates us..." "Hello?" "'The next morning I was with Megan." "'Phelps family members are expected to hold mainstream jobs and give 10% of their income to the church." "'Many work as lawyers and Megan hoped to follow in that tradition.'" "The university you go to." "Yes." "Yes, it is." "It's lovely." "Good stuff." "Totally." "Do you want to be a lawyer as well?" "Yes." "Like your aunts and uncles." "Yeah." "I'm the only one in my generation that wants to be a lawyer." "'By now the church members had learned a little about my life 'and they knew I'd had a child with my partner out of wedlock, which put me in the firing line.'" "Do you like going to the pickets?" "Yeah." "Are you kidding?" "It must get old, though." "You don't get tired of pursuing your sins and your lust." "Do I?" "I say you don't." "Don't I?" "You keep doing it!" "Are you talking about me, specifically?" "You OR anybody else." "You serve your lust, I serve my God." "So should I be killed for having extra-marital intercourse?" "According to our code?" "Yeah." "I'm not sure." "I think so." "I know adultery is." "Wow." "And homosexuality was." "You want to see me killed for that." "I want to tell you the truth." "This is interesting." "This is where you go to college." "Yes." "You have no friends here?" "No." "I have acquaintances." "They're not my friends." "Do you have acquaintances you like?" "On a humanistic level?" "That are friendly?" "Yeah." "Any guys?" "Yes." "What do you want me to say?" "If you saw a guy in one of your classes and thought he seemed nice or had potential, and he said, "Want to get a coffee?" what would you do?" "It has happened." "I said, "Sorry, I'm busy."" "Why?" "I have other things to do." "What was his name?" "I don't even remember." "You do." "Yeah, he was..." "What?" "Robert." "Robert?" "Robert." "I think." "Is that someone you know?" "No." "He looks like the guy who asked me out." "It's kind of gooey, isn't it?" "But I know young women sometimes think about these things." "Most women also have..." "a whole lot of lust and fornication and do a lot of things we don't do." "Why put it like that?" "Why not say "make love"? Cos you're trying to make it seem like something it isn't." "That's not what you're doing." "How do you mean?" "Get married." "You seriously wouldn't mind if you never got married and never experienced everything that represents?" "No." "It shakes it up when there's more than one!" "'And so my days at the church wore on." "I could feel myself being absorbed into the family.'" "Ahh!" "As hatefull as they could be at the pickets, among themselves they had made a life that was quite appealing." "'almost as though their bond with each other had been strengthened by the hostility of the outside world." "With the girls I began to see a more human side to their personality What did you say?" "I said, "Are you kidding me?" "!" "Who's going to marry US?"" "'And it was easy to become desensitised to their message 'and how provocative it really is.'" "See, they covered their licence plates." "I don't know what they were up to." "Did they hit somebody?" "Is he OK?" "plates." "I don't know what they were" "Is he OK?" "I'm sorry, hon." "They had the licence plate down." "You all right, honey?" "Hey, bud." "You got it all over you." "Hey, bud, I'm sorry." "I knew they had done something." "I am so sorry." "You want to go talk to your daddy?" "Hey, hey, you want your sign?" "Let me wipe that off of you, OK?" "I'm sorry." "Megan, can you...?" "They are such cowards." "Who would hit a child?" "Who would do that?" "It looks like here, Tim." "I know..." "See that?" "His eyes." "Do you see that colour?" "That's what was in that cup." "It obviously got around on him." "It obviously got around on him." "'Seeing seven-year-old Elisha get hit by a drink was a reminder 'that among the victims of the Phelps were their own children." "'It was Sunday and I'd been invited along to a church service." "It would be another chance to meet the pastor 'and maybe have an interview." "But first I had an appointment to help with chores around the homestead.'" "Do you see much of Gramps?" "Sometimes on Monday and Tuesday." "I haven't seen that much of him." "Do you see much of Gramps?" "I haven't seen that much of him." "I think he's gotten tired of you guys." "How can he be tired of us?" "You and your impertinent questions." "He doesn't have much patience for people asking a bunch of questions that aren't relevant." "You know, when we were at your house and you said I was going to Hell, and you found that quiet funny." "Why?" "Thinking on those things, it brings me pleasure to think that the Lord will vindicate His people," "He will carry out His wrath because He is perfect." "It doesn't make me happy to think of you burning in Hell." "OK." "Does that make me a better person?" "No!" "You know God because He sends the wicked to Hell and he saves the righteous." "That's comforting to think on." "Why couldn't you feel sad that I was going to Hell?" "Because it's according to God's will." "So you rejoice in all his judgments?" "Exactly." "Very good point." "If you got run over by a car, would your dad be pleased?" "I would be in hell, and my dad would probably be pleased." "Really?" "Really." "I'm serious." "And we have to move on." "That's crazy." "In your thinking it's crazy." "Let's go." "Come on." "CONGREGATION SING 'A little later, I joined the rest of the church members in the family chapel for my first experience with one of gramps services." "# He will be waiting for me # After that day is through. #" "Is it true that if I do something wrong, Gramps could go loco?" "He'll just tell you not to do it." "Would it be embarrassing for him?" "For you." "Why?" "There's no experience quite like it. Same-sex marriage, by any name, civil union or otherwise, is the ultimate smash-mouth, in-your-face insult to God Almighty." "You think He's gonna let England and America get by with it?" "God Almighty has not joined fags in holy wedlock." "God no longer keeps America safe." "America's doomed." "Getting the pants beat off of us in Iraq, Afghanistan,.." "God is now America's terrorist." "That's who Bush is fighting." "That's the terrorist that he best be afraid of." "You tweaked His nose, you jackass!" "You tweaked His nose!" "God put it in your wicked heart to start that war!" "That's the message we got at the funerals of these dead soldiers." "God duped you into starting a war so He could punish you" "Any preacher preaching in any other way is a lying, hellbound, false prophet." "It's almost 18 months now and this siege has got people eating their babies, And their small children, and each other." "You're gonna eat your babies." "God himself duped Bush into a no-win war and He did that by the technique of putting a lying spirit in the mouth of all his trusted advisers." "To punish America." "At least two million." "Maybe three or four million." "Pastor, would there be five minutes for a couple of questions?" "Well, uh..." "Yeah, five minutes." "Shoot." "OK." "I was struck by your preaching." "You referred to the old testament." "It was as if you feel we are living in a time of Biblical prophecy." "Is that accurate?" "No, it's not." "If you had just a little knowledge of the bible, you would know that what you just said, is stupidity." "I don't know how to deal with a question like that." "You're just too dumb." "Sorry." "You ought to know the bible as well as I do." "Why?" "Because you're a human being." "Because God Almighty made ya and He will send your ass to Hell." "Is it accurate to say that you regard the Westboro Baptist Church as the only church that's preaching according to the words of God?" "Is the three minutes up?" "The answer to you is yes." "It was five minutes." "But I already talked two, didn't I?" "So there's three left?" "Do you believe your preaching is the only preaching according to the word of God?" "Asked and answered." "Next." "As far as you're concerned, are the people of this church the only ones now living that will make it to the Kingdom of Heaven?" "Asked and answered." "Next." "Is there something you'd like me to ask?" "Nope." "I didn't wanna talk to you or even let you in." "Isn't it an act of presumption that when you don't have all the information about all the other churches to assume that you have a priviliged access to grace?" "I know all there is to know about them." "How?" "I won't keep talking." "Didn't Steve Drain tell you that you'd wasted an opportunity and they'd probably fire you?" "You don't know anything about me." "Yes, I do." "You're just an evil..." "I don't wanna go there." "Ok, this is about 15 minutes." "Ok, thank you very much." "It was nice to see you." "And good luck to you." "OK, guys." "Did you come to carry some stuff?" "God hates fags!" "God hates fag enablers!" "Therefore God hates America and all of her military!" "The abominable, disgraceful, filthy conduct that you think up to engage in, you do it and you're proud of it." "Quit worshipping the flag, dummy!" "It can't help you." "# You can run on for a long time Run on for a long time" "# Run on for a long time Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down" "# Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down" "# Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down... #" "'I'd sensed a deep wellspring of anger in Gramps and I suspected this was the basis 'for his church's ministry." "His skewed interpretation of the Bible had been handed on 'and was now broadcast to the world." "They had no interest in winning souls." "'Being hated was proof that they were doing the right thing." "'As part of their effort to reach every corner of America, 'they had decided to picket a soldier's funeral several hundred miles away" "'On the outskirts of Chicago, in Skokie, Illinois." "For one last time, I joined them." "So you're flying all the way to illinois.." "however many there are of you, just to picket this dead soldier's funeral?" "That's right." "For 45 minutes." "Yep." "Is it really worth it?" "Yeah!" "They'll get the message." "You see what it's created around this nation." "Good morning." "I'm gonna sit in the second row unless somebody else is there." "How much would you say the church spends in an average year on flights?" "A lot." "How much?" "For 45 minutes." "Yep." "It's in the 200,000 range." "Really?" "$200,000." "That's more than maybe £100,000." "Yeah, I don't know the ratio." "That's more than maybe £100,000." "Just to go and spread hate?" "No, to go and preach the gospel." "God's hate." "Not your hate." "It's very scriptural what I said." "Actually, that's true." ""His unit was supposed to end it's service in Iraq in August" ""but one day before Foyteck was scheduled to leave, he got news that it would be sent to Baghdad." ""He told his family he'd be home in November instead and his mother mailed him his cell phone" ""so he would be able to call." "Foyteck, 26, died two days before Halloween," ""shot in the neck by insurgents during a raid on a house." ""In addition to his mother, he is survived by his father, a brother Christopher" ""and grandparents." Doesn't that make you sad?" "It's very sad that they won't get the message." "All they have to do is obey their God and they'll stop the pain, but they're not going to." "their God and they'll stop the pain." "It's so abstract." "It's not!" "It's so concrete." "We don't know anything more than this about Kraig Foyteck." "No, we know two things." "He's been killed, therefore he was doing something sinful." "He was fighting for a nation that has made God their enemy." "There's no good people in the military?" "It's all very plain and simple." "You will not make me feel bad." "I did not do that." "I'm doing this to help them." "Is there any danger of you feeling bad about it?" "Is there any danger?" "You say that almost as though I got through to you." "No." "You didn't get through to me." "You view things trough what you see." "And those things, are temporal.They'll fade away." "If God is infinitely wise and powerful and omniscient, then He could bring a soldier up to Heaven if He felt like it." "Listen to you!" "This nation thinks they are all-powerful, almighty" "You think that about your church." "You're right, we do have power and the power comes from our God." "We have all the power." "You stay tuned." "He will come through the clouds and execute judgment on them." "Isn't it possible that the funeral is for a good man, a righteous and a nice person, who doesn't deserve to have his funeral picketed?" "Not a chance. # Oh, wicked land of sodomites... # 'At the funeral, I decided to break away from the picket and go inside the memorial home 'to see the mourners first-hand.'" "He was doing what he wanted to do." "I have to honour that, as much as I miss him and don't think it's fair." "But he was doing what he believes and what he wanted." "Kraig wanted to go in the army after high school, so he did what he wanted to do." "He did." "We just have to carry on his memory and his honour through other soldiers and help other families. BELL TOLLS" "'Seeing the mourners brought home the reality of the grief 'but I realised I'd got as far as I could with Shirley.'" "Louis, you're going to Hell." "'Try as I might, nothing I said made any impact on her beliefs." "'Back in Topeka, and while we've been away a local church had cought fire." "'For the Phelps it was another sign of Gods judgement and a reason to rejoice." "You want to get a sign, Louis?" "For me to hold?" "I don't think I can do that." "Yeah. 'I was nearing the end of my time in the group." "Though I'd made no headway with Shirley, I wondered if I fared better my fellow documentary maker, Steve Drain.' Now that I've come to the end of my time here, are you curious to hear my thoughts?" "I'd love to." "Go ahead." "I spent a little bit of time with the Pastor and I think maybe he's got a lot of anger." "Maybe he's a rageaholic." "But perhaps his ministry is human-focused, not God-focused." "The Bible's a pretty long book, but if you pick and choose, you can justify almost any behaviour." "When I say God hates fags, OK, that's not the whole message that we have." "That's the front burner issue, the elephant in the room that nobody else talks about." "That's not the only piece of evidence for my argument." "The whole idea that Westboro Baptist are the only ones going to Heaven." "If there was somebody else out there preaching the unvarnished word of God, from cover to cover, we would have heard about them." "If He did come back..." "He'd be holding this sign. ..rather than...." "He'd be picketed by your church." "I'm trying to tell you." "I seriously believe that." "You are seriously deluded." "I'm preaching what the Bible says." "You preach what your dark heart says." "I'm willing to talk with you, but you're just being silly." "I'm not." "Of course you are." "Want a ride back?" "I'm not being silly." "I don't think you have the truth." "You're running away from it." "You're just trying to turn yourself into God by saying things ought to be this way, or thus and such." "You are the one who has the God complex, Louis, not me." "But I don't claim absolute truth." "I don't claim it of myself." "You pick and choose." "These people, we'll be nice to them, but not to those other ones." "Have you ever seen me be mean?" "Not you specifically." "The church." "I am the church." "Did you rejoice when that church burned down?" "You rejoice when soldiers die in Iraq?" "Absolutely I do." "When people are knocked over by cars and get cancer?" "Absolutely." "Love it." "Come on." "'My time among the hatemongers of Westboro Baptist Church was done." "'I'd expected to meet a group that causes pain to people in the outside world, 'but I'd been surprised to find that the members of the church were also paying a price." "'Shut off from the world, they preach a hatred that reflects back at them, confirming their beliefs 'and ultimately denying the right to a normal life to the young.'" "Are we going to go in my car?" "Yeah." "Mom, they're here." "They want to go for a coffee drink." "No." "She says no." "OK." "We have coffee in our house." "OK." "Have a coffee here." "All right?" "How come we couldn't go out?" "I don't know." "How's it going?" "Good." "Most 20 year olds would to able to go out for coffee without having their parents permission." "That's true." "But I'm special!" "I listen to what my parents say." "I respect my parents, so..." "Do you think it's possible that you are kinda grappeling with more than the other women here?" "No." "What are you talking about?" "I sense there's a little bit more inner tension in you." "Inner tension?" "Yeah." "A little bit." "Oh, no." "People who watch us will be thinking there's a very nice, charming, attractive woman And it would be nice to see her opening her mind a little bit." "and moving out into the world and maybe thinking in a few years of starting a family." "Why does everybody have to get married?" "Well, no one has to." "But why shouldn't everybody have the choice?" "I have the choice." "You do and you don't." "It seems that it is so inculcated in you that the outside world is this devilish, satanic place" "Who would...even want to marry someone who serves God?" "I don't blame you for being born into a situation outside your control and I can also see that you're coming to a time in your life where you might start to question some of these things." "That time has come and gone." "I've already reached the age where I have made the decision of what I want to do." "Did you have a rebellious few years?" "Louis, if I ever was rebellious, do you think I would tell you about it? I'm ashamed of any nonsense that I've ever done." "When we started picketing, when I was First Grade..." "Six years old." "People have been treating me the way you see us being treated now since I was that young, So, I mean, people didn't treat me right." "What did they do?" "Well, nobody wanted to talk to me at school." "And, um, they were ashamed to be around me." "You know that sense of being ostracised?" "Uh-huh." "If you preach that the world is hateful, and full of condemned sinners, then the world will start to take that shape." "Well, it's very simple." "We read scriptures and we tell people what the standard is." "We don't do violence to people." "We, um... warn them that their sins are taking them to Hell." "We do a courteous, loving thing to them." "That's courteous and loving." "And they... hate us." "And they...beat on us." "And they don't won't anything to do with us." "They're just downright mean to us sometimes." "What did we do to them?" "Nothing but a courtesy." "So..." "That's quite a weird kind of courtesy." "How is it weird?" "Going to funerals and waving those placards." "We preach to the living, we warn them.That's just what we do." "Are you afraid of going to Hell?" "Um, I fear the wrath of God." "I fear, um, going to Hell." "But I...certainly hope I won't go there." "I think you laughed at the idea of me in Hell because maybe it made you feel that you weren't going to Hell." "I laughed at the thought of you going to Hell because..." "I know you, Louis, and you're a scoffer and a mocker." "It gives me pleasure to know that the Lord will vindicate His people and He will glorify His own name." "That's all this is about." "Glorifying God." "So..." "That's why I smiled." "Come on." "I haven't scoffed at you." "Let's get out to the picket. and He will glorify His own name." "Come on." "I haven't scoffed at you." "Glorifying God." "Rules that you should obey." "Did you do it for me?" "Yeah, so you can carry it around, so you can know all the rules of obeying God." "Don't kill people." "Don't marry two people." "Don't lie." "I think everyone lies some in their life." "Maybe when they're a kid." "Do not act like a snake." "More especially you again." "All of these, I guess." "What does that mean?" "Act like a snake?" "I can't remember." "Hey!" "You gave us that..." "No, no." "Don't say that." "Like a snake?" "You clarify for him." "Yeah." "Don't act like a snake." "Then it says, "Don't be sneaky"."