# People leaving Westboro Baptist "Church"



## Stephen L Smith (Dec 28, 2013)

I am hearing a number of reports that people are leaving Westboro Baptist "Church" - possibly in reasonably large numbers. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

One major concern of people leaving a cultic group without the balanced theology is their tendency to go to opposite error. This must be a pastoral concern to us.


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## Edward (Dec 28, 2013)

Stephen L Smith said:


> I am hearing a number of reports that people are leaving Westboro Baptist "Church" - possibly in reasonably large numbers.



I wouldn't credit this and would distrust the source. Westboro doesn't have 'large numbers' to lose. It's core is the extended family of the Al Gore supporter that founded it. Here's from Wikipedia (for whatever that is worth) "in 2011, the church stated that it had about 40 members."


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## Hamalas (Dec 29, 2013)

That church has less than forty people anyways (and most of those are related to each other). They represent nothing but Satan and should be ignored.


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## Leslie (Dec 29, 2013)

I suppose "large numbers" could mean as few as 20 if the whole church membership was 40.


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## JoannaV (Dec 29, 2013)

I know at least one of the family members left a year or two ago. That's all I know.


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## Stephen L Smith (Dec 30, 2013)

From the small amount of reading I have done, I think upwards of 10 young people have left - a good no of Fred Phelps grandchildren (who come from at least two of his children), Steve Drain's daughter etc. I saw a British documentary about a year ago and the comment was made that a number of people had left since they did their previous documentary 2-3 years before that. It mentions that Shirley Phelps admitted that she is worried about the spiritual state of a number of young people there!


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## MarieP (Dec 30, 2013)

Why would an Al Gore supporter have started it?


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## JML (Dec 30, 2013)

Fred is 84. I doubt the church will survive after he is gone. It will hopefully just go away. His daughter is the main instigator other than him so unless they change course and allow women pastors I think it will come to a merciful end in the near future.


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## Ella Darby (Dec 30, 2013)

I too wondered what Al Gore has to do with them.


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## Edward (Dec 30, 2013)

Their business model was to announce that they were going to go somewhere to do something offensive, show up, and hope that the municipality overreacted, at which point Phelps would sue (he started out as a civil rights lawyer and knew the ropes). Generally, Phelps would put the women out front. Some of the folks looked really shaken a few years ago when counterprotesters got fed up and smashed up their rental van. Bullies generally get flustered when the victims fight back, and that may have chilled the enthusiasm of some of them.


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## Edward (Dec 30, 2013)

Well, after supporting Gore in 1988, he backed Clinton in 1992.


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## davdavis (Dec 30, 2013)

> It's core is the extended family of the Al Gore


 supporter that founded it. Here's from Wikipedia (for whatever that is worth) "in 2011, the church stated that it had about 40 members."[/QUOTE

Interesting, I've always thought it possible that the WBC was a false front, created by someone in the left to discredit opposition to homosexuality. With such a small organization would be easy to set up and it would explain how they're able to travel all over the country embarrassing us.


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## Leslie (Dec 30, 2013)

davdavis said:


> > It's core is the extended family of the Al Gore
> 
> 
> supporter that founded it. Here's from Wikipedia (for whatever that is worth) "in 2011, the church stated that it had about 40 members."[/QUOTE
> ...



This makes sense. Way back when hippies in the 70's were making the headlines, a group of hippies killed the election campaign of an anti-hippie political figure in California. They showed up at his rally, smelling bad and being obnoxious, shouting, "He's our man!" It worked.


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## yeutter (Dec 31, 2013)

I think Phelps is genuine. He is politically a liberal; concerned about social justice. He is also an opponent of the U. S. interventionist foreign policy. He believes he can square his political beliefs with a theme of justice he finds in the Old Testament. He also believes that Sexual immorality is condemned in the Bible and that the judgment of God is upon all nations that overtly depart from what the Bible teaches.
I do not approve of his tactics. 
I do not believe Phelps is deceptive.


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## AThornquist (Dec 31, 2013)

I think he is genuine too. Genuinely wrong, and genuinely a false prophet, but definitely genuine.


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## M21195 (Dec 31, 2013)

Grandaughter of Fred, daughter of Shirley, Megan Phelps left last year I believe, she was supposed to be the heir of their shenanigans...


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## Stephen L Smith (Dec 31, 2013)

M21195 said:


> Grandaughter of Fred, daughter of Shirley, Megan Phelps left last year I believe, she was supposed to be the heir of their shenanigans...



I also understand a brother and sister of Megan left too


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## Berean (Dec 31, 2013)

> Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper, granddaughters of Westboro Baptist Church Pastor Fred Phelps, say they have been working to "do good" since leaving the controversial church last year.



Westboro Pastor's Granddaughter: 'We Hurt A Lot Of People'


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## yeutter (Dec 31, 2013)

M21195 said:


> Grandaughter of Fred, daughter of Shirley, Megan Phelps left last year I believe, she was supposed to be the heir of their shenanigans...



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/after-break-from-westbro-baptists-sisters-find-new-freedom-in-montreal/article15130964


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## MarieP (Jan 2, 2014)

Edward said:


> Well, after supporting Gore in 1988, he backed Clinton in 1992.



That kinda doesn't along with their message, heh...


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