Like many people in the United States, I have heard the media reports on Westboro Baptist Church. I have listened in passing to television coverage of their protests at the funerals of our fallen soldiers, and have read of their dislike of almost everyone and everything.
I have seen photos of grubby Kansas rednecks, faces distorted with hate, holding signs that read "GOD HATES FAGS," or the occasional "JEWS KILLED JESUS" and one inexplicably reading "THANK GOD FOR BREAST CANCER."
Even with my cursory knowledge of the group’s activities I found myself totally flabbergasted when I opened their website to see this headline:
"THANK GOD FOR 13 MORE DEAD TROOPS. WE ARE PRAYING FOR 13,000 MORE."
Then, after a listing of the names of American men and women who had perished in the service of their country that week:
  WE’VE TURNED AMERICA OVER TO THE FAGS; THEY’RE COMING HOME IN BODY BAGS.
The members of Westboro Baptist church, guided by "minister" Fred Phelps, profess not only their own disapproval, but attribute to God a hate of Jews, Gays, Japan, Hindus, Catholics, Sweden, heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio, and, oh yeah -  Barack Obama is going to eat your babies (no kidding).
The Westboro Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church long known for its anti-homosexuality, anti-Semitic, and, well, anti-almost-everything propaganda and its vulgar protest activities, which include the picketing of funerals and desecration of the American flag.
In 2007, the church boasted 71 members. It is headed by  Phelps and consists mostly of members of his extremely large family.
Located in a residential neighborhood on the west side of Topeka about three miles west of the Kansas State Capitol at 3701 West 12th Street, its first public service was held on the afternoon of Sunday, Nov. 27, 1955.
The church has been actively involved in anti-gay propaganda since at least 1991 when it sought a crackdown on homosexual activity at Gage Park, about a mile northwest of the church.
The WBC is not affiliated with any known Baptist conventions or associations. The church describes itself as following Primitive Baptist and Calvinist principles, though mainstream Baptists, to their credit, generally reject the WBC and Phelps methods.
In July 2005 the WBC declared its intention to picket the memorial service of Carrie French in Boise, Idaho. French, 19, was killed on June 5 in Kirkuk, Iraq, where she served as an ammunition specialist with the 116th Brigade Combat Team's 145th Support Battalion.
Phelps was quoted as saying, "Our attitude toward what's happening with the war is the Lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime."
In August 2005, a group from the church protested at the funeral of Edward Myers, a soldier from St. Joseph, Missouri, who also died in Iraq. Shirley Phelps-Roper told a television reporter that Myers was "burning in hell."
In 2006, it picketed the Maryland funeral of Albert Snyder's son, Matthew Snyder, a Marine, who was killed in Iraq, with banners reading "GOD HATES FAGS" and "THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS." The WBC is currently in a legal fight with the father, Albert Snyder, who has sued them over the protest.
On Feb. 2, 2008, the group protested during the funeral of former Latter Day Saints Church president Gordon B. Hinckley in Salt Lake City, Utah, displaying picket signs criticizing him for being a "lying false prophet" and "leading millions of people astray."
The organization also criticized Hinckley for being too accepting of gay people, accusing him of having an ambiguous voice about homosexuality rather than taking a firm stand against it.
Police in all cases have had difficulty determining whether the demonstration met the guidelines of protected free speech.
On April 10, 2008, Westboro picketed the funerals of three students who were killed in a house fire at the University of Wisconsin–Stout in Menomonie, Wisc. Around 1,000 students showed up and drove off the protesters after about 15 minutes.
In August 2008, Westboro announced plans to protest in Winnipeg, Canada at the funeral of Tim McLean, who had been murdered on a Greyhound Canada bus.
While a small number of church members succeeded in crossing the border despite orders to prevent them from entering Canada, they did not appear at the funeral.
In February 2009, the group protested at the funeral of a plane crash victim. Students from the nearby University at Buffalo and the Buffalo area held a peaceful counter protest, holding up white sheets to shield the victim's family from the Phelpses.
A motorcycle brigade, known as the Patriot Guard Riders, is known for showing up at WBC protests and drowning out the Phelpses with revving bike engines.
Westboro picketed the funeral of recording artist Michael Jackson after his death on June 25, 2009. Members of the church have also recorded a song titled "God Hates the World," an adaptation of Jackson's charity single "We Are the World."
In May 2010, the group vowed to picket the funeral of heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio, but did not show up.
Having picked up a Bible or two in my time, I find myself painfully aware of the repercussions of putting words in God’s mouth. I’m pretty sure God does not smile on people who pray for other people to die.
The message I took from the good book was that the Judeo-Christian God was a being with the type of benevolency that would allow him to burn your city to the ground and turn your wife into a pillar of salt for transgressions against decency, while retaining the ability to love you unconditionally at the same time.
There is another town in Kansas called Stull, not too many miles away from the headquarters of the WBC.
Stull has been legendary since the time of the pioneers as a rumored portal to hell. Satan himself reportedly appears there twice a year at the ruins of a church and cemetery to cavort with his minions.
I’m beginning to think this is no coincidence. The portal has probably been strategically placed in proximity to the home of the WBC to insure that when the deal finally goes down, these freaks will be sucked in first.