It was an unhappy Halloween for the Reverend Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. After many years of hateful picketing at funerals of gays and US soldiers killed in action, which the tiny congregation celebrates as vindication of God's will for America's perceived toleration of homosexuality, a Maryland jury awarded the father of a Marine killed in action in Iraq a $10.9 million for violating a federal anti-funeral picketing law and invasion of privacy. That anti-picketing law was enacted with Phelps in mind, many other states have recently put similar laws on the books--again because of Phelps.A typical Westboro protest sign states "God loves dead soldiers."
The church plans to appeal last week's verdict. But if it loses, they'll have to pay up. How? Well, there's the Westboro compound, part of which is pictured above.
Will the plaintiff, Albert Snyder, want the church building? Here's what one of his attorneys, Sean Summers, said to the Topeka Capital-Journal last week, "Of course. That's their most valuable asset."
Some of the home adjacent to the church are inhabited by church members. The congregation consists chiefly of the Phelps' family and some in-laws. Many of them live next to the church. When I traveled through Topeka in July and took a look at the compound, I saw some pretty attractive houses on Phelps' block.
I wouldn't be surprised to learn that those homes are owned by the church, the Reverend Fred Phelps is a control-freak. He's a freak in other ways too, of course.
As for the neighborhood, if Snyder decides to pull up stakes and move to Topeka, the church, located in the Westboro neighborhood (hence the name), is solidly middle-class, leaning toward upper middle-class. There are numerous stylish boutique, and at least from the outside, many purveyors of good food there. One problem though: The neighborhood is dominated by non-sensical one-way streets that aren't well marked. It's a miracle I didn't get into a car accident during my visit. But if I had, I'm sure Phelps would've said God willed it.
But perhaps God willed the verdict. For at least a decade, Phelps has been saying America's downfall was imminent. One way or the other, America will outlive the Westboro Baptist Church.
Related post:
My Kansas Kronikles: Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church
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