If you have not heard about the Westboro Baptist Church by now then you must have been living under a rock for the past 20 years or so. Since the early 1990's this “church” group has been holding protests, rallies, and pickets against everything from gay rights festivals, to NBA games, to the funerals of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are well known for their homemade and hateful signs that they hold up everywhere they go. Is this group following, what the Bible describes as, true Christianity? Are they just a cult of brain-washed individuals? Or is it something else entirely that keeps this group afloat and constantly in the public spotlight?

I recently watched two documentary-style videos about the Westboro Baptist Church (which, from now on, I will start referring to as the WBC in this article) that were made by Louis Theroux. There was a lot of the same old stuff that has been circulating the mainstream news and the internet for many years now, but there was also a little bit extra. A more intimate (if you can call it that) view of the members of the church that I had never seen before. Many of the younger members have no clue what anything that they are doing means or even why they are doing it. It seems to me that most of them are just following orders. But even the older members understand why they are doing it, but their Biblical knowledge is clouded and misinterpreted. As hateful as this group can seem at first glance, the individual I feel is most responsible for the group's reprehensible behavior is none other than the church's pastor, Fred Phelps.

Fred Phelps, now 81 years old, has been harboring anger inside of him for a very long time. His sermons spew more hate and racism than most Ku Klux Klan meetings. His attitude when talking to individuals outside of the WBC is just plain childish and rude. But don't let this man fool you; he is a brilliant business man!

The WBC's yearly travel expenses alone clear the $200,000 mark! This number is simply astounding, especially for a church that has only a little over 50 members. A little-known fact is that many of the members of the WBC are lawyers. The group riles people up with their hate-mongering and the rest is history. If you make someone mad enough they are bound to do something that they will regret (possibly even illegal). The WBC in turn takes the people to court and sues them. For over ten years now they have proven that making others angry can make you rich!

When you take a quick glance at the WBC it seems as if no other group in the world could be any more off-the-wall. Once again they use this to their advantage. The more crazy they seem, the more publicity they will get, which then leads to larger numbers of people to infuriate. It is the perfect scheme and Pastor Phelps has it down to an art!

So, to answer the question, “Just what are the WBC?” When looking at this group the only thing remotely Christian about them is their name. And though they may have many of the characteristics of a cult I am just not ready to label them as such. I will choose rather to label the Westboro Baptist Church as a business. A very privileged business that does not have to pay taxes! Really, in the big scheme of things, if you really hate the WBC and what they stand for then your best way of showing it would not be by picketing their pickets, or by sending them hate-mail. The best thing would be to just completely ignore them! If nobody is paying them any attention then the WBC will have nobody to sue. If they have nobody to sue their income will soon start to dwindle thus keeping them stuck at home instead of traveling the country annoying us!