The Westboro Baptist hate cult that indoctrinates children with lullabies about people going to hell

ABC News 20/20 June 4, 2010

Raised to Hate: Kids of Westboro Baptist Church

Coached by His Dad, 7-Year-Old Says 'Gays, Fags, Hundreds ... of Jews' Are Bound for Hell

By GLENN RUPPEL, KELSEY MYERS and EAMON MCNIFF


Boaz Drain, a seven-year-old from Topeka, Kan., and his six-year-old sister Faith are the picture of typical American children, chock full of energy, fun and imagination. They watch movies like "Shrek" and enjoy playing with the standards like "Star Wars" light sabers and ray guns.

Yet ABC News' Chris Cuomo was shocked to hear some of the things Bo told him when he visited the Drain family recently.

"I don't think you'll go to heaven, I think you'll go to hell," Bo told Cuomo, adding those who were destined for eternal damnation included "gays, fags, hundreds and hundreds of Jews," among a wide swath of other people that Bo has been taught since birth were hated by God and bound for Hell.

Bo's family belongs to the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, led by Pastor Fred Phelps. Members believe the Bible is the literal law of God, and the penalty for violating the rules and lessons put forth in the scriptures is eternal damnation.

Westboro, based out of Topeka, Kan., spreads the message that because the United States condones homosexuality, abortion and divorce, all Americans are going to hell. It's a message they hammer home to their children from birth.

"He [God] only loves his elect that obey and he doesn't love the people that don't obey," Bo told Cuomo.

While his father, Steve Drain, stood nearby and occasionally coached his son on the beliefs of the church, Bo went into the ideology he said he firmly believes in.

"You get destroyed and you get put in hell. Hell is like a burning place where it can never be stopped, burning, and it can burn millions of people every day," Bo said about homosexuals.

Bo also considers "enablers" of homosexuality, including all citizens of the United States, to be destined for hell.

Steve and Luci Drain have four children -- Bo, Faith, 19-year-old Taylor Drain and 24-year-old Lauren Drain. Steve Drain was filming a documentary on Fred Phelps and the church in 2000 and came to accept the church's beliefs, uprooting his family from Florida and moving them across the street from Westboro's compound in Topeka.

The Children of Westboro

Most of Westboro's 70 or so congregants are Phelps' family and relatives living in or near the church compound. Their children often can be found playing in the backyard together before joining the parents in their daily task of picketing the streets.

Westboro members made national headlines in 1998 when they arrived at the funeral of Matthew Shepard of Wyoming. Shepard was beaten to death by two men because he was gay and the church held signs proclaiming Shepard was in hell because of his sexuality.

Aside from daily pickets in Topeka, the children of Westboro accompany their parents across the country, arriving at funerals and other events holding signs against the country, gays, other religions and specific public figures -- damning them all to hell, proclaiming God hates anyone not in line and praising God for taking lives.

Church members insist they actually love everybody, and that is why they and their kids picket events. They say they are warning everyone of God's anger in hopes people will change their ways. However, that message often riles up crowds and can put the church's members and their young children in danger.

"We've had knives or guns waved at us, and lots of violent angry people," Lauren Drain told Cuomo.

A particular target of the church is fallen soldiers, according to Steve Drain, who said the church arrives at the funerals to let families know their loved ones are in hell because they fought for a supposedly damned country.

"Military people mostly do the nastiest stuff ... and they, like, let their kids be raped and stuff like that," Bo said when asked why he thought members of the military were going to hell.

His dad, however, clarified their beliefs off camera.

"Remember what we all say: No God fearing man or woman would lift a finger fighting for a country awashed in sin like this," Steve Drain said to his son.

Church Produces Music Videos to Propagate Beliefs

The message is reinforced to Bo and his sisters every night when they sit at home and go over Phelps' fire and brimstone-filled sermons. Steve Drain also has cast the children in the wide variety of music videos the church produces that lampoon popular music and ideas, with their own beliefs on every topic imaginable.

The children of the Westboro Baptist Church can be seen singing enthusiastically to the tune of songs like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," saying instead, "Santa Claus will take you to hell," as well as the Beatles classic "Hey Jude" ("Hey, Evil Reprobate Jew").

One video features little Faith Drain, with bright blue eyes and blond hair, smiling brightly through a verse of "God Hates the World," that her parents are proud to say they taught her.

"How many people teach their daughter to gyrate and do some Britney Spears song?" Steve Drain said. "I'm teaching my daughter what the scripture says."

"And the scripture says if you don't obey the Lord, your God, you're going to hell," Luci Drain added.

Estranged Daughter: 'They Sing Lullabies About People Going to Hell'

According to their oldest daughter, Lauren Drain, the songs and the pickets and the constant lessons on Phelps' sermons are all part of the church's constant indoctrination.

"They sing lullabies about people going to hell," she told Chris Cuomo in an exclusive interview. "I remember I did that with Faith, and I was teaching her songs and stuff. I was trying to please my parents."

As Lauren Drain reached her 20s however, she said she began to question the gospel she was surrounded by, questions that quickly drew the ire of her follow congregants.

"I saw some hypocrisy, and I mentioned them and they hated it," she said. "You're not supposed to question anything."

Lauren Drain said her natural curiosity drew rebukes from Pastor Fred Phelps.

Eventually, she said, when she was 21 the members voted her out of the church and out of her home, including her own parents.

"My dad didn't cry, my sister didn't cry, my mom cried, she said. "I'm bawling and like out of my mind, you know, and they're laughing. I'm telling them I'm sorry. I'm telling them I'll do anything, what is it going to take, when can I come back."

But her pleas fell on deaf ears, and the same night she was voted out she said her family sent her to stay at a hotel and cut off all communication.

A week later, Lauren Drain returned home to pick up her belongings and said she found that her youngest sister Faith already had been taught to hate her.

"I was gone a week, came back to get my stuff, and my little 3-year-old sister told me, 'You don't live here anymore.' Mocking me," Lauren Drain said. "I raised her from the time she was born. I used to watch her every day. And a week later, she is happy I'm gone."

A Family Divided Over Message of God

Lauren Drain said it was very hard to come to terms with what had happened to her. She has tried to move on and start a new life, working as a nurse over a thousand miles away.

It's been three years, and she still greatly misses her family and yearns for contact. But she said she could never go back to her former life. After struggling with her beliefs, she now rejects the hate she was taught by the Westboro Baptist Church. She hopes her siblings one day can make the choice she did. If they do, they too likely would be cast out.

"The people who are spiritually bound to one another because of a shared fear of the Lord, that's really your family," Steve Drain said.

Drain said if Bo decided he wanted to stop believing, he'd simply say goodbye to him and be done with it.

So far, Bo and his sisters are keeping in line. Bo said he doesn't play with other children at school who are not in the church, although it can be hard. And he seems, at least at his young age, firmly planted in his church.

"I'm preaching and I'm going with this church, and that's what the church says. I'm going to go with that my entire life," Bo said.

As for the daughter they have lost, Steve and Luci Drain said they don't miss her and don't think they would ever allow her back.

"Why would I miss her?" Steve Drain asked.

"She chose a life that is contrary to the Scriptures. She chose that life," Luci Drain said.

The daughter they now say is bound for hell seems to be the only one still talking about love.

Lauren Drain said she wishes she could speak to her younger brother and sisters, to tell them she loves them and that the hate they spread is not the true message of God.

"I miss them and I love them and I really care about them, and God doesn't hate everyone. God has mercy on people, God forgives people," Lauren Drain said she'd tell her siblings.

As for her parents, she said that, no matter what, she still loves them.

"There are horrible things I went through, and I don't hate them," she said. "I forgive them. They're my parents. How can I not love them?"


This article was found at:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/raised-hate-kids-westboro-baptist-church/story?id=10809348


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The Omaha World-Herald

November 5, 2007

Hearing held for Phelps-Roper over Nebraska charges

Security was tight today as Westboro Baptist Church member Shirley Phelps-Roper appeared in Sarpy County Court to answer charges that she mutilated a flag and put her child in danger while protesting at the funeral of a Bellevue, Neb., soldier.

Although the Sarpy County Sheriff's Office prepared for a possible protest by members of Topeka-base Westboro Baptist Church, none materialized. A few family members and her attorney accompanied Phelps-Roper, 50.

According to Bellevue police, Phelps-Roper had her 10-year-old son stomp on an American flag. Church members had obtained a city of Bellevue permit to protest.

The church, founded by her father, Fred Phelps, has protested across the country at the funerals of numerous soldiers, alleging that their deaths were God's retribution for America's toleration of homosexuality.

Last Wednesday, a Maryland jury awarded nearly $11 million to a man who sued Westboro Baptist for invasion of privacy after its members protested at his son's funeral.

The pretrial hearing centered on a defense motion requesting that the prosecution describe in detail the specific facts that support the charges, which include disturbing the peace, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and negligent child abuse.

Her attorney, Bassel El-Kasaby, argued that without specifics on what actions broke the law in each case and who was victimized he can't prepare his case.

"I don't think you can disturb the peace of a police officer or firefighter," he said.

He said it was "unorthodox" and potential "overreaching" by prosecutors to charge Phelps-Roper with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and negligent child abuse.

"I'd like to know who the victim is and what harm they suffered," he said.

He said if the flag mutilation charge is found unconstitutional, the other charges likewise may be dismissed, but he needs to know the relationship between the charges.

Deputy Sarpy County Attorney Marc Delman resisted El-Kasaby's request, saying he didn't want to limit the basis for the charges.

Delman told the judge that Phelps-Roper had "cleanly, openly and notoriously" made her son step on an American flag while her church protested at the funeral of William Bailey.

"Clearly the Bailey family was very upset by this," he said. Delman said Phelps-Roper's contempt for the flag gave rise to the case, but the rest of the charges stemmed from other actions as well, including slogans on signs and other conduct.

Phelps-Roper, outside the courtroom, said she didn't force her son, Jason, to do anything.

She said he has grown up attending protests and acted on his own.

"He laid it on the ground, and he stood on it. And he stood there peacefully," she said.

Sarpy County Court Judge Todd Hutton told both sides he wants written arguments on whether the prosecution should specify in more detail the actions that support the charges.

He said he wanted to proceed cautiously and would give both sides ample time to submit arguments. Given the filing deadlines, a decision on the motion could take six months.

In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas flag desecration statute. A year later, the court struck down a federal flag protection law. In both cases, the court ruled that flag burning was protected speech under the First Amendment.

Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov, however, has said that Phelps-Roper's actions at the Bellevue funeral went beyond civility and common decency and inserted an "overly provocative" message into the emotionally charged funeral.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/347323.html

Phelps Kin Charged With Child Abuse Over Anti-Gay Military Funeral Demo

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

July 6, 2007

(Omaha, Nebraska) The daughter of homophobic preacher Fred Phelps has been formally charged with negligent child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, flag mutilation and disturbing the peace over an anti-gay protest at the funeral of a soldier last month.

The indictment was filed Thursday. Shirley Phelps-Roper, 49, was arrested last month in Bellevue, Nebraska, after her 10-year-old son stomped on an American flag during a protest at the funeral of a National Guardsman killed in Iraq.

Phelps-Roper and about a dozen other members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas carried signs denouncing homosexuality and stating that military deaths in Iraq were God's retribution for America being permissive of gays.

A 1977 Nebraska law prohibits trampling a flag. The protestors brought their own flags to the demonstration.

At the time of her arrest a police officer said that Phelps-Roper put one flag around her waist.

"The second one was given to a 10-year-old, who put it on the ground and started kicking it in the area they were protesting," Officer Joe Gray said.

"It appears the adults weren't stepping on the flag because they knew it was a violation of the law. But they allowed the children to go ahead and do that."

If convicted Phelps-Roper could be sent to jail for three months and fined $500.

Phelps-Roper says the action is protected by the US Constitution and she intends to fight the Nebraska law and she has asked the Nebraska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union to represent her.

The ACLU said Friday it had not made a decision.

"I have not failed to do my duty to my children, to my God or to my fellow countrymen, and I take my job dead serious," Phelps-Roper told the Associated Press.

She said county prosecutor Lee Polikov "has pointed the big guns of government at my liberty and at my children."

Westboro Baptist has 70 members, made up mostly of Phelps' relatives. Although it professes to be Baptist it is not affiliated with any national Baptist group.

Westboro operates Web sites including GodHatesFags and GodHatesAmerica and has been described as a cult.

Phelps and the church first came to national attention when he organized a protest by his followers outside the 1998 funeral for Matthew Shepherd, the gay college student who was beaten to death in Wyoming. The killing, Phelps' protest, and the reaction of townsfolk led to the play "The Laramie Project."

Church members routinely demonstrate at the funerals of AIDS victims and most recently at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq.

Westboro Baptist's picketing of soldiers' funerals led Congress and 34 states, including Kansas, to enact laws attempting to restrict such protests. It regularly protests at gay and HIV/AIDS events.

In May, members of the church protested at the funeral of evangelist Jerry Falwell. (story)

About a dozen members of the church carried placards accusing Falwell of being in league with gays and of cozying up to Israel.

In attacking Falwell the church says he "warmly praised Christ-rejecting Jews, pedophile-condoning Catholics, money-grubbing compromisers, practicing fags like Mel White (of Souflorce), and backsliders like Billy Graham and Robert Schuler, etc."


http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/07/070607phelps.htm