Westboro Baptist Church, the radical religious organization known for its extremist beliefs and publicized protests, is scheduled to picket The University of Alabama May 18, according to its website.
Margie Phelps, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, said the church believes the tornado of April 27, 2011 was a warning from God to turn from the sins of “fornication, adultery, sodomy, idolatry, greed and murder.”
“What they do wrong every day is proclaim their sin worse than Sodom. Every day,” Phelps said. “You are proud of your sin, you parade it all over campus, you live it and breathe it and they teach it.”
According to the group’s website, the protest’s intentions are to praise the tornado’s destruction and “remind them of the wrath of God that visited them two years ago.”
Deemed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Westboro Baptist Church has attracted media attention in recent years for its extreme anti-gay beliefs, “God hates fags” picket signs and military funeral protests.
Despite Westboro’s plans for demonstration, UA spokeswoman Cathy Andreen said the group has not contacted the University. Without a University-issued grounds-use permit, the protest may face legal consequences.
However, Phelps said Westboro Baptist Church traditionally contacts campus law enforcement beforehand, and not necessarily school administration. She said though the location is not definite yet, the protest will most likely be on a busy intersection on campus, or near campus property.
“We’ve done scores of these campuses, and we’ll do scores more,” Phelps said. “Alabama has been begging for a picket, the way they carry on and after the Lord dealt with them and that whirlwind, and you haven’t done anything different.”
Phelps said the University is one of many institutions of higher education in the nation that has become a “hotbed” for teaching proud sin.
“They have no hope, they’re living in a cursed, doomed generation,” Phelps said. “They’re entitled to hear the truth. They don’t hear if from their teachers, parents or leaders, so we’ll tell them.”
