Religious News: History Of The Westboro Baptist Church

According to one of his estranged sons, Fred Phelps, the founder and longtime leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, is in gravely ill health. Here is a look back at some of the milestone moments in his controversial church’s history:

1929-2014: Fred Waldron Phelps is born, beginning a period of nearly 85 years during which not a single moment of doubt passes through his mind

1951: Margie Simms, the future Mrs. Phelps, meets the love of her life

1955-2014: Nobody cracks open a Bible

1968: Jesus Christ personally visits Fred Phelps in one of his dreams and asks what the fuck is wrong with him

1972-1979: The disco years

1991: Westboro Baptist Church blasted after adopting slogan expressing what dozens of churches actually believe

1994: Topeka residents admit they must hand it to Westboro Baptist Church for ending all that gay cruising in Gage Park

1999: In return for years of loyal patronage, church receives 200 free “God hates fags” posters from local Kinko’s

2010: An increasingly paranoid Fred Phelps becomes convinced God may be a fag

2013: Phelps excommunicated after advocating for more compassionate hatred

1955-2014: Gets a whole lot of undeserved attention

The Onion.