A prominent member of the Westboro Baptist Church is getting a taste of his own medicine. Fred Phelps Jr., the founder of the extremist religious group known for picketing funerals of fallen soldiers, publicly voicing hate for well, everyone, and their “God Hates Fags” slogan, has learned what it is like to have someone target his loved ones.
Members of the Satanic Temple, based in New York, performed a same-sex marriage ceremony at the grave of the mother of Fred Phelps Jr. in Mississippi over the weekend. The temple, who claims to welcome all sexual orientations, performed a marital union and a “Pink Mass” over the tombstone of Catharine Idalette Johnson. The ritual, aimed at turning Johnston’s spirit gay in the afterlife, was executed twice, with male and female same-sexcouples, according to the website westboro-baptist.com, which was taken over by the Satanic Temple group.
The Westboro Baptist Church has also threatened to picket the funerals of Boston bombing victims which gave the Temple the idea for making the trek to the gravesite, Lucien Greaves, who officiated the ceremony, told The Gauntlet:
“The idea for the Pink Mass ceremony and website came during the aftermath of the tragic Boston Marathon bombings, during which time the WBC were threatening to protest the funerals of the bombing victims. Members of The Satanic Temple were in Boston, waiting for them, but they failed to show. Later, the WBC issued a statement that they had been present ‘in spirit’. We decided that a same-sex couple celebrating ceremony at the grave-site of Fred Phelps’s mother was an appropriate way to meet the Westboro Baptists, ‘in spirit’, but this time on our terms.”
Westboro has also recently threatened to attend the funeral of late Glee actor Cory Montieth. The group, who are clearly not fans of metal either, also made plans to picket the funeral of Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman singing a version of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” but never showed. Their recent agenda has also included plans to protest at metal concerts, including Attila’s shows.
