Anonymous targets Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church

The hackers of Anonymous have targeted causes they felt were wrong before, and not just anti-P2P ones, either. A prime example is their campaign against Scientology, and now they've targeted what is an extremely small, but what some would say is an extremely hateful, church: Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) of Topeka, KS.


On Wednesday, Feb. 16, Anonymous issued an ultimatum to WBC. Either they stop their hateful rhetoric and campaigns, or they will face the wrath of Anonymous. Anonymous is very good a DDOS attacks, taking down websites, and that's exactly what they threaten to do to WBC's public websites.

The Westboro Baptist Church is notorious for its picketing soldiers' funerals. They have said that the deaths of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were reprisals from God for the U.S.' leniency toward the LGBT lifestyle. They do not differentiate between the funerals of gay or straight soldiers.

Additionally, they planned to picket the funeral of innocent nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green, one of the victims of the Tucson shootings, as well, and even said the follow, with respect to the massacre:

"Thank God for the violent shooter, one of Your soldier heroes in Tucson. God appointed the Afghanistan veteran to avenge himself on this evil nation. However many are dead, Westboro will picket their funerals."

Those protests were blocked by a quickly passed Arizona law. However, the church continues its protest; one of its latest planned protests was picketing the play "The Laramie Project," which is a collection of interviews conducted in Laramie, WY, where Matthew Shepard, a homosexual, was beaten and left to die. It was a high school play, held at Hastings High School in MN.

The church's "God Hates Fags" website says:

WBC engages in daily peaceful sidewalk demonstrations opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth. We display large, colorful signs containing Bible words and sentiments, including: GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL, GOD IS NOT MOCKED, FAGS ARE NATURE FREAKS, GOD GAVE FAGS UP, NO SPECIAL LAWS FOR FAGS, FAGS DOOM NATIONS, THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS, FAG TROOPS, GOD BLEW UP THE TROOPS, GOD HATES AMERICA, AMERICA IS DOOMED, THE WORLD IS DOOMED, etc.

Anonymous has tired of their behavior, and sent the following letter to the church, posting it on the site AnonNews.com.

Open Letter to Westboro Baptist Church
AN OPEN LETTER FROM ANONYMOUS

February 16, 2011

TO THE CONGREGANTS OF WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH:

We, the collective super-consciousness known as ANONYMOUS - the Voice of Free Speech & the Advocate of the People - have long heard you issue your venomous statements of hatred, and we have witnessed your flagrant and absurd displays of inimitable bigotry and intolerant fanaticism. We have always regarded you and your ilk as an assembly of graceless sociopaths and maniacal chauvinists & religious zealots, however benign, who act out for the sake of attention & in the name of religion.

Being such aggressive proponents for the Freedom of Speech & Freedom of Information as we are, we have hitherto allowed you to continue preaching your benighted gospel of hatred and your theatrical exhibitions of, not only your fascist views, but your utter lack of Christ-like attributes. You have condemned the men and women who serve, fight, and perish in the armed forces of your nation; you have prayed for and celebrated the deaths of young children, who are without fault; you have stood outside the United States National Holocaust Museum, condemning the men, women, and children who, despite their innocence, were annihilated by a tyrannical embodiment of fascism and unsubstantiated repugnance. Rather than allowing the deceased some degree of peace and respect, you instead choose to torment, harass, and assault those who grieve.

Your demonstrations and your unrelenting cascade of disparaging slurs, unfounded judgments, and prejudicial innuendos, which apparently apply to every individual numbered amongst the race of Man - except for yourselves - has frequently crossed the line which separates Freedom of Speech from deliberately utilizing the same tactics and methods of intimidation and mental & emotional abuse that have been previously exploited and employed by tyrants and dictators, fascists and terrorist organizations throughout history.

ANONYMOUS cannot abide this behavior any longer. The time for us to be idle spectators in your inhumane treatment of fellow Man has reached its apex, and we shall now be moved to action. Thus, we give you a warning: Cease & desist your protest campaign in the year 2011, return to your homes in Kansas, & close your public Web sites.

Should you ignore this warning, you will meet with the vicious retaliatory arm of ANONYMOUS: We will target your public Websites, and the propaganda & detestable doctrine that you promote will be eradicated; the damage incurred will be irreversible, and neither your institution nor your congregation will ever be able to fully recover. It is in your best interest to comply now, while the option to do so is still being offered, because we will not relent until you cease the conduction & promotion of all your bigoted operations & doctrines.

The warning has been given. What happens from here shall be determined by you.

WE ARE ANONYMOUS.
WE ARE LEGION.
WE DO NOT FORGIVE.
WE DO NOT FORGET.
EXPECT US.

In all likelihood, WBC will ignore the threat, and then WBC will take down their sites and any sites associated with them in any way. We'll see.