America's Most Hated Family in Crisis
Encyclopedia
America's Most Hated Family in Crisis is a 2011 BBC
documentary film
presented and written by Louis Theroux
, who revisits the family at the core of the Westboro Baptist Church
. It is a follow up to 2007's The Most Hated Family in America
, also written and presented by Theroux.
The documentary first aired on BBC Two
in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2011 at 9pm. It received mainly positive reviews from critics, with the Metro calling it "terrifying". The documentary had 3.33 million viewers and was BBC Two's most watched programme of that week.
and based in Topeka
, Kansas. Born in 1929 in Meridian
, Mississippi, Phelps conducts himself under the belief that he is a prophet
chosen by God
"to preach His message of hate". Phelps was ordained
a Southern Baptist in 1947. The Westboro Baptist Church was started by Phelps in 1955. Members of the church meet in Phelps's residence; the majority of the group's adherents are his family. Phelps received an associate's degree
from John Muir Junior College
in 1951, a bachelor's degree
in 1962 and a degree in law in 1964 from Washburn University
. He formed a "crusade for righteousness", attempting to abolish Jim Crow laws
in Topeka.
In 1991 when a local park started to serve as a meeting place for homosexual men, Phelps began to protest against homosexuality. Phelps subsequently enlarged the scope of his activities and formed protests in areas where civil rights were being debated for LGBT people. Phelps received criticism in 1998 when he repeatedly exclaimed "Matt is in hell" during the funeral of Matthew Shepard
, a man murdered for being homosexual.
Westboro Baptist Church bases its work around its belief that God hates homosexuals, mainly through the use of their motto "God Hates Fags", and expresses the opinion, based on its Biblical interpretation, that nearly every tragedy in the world is God's punishment for homosexuality
– specifically society's increasing tolerance and acceptance of gay
, lesbian
, and bisexual
people. It maintains that God hates homosexuals above all other kinds of sinners and that homosexuality should be a capital crime
. The church runs the websites GodHatesFags.com, GodHatesAmerica.com, and websites condemnnatory of LGBT people, Roman Catholics, Muslims, Jews
, Sweden
, Ireland
, Canada
, the Netherlands
, and the United States
. The organisation is monitored by the Anti-Defamation League
and is classified as a hate group
by the Southern Poverty Law Center
. The group has achieved notoriety because of its picketing of funeral processions of US soldiers killed in combat in Iraq
and Afghanistan
.
Controversial acts of Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church resulted in litigation and the formation of groups which counter-protest
against its efforts. President George W. Bush
signed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act
into law on Memorial Day
in May 2006. Members of the conservative Internet forum Free Republic
mounted counterdemonstrations against pickets by the church. Groups of American Legion
members formed motorcycle
honor guard
s with the intention of safeguarding funerals of US military from the church protesters.
after four years, to investigate the departure of several members of the Phelps family since his last visit. His return was prompted by an email he received from a young member of the church he had interviewed previously, who had since left and been disfellowshipped
. The US Supreme Court case of Snyder v. Phelps
, heard following the suing of Westboro Baptist Church for distress caused by the picketing of the funeral a US Marine killed in Iraq, formed the background to the new film. Theroux was interested in the ambivalent attitude of church members towards his first film, and stated that "the new documentary feels quite different than the original – though still funny, a little darker and stranger".
s Oliver Duggan said "[it was] truly captivating". The Liverpool Echo
s Paddy Shennan said "Louis provides great publicity."
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
presented and written by Louis Theroux
Louis Theroux
Louis Sebastian Theroux is an English broadcaster best known for his Gonzo style journalism on the television series Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends and When Louis Met.... His career started off in journalism and bears influences of notable writers in his family such as his father, Paul Theroux and...
, who revisits the family at the core of the Westboro Baptist Church
Westboro Baptist Church
The Westboro Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals and desecrating the American flag. The church is widely described as a hate group and is monitored as such by the...
. It is a follow up to 2007's The Most Hated Family in America
The Most Hated Family in America
The Most Hated Family in America is a 2007 BBC documentary film written and presented by Louis Theroux about the family at the core of the Westboro Baptist Church. The organisation is led by Fred Phelps and located in Topeka, Kansas...
, also written and presented by Theroux.
The documentary first aired on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2011 at 9pm. It received mainly positive reviews from critics, with the Metro calling it "terrifying". The documentary had 3.33 million viewers and was BBC Two's most watched programme of that week.
Background
The documentary focuses on the Westboro Baptist Church, headed by Fred PhelpsFred Phelps
Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. is an American pastor heading the Westboro Baptist Church , an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas...
and based in Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, Kansas. Born in 1929 in Meridian
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
, Mississippi, Phelps conducts himself under the belief that he is a prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
chosen by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
"to preach His message of hate". Phelps was ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
a Southern Baptist in 1947. The Westboro Baptist Church was started by Phelps in 1955. Members of the church meet in Phelps's residence; the majority of the group's adherents are his family. Phelps received an associate's degree
Associate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
from John Muir Junior College
John Muir High School (Pasadena, California)
John Muir High School is a four-year comprehensive secondary school in Pasadena, California, United States and is a part of the Pasadena Unified School District. The school is named after preservationist John Muir.-History:...
in 1951, a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in 1962 and a degree in law in 1964 from Washburn University
Washburn University
Washburn University is a co-educational, public institution of higher learning in Topeka, Kansas, USA. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,400 undergraduate students and...
. He formed a "crusade for righteousness", attempting to abolish Jim Crow laws
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
in Topeka.
In 1991 when a local park started to serve as a meeting place for homosexual men, Phelps began to protest against homosexuality. Phelps subsequently enlarged the scope of his activities and formed protests in areas where civil rights were being debated for LGBT people. Phelps received criticism in 1998 when he repeatedly exclaimed "Matt is in hell" during the funeral of Matthew Shepard
Matthew Shepard
Matthew Wayne Shepard was a student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming, in October 1998...
, a man murdered for being homosexual.
Westboro Baptist Church bases its work around its belief that God hates homosexuals, mainly through the use of their motto "God Hates Fags", and expresses the opinion, based on its Biblical interpretation, that nearly every tragedy in the world is God's punishment for homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
– specifically society's increasing tolerance and acceptance of gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, and bisexual
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
people. It maintains that God hates homosexuals above all other kinds of sinners and that homosexuality should be a capital crime
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. The church runs the websites GodHatesFags.com, GodHatesAmerica.com, and websites condemnnatory of LGBT people, Roman Catholics, Muslims, Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The organisation is monitored by the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
and is classified as a hate group
Hate group
A hate group is an organized group or movement that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other designated sector of society...
by the Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
. The group has achieved notoriety because of its picketing of funeral processions of US soldiers killed in combat in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
Controversial acts of Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church resulted in litigation and the formation of groups which counter-protest
Counter-protest
A counter-protest is a protest action which takes place within the proximity of another protest to which the counter-protest is in ideological opposition...
against its efforts. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
signed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act
Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act
The Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act is an Act of Congress that prohibits protests within 300 feet of the entrance of any cemetery under control of the National Cemetery Administration from 60 minutes before to 60 minutes after a funeral...
into law on Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
in May 2006. Members of the conservative Internet forum Free Republic
Free Republic
Free Republic is a moderated Internet forum for activists, and chat site for self-described conservatives, primarily within the United States. It presents articles and comments posted pseudonymously by registered members, known as "Freepers", using screen names...
mounted counterdemonstrations against pickets by the church. Groups of American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
members formed motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
honor guard
Honor guard
An honor guard, or ceremonial guard, is a ceremonial unit, usually military in nature and composed of volunteers who are carefully screened for their physical ability and dexterity...
s with the intention of safeguarding funerals of US military from the church protesters.
Content
Theroux returned to TopekaTopeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
after four years, to investigate the departure of several members of the Phelps family since his last visit. His return was prompted by an email he received from a young member of the church he had interviewed previously, who had since left and been disfellowshipped
Shunning
Shunning can be the act of social rejection, or mental rejection. Social rejection is when a person or group deliberately avoids association with, and habitually keeps away from an individual or group. This can be a formal decision by a group, or a less formal group action which will spread to all...
. The US Supreme Court case of Snyder v. Phelps
Snyder v. Phelps
Snyder v. Phelps was a case heard by Supreme Court of the United States on whether the First Amendment protected protests of public protestors at a funeral against tort liability. It involved a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress made by Albert Snyder, the father of Matthew...
, heard following the suing of Westboro Baptist Church for distress caused by the picketing of the funeral a US Marine killed in Iraq, formed the background to the new film. Theroux was interested in the ambivalent attitude of church members towards his first film, and stated that "the new documentary feels quite different than the original – though still funny, a little darker and stranger".
Reception
America's Most Hated Family in Crisis received mainly positive reviews. AOL television's Mic Wright said "America's Most Hated Family In Crisis proved once again why Louis Theroux is such an enduring explorer of the oddest and most awful corners of the world". The Irish Timess Bernice Harrison said "The excitement of seeing Theroux back on screen with a new documentary soon wore off". Rachel Tarley of the Metro said "America's Most Hated Family In Crisis was terrifying" and "It really looked like it could just have been an excellent spoof film about religious extremism in America. Unfortunately, you can tell it's real is because you just couldn't make this stuff up". The Daily Post commented that the programme was an "extraordinary piece of television". Onthebox.com's Rhiannon Jones gave it four out of five stars, saying "Louis himself is less his trademark, benign objectivist, and more challenging of the group's relentless twattery. The only question he doesn't address – but, why would he – is whether it's un-ethical to publicise them at all, and reward them for their shocking views with the attention those views are so transparently designed to attract". The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
s Oliver Duggan said "[it was] truly captivating". The Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
The Liverpool Echo is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Saturday, and is Liverpool's evening newspaper while its sister paper, the Liverpool Daily Post, is the morning paper...
s Paddy Shennan said "Louis provides great publicity."
External links
- Clip from the documentary at BBC News (1′38″)