Hate the Sin, Tolerate the Sinner
So here we are, again.
So indeed.
Today we’re talking about the Wesboro Baptist Church.
Again?
Do you understand what it means to be a two-part episode? Anyway, yes, we’re talking about the WBC again. This time, we’re talking about their depiction in the media and people who’ve left the church.
We start by discussing the documentary made by Steve Drain, a later convert to the chuch and (in his words) “propaganda minister in chief.” This documentary, which Olivia describes as a poor student film with excessive B-roll, depicts the WBC as a reasonable, level-headed bunch that have been mistreated by the general public. While Drain is eager to include footage illustrating that the public treats them with a degree of hostility, he rarely shows how the WBC treats protestors. In fact, he also neglects to discuss Phelps’s disbarment and legal troubles at any point in the documentary – a detail Olivia found very interesting. The majority of the content provided by the documentary was discussed in the first episode so we suggest you listen to that to catch up.
I sense a lot of hostility regarding Steve Drain.
Olivia fully elaborates on her thoughts and feelings regarding Steve Drain but this is not a Pro-Drain podcast. To really drive the point home, when asked what Steve was like prior to joining the church he was quoted saying, “I was the smartest man in the world. I embraced the philosophy of libertarianism. I was a genius.”
Lol.
Lol.
Are there level-headed documentaries on the WBC you would suggest?
Yes, Louis Theroux’s documentary “The Most Hated Family in America” is extremely well put together and thoughtfully designed. The premise is that Theroux spends about three weeks with WBC, attending their pickets, interviewing them, etc. He finds that although they’re nice to him individually, they often shield themselves with religious proverbs and sayings you’d find on their signs. While it made it more difficult for Theroux to get to understand them, he successfully humanizes them and sheds lights on their inner workings.
One especially peculiar exchange is that between him and Fred Phelps, who remains obstinate in every exchange they have. It may be delusions of grandeur that cause him to justify his responses with “asked and answered” and “that’s a stupid question, or maybe it’s Steve Drain at it again (for legal reasons this is a joke). What we do know is not everything is as it seems and surely there can be more than meets the eye in a religious organization where Phelps’s getting mad is described by his daughter as “nothing like it.”
And there are people that left the church?
At this point, at least 30 (if not more) people have left the church. On the podcast we discuss:
Mark Phelps (left in 1973)
Nate Phelps (left in 1976)
Dortha Bird (left in 1990)
Lauren Drain (excommunicated in 2008)
Libby Phelps-Alvarez (left in 2009)
Megan and Grace Phelps Roper (left in 2012)
Zach Phelps-Roper (left in 2014)
But there are certainly more. We even have a surprise ex-communication we discuss at the end. There’s so much to uncover in this episode so kick back and give it a good listen. Enjoy!