Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps in care facility

In the late 1990s, I joined an LGBT rights movement called Soulforce, inspired by the principles of non-violence and social justice utilized by Martin Luther King Jr., as well as Mahatma Gandhi. One of our first direct actions was in Lynchburg, VA

Fred Phelps, the founder of the highly controversial Westboro Baptist Church, which is known for protesting high-profile funerals with signs that read "God Hates Fags," is said to be dying at a hospice center in Kansas. The news comes via Nate Phelps

Supporters of the Rev. Fred Phelps, of the Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church, demonstrate outside the funeral service for Marine Lance Cpl. Rex Arthur Page, Sunday, July 9, 2006, in Kirksville, Mo. (AP Photo/The Kirksville Daily Express, Al

Fred Phelps Sr., founder of the Westboro Baptist Church known for its virulently anti-gay pickets, is in a care facility, a church spokesman said Sunday.

After decades of trying, Fred Phelps has finally managed to do the unthinkable: make atheists everywhere pray for the existence of the vengeful God he believed in. Of course that's only because it would also mean the eternalÂ