BBC’s Louis Theroux Documents the Phelps Family of the Westboro Baptist Church [VIDEO]

You may or may not be familiar with who or what the Westboro Baptist Church is. If you are not, they are an organization based out of Kansas that have recieved national news coverage for their presence and picketing of military funerals. In fact, they traveled to Evansville in 2006 to picket at the funeral of one of our local fallen soldiers, and were rumored to have planned another visit to a military funeral in the Tristate as recently as December of 2010. After winning a Supreme Court case regarding their First Amendment Right to protest, according to the Courier and Press, there was a planned protest only a few months ago.

The Westboro Baptist Church announced in faxes that members plan to protest at an Owensboro Catholic church that was the site of a suicide of a man who said in a note he had been sexually abused.

The group says it will also target two more Protestant churches in Owensboro and a Catholic church in Louisville.

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the church’s incendiary rhetoric was protected by the First Amendment.

I know of these people. I have heard the stories. I also have heard of the group of motorcycle riders known as the Patriot Guard, who travel the country to protect the families of our fallen soldiers from being faced with the people from Westboro Bapstist. The Patriot Guard were featured in a documentary recently screened right here in Evansville titled "Patriot Guard Riders"and prominently features a local Evansville couple. According to the Evansville Courier and Press, nearly a third of the footage used was filmed here in Evansville. If you are interested in the documentary of the Patriot Guard, you can find it here and on their Facebook page. Below is a ten minute video of some of the footage that was taken during the filming of the documentary.

Now, let me tell you what started this particular blog from me tonight. Like I said earlier I have knowledge of who Westboro Baptist is and what they protest about. That in itself has always been difficult for me to really grasp. It has always seemed to border on sheer lunacy and fantascism. Tonight I was surfing the internet, like I do so many nights, when I stumbled on a 60 minute documentary from 2007 presented by the BBC's Louis Theroux, entitled "The Worlds Most Hated Family." I will admit to being a few (and by a few, I mean 4) years late on this particular video, but I had never seen it. The documentary illicited such a stir of emotions in me that I felt  compelled to share it with you.

I will warn you that much of what is contained within the 60 minutes below will likely leave you feeling disgusted, and if you are easily offended by offensive language, you may not want to watch.

 As a broadcaster, I do believe in my First Amendment Right to freedom of speech, HOWEVER, I will NOT comment on ANYONE's religious views, sexual orientation, or nationality. I will tell you, though, that as a HUMAN BEING, I am both appalled and disgusted by what I just witnessed from the people of Westboro Baptist. That there are children involved in such behavior, as a mother, is revolting to me. As for any of my other thoughts, I will keep those to myself, and allow you to fill in the blanks....