CBS THIS MORNING (7:00 AM ET)
November 25, 1998, Wednesday

Kansas Minister Spreading Hate Instead Of The Gospel
Anchors: Thalia Assuras
Reporters: Richard Schlesinger

   THALIA ASSURAS, co-host:

This morning's Eye on America focuses on a minister with little room for
tolerance. He proudly delivers a message of hate thy neighbor if he or she
happens to be gay. Richard Schlesinger reports. And a word of caution: The
minister uses language that many of you may find offensive.

RICHARD SCHLESINGER reporting:

Reverend Fred Phelps is a fixture around Topeka, Kansas. He is the pastor of
the Westboro Baptist Church, and his message is beyond fire and brimstone;
it's explosive.

Reverend FRED PHELPS (Westboro Baptist Church): God hates fags.

SCHLESINGER: Every day for the last seven years, Phelps has led a small
flock of about 20 protesters picketing anyone and anything he thinks
tolerates homosexuals. This week, that includes Reverend Jerry Falwell. Is
Phelps encouraging hate? He hopes so.

How can you look at these signs and not think that they encourage hate?

Rev. PHELPS: Look, how can you...

SCHLESINGER: Look at the words that are on these signs!

Rev. PHELPS: It's in the eye of the beholder. How can you look at these
signs and not say, 'Praise the Lord'?

SCHLESINGER: Phelps got a lot of attention when he showed up at the funeral
of Matthew Shepard, the 21-year-old Wyoming man beaten to death apparently
because he was gay. But he's picketed other funerals, of people like Sonny
Bono and Barry Goldwater, who he considered pro-gay.

Matthew Shepard's death set off a nationwide wave of demonstrations
protesting anti-gay violence. But Phelps turned some heads and turned some
stomachs when he turned the funeral into an opportunity to spread his
message, which he peppers with what is considered a derogatory word.

You know it's an offensive word to a lot of people.

Rev. PHELPS: That's all right.

SCHLESINGER: Why do you use it?

Rev. PHELPS: Because it's a Bible word and because it gets their attention
and because it preaches the rock-solid truth. You are faggots. You're not to
be admired and respected.

SCHLESINGER: It's a familiar word to a lot of people. Christopher Scott last
heard it late one Monday evening in New York while he was being beaten by
three men.

Mr. CHRISTOPHER SCOTT (Beating Victim): Continuously calling me faggot,
'Hey, you freaking faggot.' I mean, you know, it's like....

SCHLESINGER: They called you that?

Mr. SCOTT: Yeah, they called me all this.

SCHLESINGER: Reverend Phelps insists he does not condone violence, but there
is a large audience of people willing to take a message of hatred one step
further. According to the latest figures, every year nationwide, more than
1,000 people are attacked because they're gay.

Mr. SCOTT: For him to come out and say, 'God hates fags,' that's telling
these people that it's all right to beat us up.

SCHLESINGER: Phelps is going for a worldwide audience on the Internet, where
his Web site has had about 600,000 visits so far. But he's still out on the
streets of Topeka preaching hatred one on one to passers-by with his
children and grandchildren.

Unidentified Girl: I don't hate them. God hates them. It's God's perfect
hate.

SCHLESINGER: God's perfect hate.

Girl: God's perfect hate.

SCHLESINGER: That's--can I tell you, to a--to a newcomer to this, that's a
scary thing to hear. So how old are you?

Girl: I'm 17.

SCHLESINGER: The concept of perfect hate may be difficult for many to
understand, but it's not hard for this small group of true believers that
shows no signs of dying out. For Eye on America, I'm Richard Schlesinger in
Topeka, Kansas.