Lightning Rod

Westboro Church to Protest Elizabeth Edwards's Funeral

Elspeth Reeve Dec 9, 2010

The Westboro Baptist Church has a small congregation mostly made up of family members of its pastor. It has, however, has been able to attract massive attention--and a Supreme Court case--for its protests of military funerals. Now Westboro has announced it will protest the service for Elizabeth Edwards in Raliegh, North Carolina, Saturday.

The church has issued a press release saying Edwards, who died Tuesday after fighting breast cancer for six years, had "meddled in matters of the womb" by undergoing fertility treatments. It also attacks Edwards's "blasphemy" in talking about her grief following her son's death at the age of 16, and her "smashmouthed assault on His deity." It even suggests that, through her deeds, Edwards "INSISTED" on dying "while her children are yet minors," and "INSISTED upon her son's death."

Officials at Edenton Street United Methodist Church, where Edwards' funeral will be held, are meeting to figure out how to deal with the Westboro protesters, The Washington Post's Melissa Bell reports.

Bloggers are already enraged by the offensive stunt.

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