If you want to study the Westboro Baptist Church, it’s a little like watching North Korea. Both North Krea and the Westboro Baptist Church are loud and abusive. Both are ruthless in their demands of obedience. And both have defectors who will tell you what life was like inside. The difference between the two is that North Korea is a country, and the Westboro Baptist Church is a church or a cult that still must respect the laws of the land within which it is situated.
Jon Mitchell Bell wrote a book called “Addicted to Hate” which became the center of a legal dispute. To assure that it would be available to the public, he entered it as an exhibit in a lawsuit, thereby ensuring that it would be available to the public. Following are two links. One is a link in which the entire manuscript may be viewed on line. The second link is to a site where the manuscript can be downloaded and viewed off line. In light of the recent controversy revolving around the Westboro Baptist Church and the Whitney Houston funeral, this manuscript, which shifts any studies of the Westboro Baptist Church and the Phelps family into the area of abnormal psychology, which is where it really belongs.
