I cannot imagine anyone concerned with civil rights that is not aware of the Phelps family and Westboro Baptist Church, yet they did not hit my radar until they had been protesting for a few years. It was their appearance at the Matthew Shepard funeral that brought them to my attention. Their protests at the funerals of fallen soldiers in Iraq brought them to the attention of most Americans.
My generation is used to hate-mongers. We have had Hitler and Stalin. We have preachers like Robertson, Dobson, Fallwell and others, but no one is above Fred Phelps in his pure hatred of anyone who does not agree with him. It is hard to understand what motivates such people. My personal feeling is that they were probably not breastfed. Just a theory, but it is probably as good as any.
K. Ryan Jones put together enough footage to give us some insight into what drives Phelps, but he cannot know the complete picture. The anger inside this man in put forth by his own words, the words of his children and grandchildren, and the fact that he has managed to alienate all who come into contact with him to the point that he was disbarred and had to turn to hating gays, lesbians, and trans-gendered, or "fags" as he calls them to have an outlet for his anger.
You hear from his own children who have escaped the physical abuse they endured growing up, and you see the new generation of grandchildren who are indoctrinated to hate without understanding what it is that they hate. His children are like Nike, they tell their children to "Just do it." Anyone who is interested in civil rights, and combating hatred in American should check this film out. It is currently getting wide play on Showtime.