Snyder v. Phelps et al

Filing 149

MOTION in Limine to Exclude a Portion of Professor Balmer's Expert Report by Albert Snyder. Responses due by 10/22/2007 (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Balmer Report# 2 Text of Proposed Order)(Summers, Sean)

Snyder v. Phelps et al

Doc. 149 Att.

Sra,rnuENToF RLNo^q,Lr, B,q.LMnn
A u g u s t6,2007

Background and Qualifications I wasreared an evangelical in household, (in whichmerms part)that I wasin church severatimesa week,includingtwice on Sundays. fatherfor forty yearswasa pastor l My in theEvangelical FreeChurchof America, I grewup in parsonages Nebraska, so in rural southem MinnesotaMichigan,andlowa,beforeheading offto Trinity collegeand Divinity Schoolin Deerfield, Illinois, whereI studied 0ater)Trinity Evangelical theology andmajored historyandchurchhistory. in My academic field of studyis American religioushistory,andmy specialty is evangelicalism, which includes various the strains evangelical in America: of life fundamentalism, pentecostalism, holiness the movement, neo-evangelicalism, the sanctified tradition,andthe charismatic movement, amongothers.i harr"published a dozen booksin my field, at leastfive of which specifically address subject the of evangelicalism, which I argueis themostimportant socialandreligiousmovement in American history. Oneof thebooks,MineEyesHsveSeen Glory: A Journeyinto the the EvangelicaSubculture America,now in its fourthedition,is a kind of travelogue l in into thevarious communities evangelical of religiouslife in America. This bookwashade into anaward-winning, three-part television series pBS. for I havetaughtat ColumbiaUniversitysinceeamingthePh.D.from Princeton University in 1985.ln addition,I havebeena visitingprofessor variousplaces, at includingRutgirs, PrincetonDrew,Yale, andNorthwestern , universities at union Theological and SeminarywhereI * q adjunctprofessor church , of history. For the pastthreeyears, I havebeena visitingprofessor Yale Divinity School, additionto my r"sponsibiliti". at in a t Columbia. In short,I believe that I am well-qualified bothby academic trainingandby personal experienc- to comment matters e on relating evangelicalism, historical-and to both contemporary. Finally,I wantto makeit clearthat I consider myselfan evangelical Christian(though I'm reasonably confidentthatFredPhelps, of thedefendants this case, one in wouldleny

Dockets.Justia.co

I me that appellation). I take the Bible very seriouslyas Gbd's revelation to humanity, (in part becauseI have experiencedthat believein ihe transformative power of Jesus transformativepower), and I believe that, as a follower of Jesus,I am compelled to preachthe gospel,the "good news" of the New Testament. I was ordained to the priesthoodln tle Episcopal Church last December,and I serve as a (non-stipendiary) assistant a parish in northwest Connecticut. at

P e r s o n a l Disposition Toward the Defendants of I want to be equally clear that, because my religious convictions, I disagfeeutterly with the teachings propagated by the defendantsand by Westboro Baptist Church, especiallyon the matter of homosexuality. I find their views repugnant and their tactics insensitive,misdirected, and reprehensible. Jesushimself said nothing whatsoeverabout the topie, and if the people at Westboro take as their warrant the Levitical proscriptions, then it seemsto me that, in order to be consistent,they should also be picketing cattle (Lev. l9:19), condemning anyonewho wearsgarmentsof mixed cloth, say wool breeders and silk (Lev. I 9: I 9), and advocatingthe deathpenalty for adultery (Lev. 20: I 0). Most important, I detect little of the gospel,or "good news," that Jesusaskedhis followers to preach. Jesus,in fact, said "Do not judge, lest you be judged" (Matt. 7:l). I heara good bit ofjudgment in the rhetoric coming from Westboro Baptist Church and very little of the ethic of love that Jesustaught his followers. of A final, brief digression before I continue to the substance my statement. The invitation to be an expert witness in this casetriggered in me a sustainedcrisis of conscienceone that I haven't fully resolved. BecauseI find the defendants' rhetoric so , of vile and their teachingsso contrary to my understanding the gospel, I wanted nothing to do with this case,and, more particularly, I wanted nothing to do with people whose views I do not and cannot admire. However,as one of the expert witnessesin the Alabama Ten Commandmentscase (whereI arguedfor the removal of the monumentbecause clearly violated the it establishmenclauseof the First Amendment), I felt it was my duty to defend the other t part of the First Amendment, the right to freedom of speechand assembly. Therefore, with those caveatsin place, I proceedto the substance my statement. of

H i s t o r i c a l Context of Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church WestboroBaptist Church clearly fits into the categoryof fundamentalism. Fred Phelpsin his depositionindicated that he had attendedBob JonesUniversity, which is now located in Greenville, South Carolina. Bob Jonesis arguablythe citadel of fundamentalism, which in turn is characterizedby three things: sectarianism, separatism,and militancy. The fundamentalistsderive their name from a seriesof pamphletspublished between 1910and l915 called The Fundamentals,which addressed major theological issuesof the

perspective. thedayanddid so from a distinctlyconservative Thosewho adhered to conservative these formulations on thevirgin birth of Jesus, instance, the for or (The termhassince authenticity miracles cameto beknownasfundamentalists. of applied otherreligioustraditions Islamicfundamentalism Hindu been to or fundamentalism Jewishfirndamentalismbut it properlybelongs the American or in context a subset evangelicalism.) as of Fundamentalisttend to be sectarian that they differentiatethemselves s in from mostother churcheanddenominations. s Westboro BaptistChurch, example, not (asfar asI for is cantell) partof any Baptistdenomination, asthe Southern such BaptistConvention the or Landmark Baptists.That in itself is not so unusual; therearethousands independent of Baptistcongregations America,unaffrliated in with anydenomination. this status But alsotendsto be a characteristic fundamentalist of churches. Secondfundamentalists separatists, , are seekingto setthemselves apart from anyonethey regard insuffrcientlypious or theologicallysuspect.Most fundamentalists, as for exampleview Billy Graham a flamingliberalbecause cooperated mainline , as he with Protestants 1957duringhis famous in Madison Square Garden "crusade"in New York City. As nearlyasI candetermine, membership Westboro the of BaptistChurchconsists entirely FredPhelps's of extended family,by bloodor marriage, which takesseparatism to anentirelynewlevel! I foundit telling- not to mention poignant heartbreakingly professed at leastpretended) to know thenames his own thatMr. Phelps (or not of children who werenot members Westboro of BaptistChurch. Themembers Westboro of BaptistChurchclearlyview themselves a kind of righteous as remnant, theybelieve and thattheymustseparate themselves from anyone, evenfamily members, who do not approactheir level of righteousness. h Finally,fundamentalists characterized militancy. The shorthand, are by somewhat facetious, definitionaboutthe difference between fundamentalist an evangelical a and is thata fundamentalist an evangelical is who'smadaboutsomething.It's a description thatcomes prettycloseto themark. Theexamples fundamentalist of militancyaretoo numerouto detailhere,but they wouldincludeJohnR. Ricerailing against s women's rightsin LongHair, BossyWives, and Women Preachers (1941),Carl Mclntire's tireless attacks theWorld Councilof Churches, JerryFalwell'sexcoriations political on and of liberals blamingthe September I attacks "thepagans, the abortionists, the or I on and and feministsandthegaysandthe lesbians , who areactivelytrying to makethat an alternave Ii festyle. ti " FredPhelps Westboro and BaptistChurch clearlystand within this tradition,although, giventhe notoriousseparatism amongfirndamentalists, may be reluctantto he acknowledgthathe hasanythingin common e with anyof theindividualsI've mentioned here. Thatvery refusalto be lumpedtogether with others to regard oneselfasthe final arbiter righteousnessis in itself a hallmarkof fundamentalism. of T h e o l o g i c aContext l

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Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church fall squarelywithin the purview of Calvinism, a theological tradition that, in America" reachesback to the Puritansof New England and the Dutch Reformed Church in the Middle Colonies. Once again, the referenceto Bob JonesUniversity provides a tip-off, but this theological sensibility is also reflected in the various statementsfrom the defendants. Fred Phelps himself, for example, testified that he "spend[s] a lot of time and a lot of money collecting real old, old books, mostly by Calvinist theologiansof the past, and I read thosebooks, and I incorporate a whole lot of what I read into my sermonizing." Calvinist theology has severalcharacteristics, two of which are gennaneto this statement. First, a conviction that all of humanity inherits the sin of Adam, a dockine known as total depravity. As such, we are unworthy before God. Timothy Phelps rehearses this notion, albeit with unnecessary drama: "it is our sincerely held religious belief is that God hates the vast majority of mankind. And only if he gives you grace and therefore you repent from your sins, can you have any hope of the love of God." Later, he adds, ..And it's all somethingthat is determined in the council halls of etemity. We don'.t own salvation, and we don't pretend to own salvation." This notion is consistentwith classic Calvinist theology. The secondtenet of Calvinism that is relevantto this caseis the doctrine of providence, that God is in chargeof all things and that nothing happensthat is outside oiGod's will. Timothy Phelps's deposition also demonstatesthis: ';And in this generation,at this particulartime in history, in Americ4 the weaponof choice for God almighty, providentially, is demonstratedto be theseIEDs, hitting these soldiers and otherwise killing thesesoldiers." Although no Calvinist I know would concur with Mr. phelps,s applicationof the doctrine of providenceto IEDs, the principle does derive (ostensibly) from the Calvinistic doctrine of providence. T h e ..Prophetic" Fire-and-Brimstone Tradition in America I'm confident that Fred Phelps and his followers view themselvesas prophetsin the hadition of Jeremiahor Micah or Joel, the ancient Hebrew prophets who called the nation (in their case,Israel) to repentance. This task takeson special urgency if you believe, as Calvinists do, that all of humanity is inherently sinfi.rland in need of iedemption. The Puritan divines were always calling the Puritansto repentance, and,'especiallyin the waning decades the seventeenthcentury, they were wiliing to catalog the peopie's sins: of growing litigiousness,hypocrisy of professingsaints,excersive pride in dressand in sgiltual mannets, neglect of the church and its ordinances, irrevlrence and profanity, violation of the Sabbath,decline in family devotionsand discipline, ..sinf,d'heatsana hatreds"and "uncharitable and unrighteouscensures, back-bitings, hearing and telling tales," intemperanceand drunkenness, dishonesty,"inordinate affection to the world,i lardheartedcontinuing in sin, lack of community spirit, unbelief and impenitence. jod, like the defendants'linking of personalsins to social ills (the camageiniraq), the

Puritans sawsignseverywhere that God wasunhappy with Massachusetts: droughtof the 1662fires in Bostonin 1676and1679, King Philip'sWar,the bloodiest per , and war capita American in history. JonathaEdwards generally n is knownasthelastPuritan America(thoughit's possible in thatFredPhelps would wantto claimthatmantle).His mostfamoussermon far was by "sinnersin theHandsof anAngry God,o'preached Enfield,Connecticut, July 8, in on 1741. AlthoughitwasatypicalofEdwards'spreaching-hissermonsoverwhelmingly emphasizethegraceandthebenevolence God- it stands asan earlyexample d of out of preaching, fne-and-brimstone callinghis auditors repentance. to Otherpreachers throughoutAmericanhistoryhavecarriedon this tradition of condemnatory, preaching.In the early decades the nineteenth fire-and-brimstone of centur5r, PeterCartwright andnumerous otherpreachers condemned varioussins,notably sexuadebauchery excessive l and alcoholconsumption, the frontier. Many,many on preacherinterpreted Civil War asa signof God'sjudgmentagainst nation,not s the the unlikeFredPhelps's framingof the war in Iraq. In thedecades surrounding turn of the twentieth centuty,Billy Sunday railedagainst saloons general and sinfulness.I already refened JohnR. Rice,Carl Mclntire,andJerryFalwell,but the list couldbe expanded to almost indefinitely. FredPhelps his followersfall into this tradition;thereis little and thatis novelabouthis approach. Eventherhetoricdirected specificallyat gayshasample precedent in kind, if not in degree in theReligious Right. "I'm sick andtirbdof hearing aboutall of the radicals theperverts the liberalsandthe leftistsandthe and and Communistcomingout of thecloset,"James s Robison, televangelist, a Religious a told Rightrally in 1980."It's time for God'speople comeout of the closet." to Thepractice picketingby religiousgxoups a bit lesscommon, of is thoughit is present throughout history aswell. The most obviousprecedent would be the picketingby antiprotesters by temperance Mason and groups, includingthe woman's christian TemperancUnion. Someof theprotesters e werequitedetermined carryingout their in protests. CarryA. Nation would leadthesingingof hymns, quotescripture, Jmash liquor bottlesandthendestroysaloonfumishings , with herhatchet.(Oneof the targets hir of destruction, coincidentally enough, the senate was saloonin Topek4 Kansas, Fred Phelps's hometown.) A morerecent precedent religiouspicketing for wouldbe theactivitiesof Operation (sincerenamed Rescue Operation SaveAmerica), anti-abortion the organization started by Randall Terryin 1984. This Broup, similarto theactions Mr. rhllps andhis of family,staged demonstrations outside abortion of clinics,mostnotablya forty-six-day siege wichita Kansas, the organization in that dubbed..summer Mercy."'Like Mi. of Phelps his family, Operation and Rescue's tacticsweremeant be confrontational. to So too therhetoricwasintentionally inflammatory, muchIike that of Mr. phelps. ..I want youtojust let a waveof intolerance washoveryou," Randall Terry told a congregation in Indiana 1991."I want you to let a waveof hatred in washoveryou. yes, hateis!ood.,, FredPhelps mayvery well havetakena pagefrom theoperationRescue playbook.

parallelhereis the questfor publicity. It's clearfrom the defendants' Another depositionthatthey stage s their anticsfor maximum effectandmediaexposure. Once again, followsin a long naditionwithin American this evangelicalism. Evangelicals, in fact,confraryto popularperceptions, havebeeninordinatelyadeptat communications andpropagating their message themasses. to George whitefield, the mostfamous preacheof the GreatAwakening,hadbeentrainedin the Londontheaterandusedhis r skillsto greateffect;contemporaries hecouldbringtearsto your eyessimplyby said saying "Mesopotamia.'? the earlydecades thenineteenth In of century,circuit riders broughthe gospel the frontier,andlaterin thenineteenth t to centurycolporteurs rodethe hain linesto dishibuteBiblesandfractsandto organize Sunday schools.Dwight L. Moody,Billy Graham, Billy Sunday and werepioneers urbanmasscommunications, in andAimeeSemple McPherson, Charles Fuller,andothers E. usedthe radiowaves to communicate with the masses.FredPhelps, with his masterfulmanipulationof the media, followsin that tradition. Conclusion Theactions FredPhelps members the Westboro of and of BaptistChurch,albeitextreme andinflammatory,fit into a much longertradition of ,.propheiic', condemnatory and preaching Arnerican in society. Acting out of theirown understanding theological of principlestheyseekto call individuals thenationto repentance. do so,tf,eyhave , and To adopted tacticsof confrontation, the whichareverymuchconsistent with the actions of otherfundamentalists. Once again'I offer no brief whatsoever thecontent thedefendants' for of rhetoric, which I find deeplyoffensive contrary theteachings Jesus.But I acknowledge the and to of that ofscripture, andth'ey b, lefend3ntsareacting accordingto their own understandings located "un within a muchlargertraditionof religious rhetoric-and dissent American in history.

Anotherparallelhereis thequestfor pubricity. It's clear from thedefendants, depositioru-that sage their anticsfor matimum they erect anameaiaerposure. once asaia this follows in a longtraditionwithin American Evangelicals, in facl contrary.to popularperceptions, beeninordinateifJfr ""*g"ri*iism. communications have at andpropagating their message themasses. to eeorgeWf,ftit"f{ tn" rnostfamous preacheof the crreatAwakCning, beenbainedL r had the rnndd theaterandused his skills to greateffect; contemporaries hecouldbl"g tear, said ;;yo* simpryby sayrng'Mesopoami"]' Il the earlydecades theninJteenttr of JrrL*, "yes riders circuit bry"ql, ttreggppel the firontier, laterin theninetenth;;rr'r. to and corporterusrcdettr nain linesto distributeBiblesa'd tacts andto o_rg*io sunouy,"t ools. Dwight L. Moody' Billy Graham'andBillysunday werepioneers urban in masscommunications, andAimeeSemple McPherson,Charles rdler, andothersuoJ o" radio n. waves to communicate themasses.Fredphelps, with with his *.rturn r --ipulation of the medig follows in that tradition.

Conclusion Theactionsof FredPhelpsandmembers ofthe westboroBaptistchurch" albeitexheme andinflarn'atory, fit inro muchronger raditign li"prr*r;;.irc condemnatory peachingin American l "i ryfty:. flritrg out of their "n* uila.ot""aing of theorogicar principles, they seekto call individualJand narion; t"p";;;. the To do so,theyhave adopted tacticsofconfrontation,wtricharevery muchconsistent the with theactions of otherfundamentalists. oyc agaiq I offer no brief whatsoever thecontentofthedefendants, for rhetoric,wtrich I find deeptyoffensiveandconnaryto theteachings Jesus.B"d of acknowledge the that to'theiro* *a"[t 9"noSF_ry actingaccording andtheycanbe located within a much largeruadition of religiousrhetoric-anaaisslnt "Jiogr1rr"ipto", in American history.

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