There is a bit more about the excommunication of Fred Phelps from the Westboro Baptist Church he founded. It appears there was a struggle to consolidate power in an eight member board, rather than have all members (all 40) of the congregation decide an issue. Shirley Phelps-Roper is Fred's daughter and was heir apparent and spokesperson for the church. The current members of the board could cite Biblical verses about why women shouldn't be in power. Yes, they're sexist as well as homophobic (surprised?). So she was squeezed out and Fred excommunicated for wanting his opponents to be nice to his daughter. The main person doing the squeezing was Steve Drain, one of the tiny number of people in WBC who isn't kin to Fred. Caitlin Dickson of The Daily Beast has a thorough description of how Drain got involved in the church. He comes across as one scary dude.
Ari Ezra Waldman of Towleroad takes a look at the case just argued before the Supremes in which Hobby Lobby objected to the contraception requirements of the Affordable Care Act on religious freedom grounds. Waldman fears the Supremes will side with Hobby Lobby because of their previous ruling that corporations are people too. Which means that discriminatory law recently vetoed in Arizona will be back through ruling by the Supremes. Yep, a ruling about contraception could legalize discrimination against gay people.
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