a church protesting on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. the messages that are anti-gay, anti-semitic, pretty much anti-everything. lauren is the author of ban issue. she said she s no longer welcome because of her beliefs. welcome. thank you. the western baptist church is a shocking church. i ve watched it from afar, with increasing horror, really, about what they get up to in the name of religion. tell me about your experience when you first went in there. how bad was it on the inside? on the inside? it s very controlling. they control like literally every aspect of your life. they control what you believe, what you say, what you do, what friends you have. they say everyone on the outside s evil. and they don t allow any outside influence at all. how do they equate being a religious group, with their appalling behavior, picketing
they say everyone on the outside s evil. and they don t allow any outside influence at all. how do they equate being a religious group, with their appalling behavior, picketing funerals of soldiers, the anti-gay outbursts and so on? they claim to speak for god. simple as that? yes. all-encompassing excuse? it s not a good excuse at all but they do it. it s unfortunate and atrocity the things that they do and say. horrible things they do and say. but yeah, they claim they re speaking for god. do they brainwash people like you, young people? yes, they did brainwash me. did they make you picket and things that you look back and find contemptible? they make children believe they re being good christians, to go out and protest all these different things. and it s very hypocritical. they don t even hold themselves
just how much trouble he s in? and elizabeth smart breaking her silence, talking about justice and moving forward. moments after a guilty verdict was read in the trial against her kidnapper and rapist. tonight you ll hear from elizabeth and we talk to ed smart about the verdict and what his daughter and the family plan to do now. crime and punishment tonight. we begin as always keeping them honest. tonight the church that preaches hate, plain and simple, hate in public places, hate in moments of great pain and great loss. talking about the westboro baptist church of topeka, kansas. i m sure you ve heard of them, it s a tiny congregation whose members aren t content to spew their hate in the confines of their church. the man who runs the westboro baptist church loves publicity and he s made a name for himself by picketing funerals of fallen troops. their tortured logic is that america s war dead are somehow god s punishment for the country tolerating gays and lesbians. their actions
his daughter and the family plan to do now. crime and punishment tonight. we begin as always keeping them honest. tonight the church that preaches hate, plain and simple, hate in public places, hate in moments of great pain and great loss. talking about the westboro baptist church of topeka, kansas. i m sure you ve heard of them, it s a tiny congregation whose members aren t content to spew their hate in the confines of their church. the man who runs the westboro baptist church loves publicity and he s made a name for himself by picketing funerals of fallen troops. their tortured logic is that america s war dead are somehow god s punishment for the country tolerating gays and lesbians. their actions and whether or not it should be protected by the first amendment is now being decided by the supreme court. we talk about it tonight, however, because tomorrow the group will protest outside the funeral of elizabeth edwards in raleigh, north carolina. in a moment you ll hear from some goo
their church. the man who runs the westboro baptist church loves publicity and he s made a name for himself by picketing funerals of fallen troops. their tortured logic is that america s war dead are somehow god s punishment for the country tolerating gays and lesbians. their actions and whether or not it should be protected by the first amendment is now being decided by the supreme court. we talk about it tonight, however, because tomorrow the group will protest outside the funeral of elizabeth edwards in raleigh, north carolina. in a moment you ll hear from some good people who are planning to drown out this group s hate with love. we ve always avoided even mentioning this church on this program because we haven t frankly wanted to give them any publicity. but because the supreme court is now considering the issues this church raises we thought it worthwhile just to look at what they do and more importantly what a lot of other americans do to stand up to their bullying. this is how f