The world has lost one of its most prolific - or at least visible - hatemongers. Fred Phelps, the patriarch of the Westboro Baptist Church, died in hospice care on Thursday.
Church members spent their time showing up at the funerals of highprofile murder victims, dead soldiers and celebrities to shout through bullhorns and wave placards declaring that "God hates fags."
No tragedy was too sacred, no victim too innocent for Phelps and his church members to show up to agitate mourners, so long as it would generate more of the controversy they thrived on.
Legal critics have pointed out that Phelps and his clan were usually more interested in suing the people they provoked into assaulting them than any kind of church ministry.
But rather than being a persuasive source of hatred for the LGBT community, Phelps appears to have had a rather counterproductive effect. He was more of an "only-in-America" sideshow than the leader of a movement. Only a handful of kooks took him seriously and he did more to generate sympathy for gays and lesbians than he did to gin up hate.
However, that did not make his words much less hurtful, especially when the very real issue of LGBT people being shut out and ostracized by their faith's leaders remains. Thankfully, many of those bronze-age glaciers are receding. Even Pope Francis has taken a "Who am I to judge?" stance.
The last bit of irony, or perhaps, cowardice to close the book on the Westboro Baptist Church: Phelps has opted to have no funeral.
