Is it possible to collect a judgment from a church?

Question

We've been hearing about how a bereaved father in Maryland has taken the Westboro Baptist Church to court and won a judgment of something like 11 million dollars...
About time, say I, and a great many other Christians, who are relieved that somebody finally did something about Freddy and the Offenders! They do not represent Christ, or Christianity!
However, I am wondering...will it be possible for Mr. Snyder to collect his judgment? Who, exactly, is responsible for paying him? Will the church have to liquidate it's assets? Does this mean that they will lose their 501c3 charter (or whatever)?

Pangel pointed out that the website, www.godhatesfags.com seems to be down, which is a good thing...
Will the church have to close it's doors??

Is this really the end of Fred Phelps et al??

Answer 1

I doubt it - people like this see it as a martyrdom. They rarely come to what we might call a reasonable point of view.

Answer 2

I heard about that judgement and I hope its against both Fred Phelps as an individual as well as the church.

Its possible the church has insurance to cover some if not all of this.

I hope his lawyer sued not only the church but that Pastor and all the individual board members as individuals then this man in Maryland can take away just about everything perhaps including their house.

It would be nice to put Fred in jail, that would be a good place for him.

You are correct that they don't represent Christ or Christ's real church.

I hope this puts Fred and company out of business.

There are evil.

Pastor Art

Answer 3

The church will be forced to liquidate all it's assets. But here's the trick. All they have to do is bury the name of the church, sell the property, then move a block down the street and open a new church with a new name.
While I would rejoice if Fred Phelps stopped making the news, in truth he's just going to use this incident as a cry of "persecution" and be in even more "in your face" about his twisted Biblical interpretations.

Answer 4

Yes it is. Just look at the judgments against the Catholic Church. I read the article and I think they were sued as individuals not the church, because it mentioned it is more than the family is worth. Either way it sends a very strong message about hate speech and invasion of privacy.

As far as the web site, I think their server is overwhelmed with the number of people attempting to access it. Unfortunately I doubt they are really gone.

Answer 5

with any luck at all, those scumbags will have to nail the church door shut! I hope the family wins more than 11Mln. You can collect against a church. you may have forgotten what happened to the aryan brotherhood, or whatever they called themselves in Idaho a few years ago? they were sued and had to sell their property and church for the judgment against them. Hope this is the final days of the hateful Westboro baptist church.

Answer 6

They shouldn't sue the church but simply whoever was doing the act. If a a Christian WalMart truck driver runs me over, I do not sue the church he attends.

Answer 7

I doubt anyone can collect from a church. As offensive as Westboro is, how do we think anyone can stop free speech. If it is enforced, the man who lost his son just defeated all that his son stood for. His son fought for freedom, and his father takes it away. Just my opinion.

Answer 8

well we can't seem to shut up Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson so who knows. All mouth and hot air !!!!
As far as I'm concerned they can stay in Kansas and harass
their own state.

Answer 9

the church has paid out hundreds of millions for molesting children all over the world.

Answer 10

Brethren,

Let the heathen rage.

I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I AM (he), ye shall die in your sins.