Fred Phelps and his band of wretches are planning to demonstrate at the funeral of Elizabeth Edwards this weekend.

The church has generated controversy with its confrontational and offensive demonstrations. “God Hates Fags” has become an unofficial calling card of the group, a phrase they say the world “needs to hear more than it needs oxygen, water and bread.” Another Westboro sign, “Thank God For Dead Soldiers,” is frequently displayed at military funerals and has created its own share of outrage.

In a promotional flier for the upcoming protest, the church references John and Elizabeth Edwards’s son Wade, who died in a car crash in 1996:

“When they were visited from the Most High God with the death of their 16-year-old son, they did not humble themselves before His mighty hand. They reared up in rage, decided they would show God who is boss, and meddled in matters of the womb, resulting in 2 more children — now motherless.”

The church goes on to claim that she is now a “resident of hell, where her rebellion and rage will take full flower.”

To quote E.K. Hornbeck in Inherit the Wind, “Whatever happened to silent prayer?”