Westboro Baptist Church
Westboro Baptist Church Reuters

Anonymous, a group that prides itself on belief based denial-of-service attacks, supposedly threatened the radical Westboro Church group this past week; only to later rescind an earlier statement.

It seemed as if Anonymous had found its next target. The group of hackers, which calls itself The Voice of Free Speech & Advocate of the People, has already gone after major corporations, governments and security agencies. It made a statement on the Feb. 16 that it was going to go after the Westboro Church. It derided the radical organization for its benighted gospel of hatred and fascist views.

In the past Westboro Church has protested outside the funerals of military soldiers and the American Holocaust Museum. The group, led by Pastor Fred Phelps, runs the website Godhatesfags.com.

Anonymous cannot abide this behavior any longer. The time for us to be idle spectators in your inhumane treatment of fellow Man has reached its apex, and we shall now be moved to action. Thus, we give you a warning: Cease & desist your protest campaign in the year 2011, return to your homes in Kansas, & close your public Web sites, Anonymous said in a press release.

The radical religious group immediately sent a response saying God Hates Fags & Lousy 'Hackers.' Westboro said that if Anonymous attempted to launch a DDoS on their websites, it would be warring with God.

Anonymous has since posted a message this morning saying the original message was a trap set up by attention whoring idiots. They said they have more pressing matters, but would get back to the Westboro Church at a later time.

They also told fellow Anonymous members; It's a trap. They've got their ports wide open to harvest IPs to sue. Don't DDoS, and boycott Operation Westboro. If you really want to continue messing with them, just send them a few male prostitutes and faxes of Goatse.

Anonymous said the message was posted by one member of the group independently without the others' knowledge. An attempt to take out Westboro Church wouldn't be the first time Anonymous has gone after a radical religious organization. They once went after the Church of Scientology.

To contact the reporter responsible for this story call (646) 461 6920 or email g.perna@ibtimes.com.