The anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church
has threatened to protest the funeral of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Tech visionary Jobs died late on
Wednesday. The 56-year-old father of four had battled pancreatic
cancer in the past. Jobs returned to helm Apple in 1997. He
revolutionized the tech industry with the introduction of the iPod
and later shook up the cellular phone market with the iPhone. He
stepped down as CEO of Apple, the company he co-founded with Steve
Wozniak, in August.
“Westboro will picket his funeral.
He had a huge platform; gave God no glory & taught sin,”
tweeted Margie Phelps, daughter of Fred Phelps, who founded the
Topeka, Kansas-based church.
“No peace for the man who served
self, not God,” she added. “Westboro must picket.”
Phelps later responded to reports that
she had ironically tapped out her messages on an iPhone: “Rebels
mad cuz I used iPhone to tell you Steve Jobs is in hell. God created
iPhone for that purpose! :)”
Westboro, which coined the phrase “God
hates fags,” also protested the funerals of Elizabeth Edwards and
the legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor.