Fred Phelps' death is causing an online stir right now, as countless of people are voicing out there take on what should be the proper way to deal with the passing of the notorious Westboro Church founder. Phelps is the founding pastor of a Kansas church, who received much criticism for his virulently anti-gay protests on several occasions. The 84-year-old pastor passed away of natural causes at around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, church spokesman Steve Drain confirmed.

According to CNN, Fred Phelps founded Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, in 1955. The small congregation, which is composed of Phelps relatives by blood and by marriage, was molded by Phelps such that all of his ideals, aspirations and his strong disgust for homosexuals are a commonly shared trait amongst its members.

The church even chided Thursday that the "world-wide media" had "gleefully (anticipated) the death" of Phelps. "God forbid, if every little soul at the Westboro Baptist Church were to die at this instant, or to turn from serving the true and living God, it would not change one thing about the judgments of God that await this deeply corrupted nation and world."

The controversial church had reportedly picketed more than 53,000 events as of late, including several of Lady Gaga's concerts and even military funerals. Members of Fred Phelps' church members were typically seen flaunting brandish signs saying "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."

Because of his intense and more often than not scandalous beliefs, Phelps was tagged "the most hated man in America," a title he seemed to relish. In 2006, Fred told the Wichita Eagle that "if I had nobody mad at me, what right would I have to claim that I was preaching the Gospel?"

It can be noted that Fred Phelps preached to his Westboro members that every clamaity and natural disasters such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut are God's punishment for the country's "acceptance of homosexuality." He even advocated and passed on to his members the idea that gays and lesbians should be put to death.

Given all these, it is not surprising that a lot of people commented when the passing of Phelps was confirmed by several media outlets.

The online buzz in CNN's report about the his confirmed death doubles every hour, and more than 11,000 have reportedly voiced out their thoughts on Fred's life as well as his death.

Many netizens said that the passing of the controversial Westboro church requires a celebration.

On the other hand, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said in a statement that "Fred Phelps will not be missed by the LGBT community, people with HIV/AIDS and the millions of decent people across the world who found what he and his followers do deeply hurtful and offensive."

Ever since Phelps' Westboro church was founded, many have always been very critical about Fred's advocacies and preachings. The Southern Poverty Law Center even regarded the said church as "arguable the most obnoxious and rabid hate group in America."

It can be recalled that just last year, about 367,000 people petitioned to the White House to legally recognize the Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group, but the White House answered the issue by saying that "the federal government doesn't maintain a list of hate groups.

Meanwhile, going back to how Fred Phelp's death should be celebrated, Mark D. Jordan, a professor of religion and politics at Washington University in St. Louis opined that rejoicing the death of the notorious pastor or the loss of any soul for that matter, isn't the Christian way. "If some Christians want to celebrate the death of Fred Phelps, I hope it's because they think he has been released from bodily suffering and is going home to God," Jordan said adding, "To rejoice because you hope that he's already in hellfire is to do exactly what he did to his enemies."

What do you think about Fred Phelps' death? Should we celebrate or mourn about it? Voice out your thoughts at the comments section below.