Fred Phelps about to meet his maker...

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Fred Phelps, the founder and leader of the extremist homophobic cult, the Westboro Baptist Church is on death's doorstep.I don't know the reason but apparently he was excommunicated from his own cult last year.

Its not in the article but I haver read elsewhere that, as strange as it seems, Phelps was a civil rights activist in the 60s, although I suspect this may be played up to make him seem more acceptable. It appears that an extremist version of Calvinism and probably an element of psychoisis led to his cults extreme homophobia. His children and relatives who have left the cult claim he's abusive and deranged. (like no shit).

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/03/15/fred-phelps-founder-of-the-god-hates-fags-westboro-baptist-church-is-on-the-edge-of-death/

[Rurkel]

Did he have any influence, anyway? The "anti-americanism" of his cult, from what I know, reduced its influence to nothing.

[RedHal]

a true Christian

[Sasha]

Even though I'm an atheist for once I hope god is real and a female gay muslim...

[Sasha]

Also, I hope people will picket his funeral in some damn funny and creative ways..

[Comrade Jacob]

Also, I hope people will picket his funeral in some damn funny and creative ways..

An even sweeter irony is if the WBC are the ones picketing. He was apparently excommunicated after all.

[Sinister Intents]

Good fucking riddence!

[Rottenfruit]

hopefully this will be the end of this cult

[Sinister Intents]

hopefully this will be the end of this cult

Next in command will sadly take over, but eventually this fucking cult will die and the world will rejoice!

[Psycho P and the Freight Train]

God hates Fred Phelps.

Good riddance for sure. Never knew he got excommunicated though. Do we know why?

[Rottenfruit]

Did he have any influence, anyway? The "anti-americanism" of his cult, from what I know, reduced its influence to nothing.
No , for fuck sake he was so extreme he attacked jerry farwell and pat Robertson on a regular bases for being "fag enablers" ,

[Rottenfruit]

Next in command will sadly take over, but eventually this fucking cult will die and the world will rejoice!



well cults are remarkably resilient , Aum Shinrikyo the cult behind the japan subway sarin terroist attack still has followers today

[BIXX]

God hates Fred Phelps.

Good riddance for sure. Never knew he got excommunicated though. Do we know why?


I think it's because they didn't want to pay the medical bills, seeing as he gave all his assets to the church, they would be liable to pay the bills as long as he was a member (my theory).

[Lenina Rosenweg]

WBC cult plans to picket Phelp's funeral. This isn't the Onion


“My dad Pastor Fred Phelps is a hell bound f*g enabling whore,” she shockingly wrote on Twitter Sunday evening. “#Westboro Baptist Church to protest this whores Funeral.” Margie had nothing but revulsion to spread in regards to her father’s ailing health. She added he is “now a hell bound whore.”

Speculation as to why he was excommunicated is rampant on the Internet, with some assuming the WBC members found out Phelps was actually gay and others thinking he might have had a change in heart as his health declined. There’s no definite answer as of now.


http://www.ibtimes.com/westboro-baptist-church-protest-fred-phelps-funeral-says-daughter-1561830

My guess is thyt, like many extreme homophobes, Phelps was homosexual himself. Either that or his cult didn't want to have to pick up the tab for his hospital bill/.

[Psycho P and the Freight Train]

WBC cult plans to picket Phelp's funeral. This isn't the Onion



http://www.ibtimes.com/westboro-baptist-church-protest-fred-phelps-funeral-says-daughter-1561830

My guess is thyt, like many extreme homophobes, Phelps was homosexual himself. Either that or his cult didn't want to have to pick up the tab for his hospital bill/.

Holy shit. Did not know this, now that is interesting.

It's true though that many homophobes are actually gay themselves and it is a reaction fueled by self hatred due to what society has told them. They are disgusted by themselves. Also, he was pretty old, perhaps he felt frustrated seeing all these young gay people out and about and he thought "damn, now I am old and I missed my chance." Could have been lashing out at gays out of jealousy for a lost life.

That's kind of sad, if that is really the case.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

I can't wait for straight liberals to go into tears and remind everyone of how we should have Basic Human Decency, etc. etc. Personally I'm chagrined he lived long enough to basically die of old age. But such is life.


My guess is thyt, like many extreme homophobes, Phelps was homosexual himself.

Is there any sort of evidence for this, though? It's one of those Things Everybody Knows, but as far as I can tell most extreme homophobes, and most homophobes in general, unsurprisingly turn out to be straight. Blaming homophobia on "latent homosexuality" or whatever sounds like a cop-out - like blaming Black ancestry for racism.

[socialismwins]

Unfortunately, I think Freddie 'nutty' Phelps is probably quite pleased. In his mind, he's God's chosen messenger and will be handsomely rewarded in heaven. It's a damn shame he will never feel true despair.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

I don't think Fred Phelps believed his own bullshit for a second. Dude made a mint with ridiculous civil rights lawsuits, that's pretty much the basis for his whole organization. The children on the other hand may believe it since it was such a big part of their life, maybe when they took over they found the truth to be more than they could stomach

[Os Cangaceiros]

I'm sure there is some word in the English language that accurately conveys the phenomenon of something like the WBC picketing Fred Phelp's funeral, but I can't seem to think of it...

[BIXX]

I'm sure there is some word in the English language that accurately conveys the phenomenon of something like the WBC picketing Fred Phelp's funeral, but I can't seem to think of it...

Can't tell if joke or serious...

[Os Cangaceiros]

I would say "irony" but I don't think that really captures it.

Maybe "live by the funeral picket, die by the funeral picket"?

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Is there any sort of evidence for this, though? It's one of those Things Everybody Knows, but as far as I can tell most extreme homophobes, and most homophobes in general, unsurprisingly turn out to be straight. Blaming homophobia on "latent homosexuality" or whatever sounds like a cop-out - like blaming Black ancestry for racism.

Well, I wasn't blaming homophobia on latent homosexuality, I was blaming it on society's surppression of homosexuality and an individuals internalization of this and reaction to it. Blaming homophobia on homosexuality would be tautological and an insidious form of blaming the victim, definitely not what I was implying.

Its difficult to prove exactly but there is a fair amount of research which may lend credence to this

http://www.ibtimes.com/homophobia-linked-repressed-homosexual-arousal-authoritarian-parenting-435780

and


This rather unusual experiment proved that whenever a homosexual scene was shown to a professed homophobic male audience (determined a few days beforehand thanks to a questionnaire), these people had a higher tendency to have an erection than the others.

The numbers revealed that 80% of the homophobes had an increase in penis size compared to 34% of the non-homophobic population. The whole group’s reaction to heterosexual films was exactly the same, though. When the participants were asked if, according to them, they felt turned on by the scenes, the homophobes were the only ones to underestimate their effect on them.



http://www.worldcrunch.com/culture-society/are-homophobes-really-just-repressed-homosexuals-/gay-homosexuality-homophobic-ted-haggard-walter-mixa/c3s10601/#.Uye4Sd9OW0w

http://culturecampaign.blogspot.com/2012/04/homophobic-christians-likely-to-be.html

There is also the large number of homophobic Christian fundamentalist clergy and activists who turn out to be gay.

Anyway I wouldn't be at all surprised if it actually turned out Phelps had a tryst or many tryst with a call boy.

[rylasasin]

Ding, Dong! The Fred is dead! (http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/20/us/westboro-church-founder-dead/)

[Skyhilist]

Welp, later Freddy.

[The Jay]

Ding dong the pastor's dead. Which old pastor? The douchebag pastor! Ding dong the duchebag pastor's dead!

[The Jay]

Ding, Dong! The Fred is dead! (http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/20/us/westboro-church-founder-dead/)


Fffffuuuu . . . good work.

[Ismail]

I don't think Fred Phelps believed his own bullshit for a second. Dude made a mint with ridiculous civil rights lawsuits, that's pretty much the basis for his whole organization.Well his law firm did, at one point in time, legitimately assist blacks facing discrimination. To quote the NYT obituary, "'Most blacks — that’s who they went to,' the Rev. Ben Scott, president of the N.A.A.C.P.’s Topeka branch, said in an interview with CNN in 2010. 'I don’t know if he was cheaper or if he had that stick-to-it-ness, but Fred didn’t lose many back then.'"

But yeah he had a bunch of dumb lawsuits as well, and was a racist despite formally denying it. Also he beat his wife and kids and seemed an all-around shitty person, so his reputation as a civil rights lawyer appears to have been based on an opportunity to make money and gain fame. Two years after he was basically told he couldn't be a lawyer anymore, he started his anti-gay stuff. It got him national attention at a time when his children were sufficiently grown up to have their own legal careers (i.e. take care of the "make money" part), so he probably just continued it in order to stay in the spotlight, while alienating his family "church" from the rest of society in order to keep it under his control.

I'm sure he was a legit homophobe, he just took it to absurd levels for the reasons I mentioned.

[Le Libérer]

I have wished him to go away for over a quarter of a century. Now he is. I seriously doubt his church which is mostly made up of his many children and their offspring, will continue his legacy. So many of them have left already.

I really like the George Takei meme:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/t1.0-9/10011511_687098684667409_207983435_n.jpg

[BIXX]

I have wished him to go away for over a quarter of a century. Now he is. I seriously doubt his church which is mostly made up of his many children and their offspring, will continue his legacy. So many of them have left already.

I really like the George Takei meme:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/t1.0-9/10011511_687098684667409_207983435_n.jpg


While I agree that Fred was a "tormented soul", I will rejoice, I will drink, and I will celebrate the man's death.

[Sinister Intents]

While I agree that Fred was a "tormented soul", I will rejoice, I will drink, and I will celebrate the man's death.

Cool comrade, I'll probably forget he existed again when he dies and forget to celebrate

[Le Libérer]

Cool comrade, I'll probably forget he existed again when he dies and forget to celebrate
I agree, there is nothing to celebrate here. I do like what a friend said though, " My personal vision is him going to heaven and being escorted around by Liberace and Rock Hudson" and another, "I do find it unfortunate that there is probably no god for him to face, because that would be pretty hilarious".

He is gone. Now let's get back to the struggle.

[Jimmie Higgins]

Is there any sort of evidence for this, though? It's one of those Things Everybody Knows, but as far as I can tell most extreme homophobes, and most homophobes in general, unsurprisingly turn out to be straight. Blaming homophobia on "latent homosexuality" or whatever sounds like a cop-out - like blaming Black ancestry for racism.

There's certainly many anecdotal examples of prominent homophobes who turn out to have been attracted to or engaged in same sex relationships. But I also tend to cringe at this trope. There could be truth to it, but I think it tends to be used to pathologize homophobia in society and excuse wider trends.

If there is an observable connection, I think it might also easily be explained that the broad homophobia in society means that political parties and establishment institutions won't promote or support openly gay officials and so any gay person is implicitly encouraged to closet themselves and some of them are closeted in institutions that promote homophobic ideas and policies. Of course it's a big leap between a gay republican who hides their sexuality for career reasons (but otherwise supports economic or foreign policy of the party) and someone who runs a religious cult which exists essentially just to make homophobic propaganda.

[Comrade Jacob]

Well, apparently he won't have a funeral because 'it celebrates death' so any poetic-ironies will not take place like picketing.

[rylasasin]

Well, apparently he won't have a funeral because 'it celebrates death' so any poetic-ironies will not take place like picketing.

I'm going to bet that the real reason they aren't having a funeral is because they know the backlash at such an event would be so astronomical that they'd have to spend millions of dollars just on security alone. :laugh:

[Hrafn]

Goodnight, sweet prince. :crying:

[Wonton Carter]

The only death I will celebrate more is that of the cult leader who I grew up listening to.

[Le Libérer]

The only death I will celebrate more is that of the cult leader who I grew up listening to.

And what if it is your parents who raised you with these same sort of fundamentalist cult beliefs? (And I am assuming you are in the same boat I am in). Mine were very much like Westboro Baptist members. I left the second I was old enough to get out.

Locally there is a Buddhist kid (https://www.aclu.org/religion-belief/lane-v-sabine-parish-school-board)who was tormented by Christian teachers in a rural area of Louisiana and sued the teachers and school board via the ACLU. When I told my mother about this, she said, "that 12 year old Buddhist can go to hell." because her God has always been part of public schooling and its children like him that has taken God (oppression) out of the schools.

Religion is the most toxic thing this world has ever experienced. We can look at Phelps and shake our fists at him as the symbol of every evil people have done in the name of religion. But its much deeper than that. His and others like him will always be here. We have to fight that system that gives them the power to hurt so many.

[Five Year Plan]

Sometimes I wonder if the media spectacle that grows around events like this is attributable to people desiring to perceive homophobia as something personified in a highly caricatured and therefore easily identifiable way (the old white bible-thumping preacher from the south) so that they don't have to face the far more serious and complicated question of the extent to which they themselves harbor homophobic feelings and are complicit in homophobia's continued existence.

[Craig_J]

I have wished him to go away for over a quarter of a century. Now he is. I seriously doubt his church which is mostly made up of his many children and their offspring, will continue his legacy. So many of them have left already.

I really like the George Takei meme:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/t1.0-9/10011511_687098684667409_207983435_n.jpg

That's a fantastic meme MO, thank you for sharing it.

[Brotto Rühle]

I hope hell exists. And he's there.

[Le Libérer]

Fred Phelps son, Nathan, makes statement to the Thinking Atheist. I relate so much to Nathan and his fall away from the cult he was raised in. I was raised in a fundamental Baptist Church that believed like Westboro.

It's been a painful struggle to walk away from your family because of the venom within that culture and cult and to find some peace in your life.

KBAHJZUtMzI

"I walked away believing I would spend eternity in hell, but decided I would live my life in love until that day came." Exactly!

[Mrcapitalist]

I hate homophobia so good riddance.It's sad that people actually believe in that nonsense.