Fred Phelps on the edge of death? 'god hates fags' guy

[Ichingcarpenter]

From his son's facebook



I’ve learned that my father, Fred Phelps, Sr., pastor of the “God Hates Fags” Westboro Baptist Church, was ex-communicated from the “church” back in August of 2013. He is now on the edge of death at Midland Hospice house in Topeka, Kansas.

I’m not sure how I feel about this. Terribly ironic that his devotion to his god ends this way. Destroyed by the monster he made.

I feel sad for all the hurt he’s caused so many. I feel sad for those who will lose the grandfather and father they loved. And I’m bitterly angry that my family is blocking the family members who left from seeing him, and saying their good-byes.

I just got off the phone with Nate and he confirmed what he had written. The rumors had been flying for several weeks, he said, but after a conversation with some of his fellow “excommunicated” family members, he found out that the rumors were true. He elaborated on that final line, too, saying that the Phelps family is now blocking anyone who is no longer with the church from seeing him, including Fred’s sons, daughters, nieces, and nephews.

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/

[MuseRider]

1. This seems to be the real thing.

Nathan has written to quite a few of us around the area letting this out. I just read this myself not a few minutes ago.

[RKP5637]

59. It will be a very good thing for Kansas! He brought so much negativity onto Kansas. Hopefully

his church, if one can call it that, might well fade into history.

[wercal]

63. I don't think the church will fade away soon

Shirley Roper Phelps has long been positioned as the heir, and she has been the public mouthpiece for the group for around ten years now.

When I see the 'protesting' on the sidewalk, I see more kids (teens and very young kids) than ever before. Around five years ago, they lost a huge lawsuit...but that was overturned, so they've still got money. Looking at the property viewer around their 'compound', I can see that they have been buying up houses and expanding - imagine the position a homeowner is in....nobody will buy your house because its next to this group, so you end up selling it to them.

I live in Topeka, and I don't know any of the group. And I have never met anybody who knows any of the group. They are not out about town working to make ends meet. Instead they stay at the compound and rely on donations from around the nation to operate. As long as people are willing to give them money, they aren't going anywhere.

[MuseRider]

69. I was born and raised in Topeka and know the family.

I went all through school with Fred Jr., even part of university and know his wife as well.

They have been doing this kind of stuff since the kids were in grade school, it just went from one thing to the other until they stopped getting attention then they moved to something else outrageous.

It is Shirley Phelps Roper, she is a daughter not a daughter in law. I don't know what she will do because I don't know if the rest of the clan will follow her.

They work throughout the community, always have. The have at least one law firm. They work in our corrections department, they have in the past and may still work with family services. They are out and about all the time as citizens. Their kids attend public school.

They do get donations but they have also sued a whole lot of people and towns and won. They have sucked a lot from Topeka over the years as the city actually tried to stop them but got sued for their attempts. They do get donations. They all work.

I hope beyond anything that they fall apart after his death. I always thought he was terrifying as a kid. Now I know what was going on there and he was terrifying. His family was brutalized beyond anything most of us will ever know. I hope after his death that they come out from under the fear and try to at least live lives that do not destroy others. Shirley is a tiny little woman, I can't imagine she will wield as much terror as the old man did. All this is speculation.

As happy as I am to say I no longer live in Topeka I live close enough to see these creeps every time I go to town, every time I play a concert or attend something like that. I have spent a lifetime afraid of these people because of how they have hurt friends and family, I have spent a lifetime hating every one of them in spite of trying not to actually work up a good hate.

I just want them gone and quiet.

[PeaceNikki]

82. They are a pox on society and I will dance every time one dies.

I am so sorry what they have done to Topeka. It must be awful to have to deal with them on a regular basis.

[MuseRider]

86. I am not much of a grave dancer BUT

my own opinion of Fred is that he hates lots of things but uses the things that get him the most publicity no matter who it hurts just to make himself feel valid. Like his civil rights work, he took the cases then settled them mostly out of court and made the most of the settlement himself. How the rumor ever got started that he was a good civil rights attorney is beyond me. It should be obvious to everyone by now that his schtick is not about anything more than getting himself attention. His first act out of seminary, if I recall correctly, was to set up a revival tent in Salt Lake City in front of the temple to convert Mormons.

Because of his use of other people, their lives and the hatred he spread that caused so much death, worry, fear and destruction to any group but mainly and mostly LGBT citizens I will dance like a fool when he is gone. I feel terribly sorry for him and for his family (only for the torture they put themselves through) but that sorrow is NOTHING compared to the sorrow I feel for those he relentlessly attacked for his own publicity.

[RKP5637]

103. Sadly, yes, I think you are quite correct. Thanks for your summary. It is chilling such

hatefulness thrives and is so profitable to them.

[wercal]

104. I stand corrected on Shirley Phelps

Per this article, she is on the outs, and a new group of 'elders' is in power.

http://cjonline.com/news/2014-03-17/elders-excommunicate-phelps-after-power-struggle-call-kindness-within-church

[RKP5637]

105. Thanks for the update! n/t

[wercal]

106. We're kind of on 'Phelps Death Watch' here in Topeka...so I keep checking the news.

[Heidi]

93. Agree.

Nt

[Behind the Aegis]

2. I have nothing nice to say.

I feel for his family, but beyond that I have nothing but contempt for that man. May he meet G-d, and may She be a big BLACK JEWISH LESBIAN!

[Bohunk68]

10. I always felt that way about Jerry Foulmouth.

That when he got to where he was going, he would find out that G-d looked a lot like Tina Turner in lace stockings, high heels, and carrying a loooooong bullwhip in her hands. For this POS, I would gladly piss on his grave, just to keep the grass growing, doncha know.

[Auntie Bush]

32. I'd pour Roundup all over his grave just to make sure a single blade of grass never grew.

I too feel for his ex-communicated family...but why in the world do they even want to see that evil man except to wish him a speedy trip off of this earth? GR
(good riddance)

[jmowreader]

92. Roundup only lasts a year or so

Considering it's Fred, do the biblical thing and plow about a ton of rock salt into the soil.

[newfie11]

22. Well said!!

[wercal]

60. Fred is a bigot, but as far as I know not racist.

Often I have seen the cult on the side of the road, signs in hand....and there would be minorities in the group.

He was a champion for civil rights early in his life, before he decended into his anti-gay quest. He was so politically active on civil rights that candidate Al Gore visited him in the late 80s (do a Google image search and you can find the photo op).

He seems to discount any other religion that has shown any type of mercy to AIDS victims, so he probably doesn't like jews though.

So the 'black jewish lesbian' would really be a 'jewish lesbian' to scare him.

[yuiyoshida]

66. Agree...

I am not sure there will be many tears when he is gone. They might sing "ding dong the witch is dead" however...

[RebelOne]

72. I have something nice to say: It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. n/t

[HangOnKids]

3. Good Riddance

You know the rest....

[JI7]

4. why was he excommunicated ? and isn't he in charge of the church

so how does that happen ?

[Heidi]

7. I imagine, in his old age, he became vulnerable to the vultures he had spawned and cultivated. (nt)

[Jamastiene]

78. Shirley Phelps Roper

has been in charge of the church for a while now.

That is the big news to me, that he was excommunicated. I really want to know how that happened and why. I don't really care if the man lives or dies. His family is just as venomous and poisoned with hate as he is/was. So, whether he lives or dies isn't really news to me. The news to me was that they excommunicated him. I wonder why.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. His funeral should be interesting

is all I have to say

[redwitch]

31. Who wants to picket?

Me! Me! I want to protest that it took so long.



The first time I heard about Fred was when his grandson designed the website for the church. With a clock that counts how many days Matthew Shepherd has spent in hell.

If there is a hell it is not Matthew who will spend eternity there.

[Buddha2B]

6. The real story is the why and how of his ex-communication

Wow, what a nutty bunch. Even he didn't scape the wrath of the church he helped create.

Did he have a change of heart?

[MH1]

36. Yeah, that's what I'm wondering too.

Almost all the responses here seem to assume he's still the same hate-filled scumbag who started that "church" but who knows, maybe the reason he was kicked out was that he began to see the error of his ways? We don't know, maybe it was some other reason, but we should at least allow for the possibility until facts are known ... which they might never be.

[Nika]

45. Heart? What heart?

The creep is as cold as ice.

[calimary]

46. Welcome to DU, Buddha2B!

Glad you're here! People like this guy just astound me. The hate. Just astounding. Hatred. In the name of the Lord. The evil and hurt and pain and agony that people like him have caused - that is astounding as well. And shocking. And a national disgrace.

[Gravitycollapse]

8. I hope his funeral is peaceful. Just like the ones he helped ruin should have been,

[delta17]

21. Amen.

This is a good opportunity to show the world that normal, decent people don't behave like that.

[calimary]

47. Welcome to DU, delta17!

Good to have you with us! I'm torn on this one. Your point is a very good one. But as a liberal Dem who feels as though her face has been stomped on just a few times too many, I'm kinda slow coming to the "let's rise above it and be nice" position. Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't respond with the kerosene enema approach the teabaggers take. I'm really torn. From all the postmortems I've seen on the Florida race this past week, I'm wondering if Ms. Sink was too soft, too conciliatory - "oh, we'll fix it" about the Affordable Care Act… when perhaps she should have come out swinging, with the proverbial knife clenched between her teeth, and fire in her words. She sure didn't fire up the base much with "be nice."

I dunno. I just don't know. REALLY torn. Your suggestion exemplifies the moral high ground. And FAR more noble. But sometimes I've found that taking the high road leads you straight off a cliff.

[delta17]

81. I don't know if it really is the high ground.

Fred Phelps loves attention, any attention. I actually think he would want a circus at his funeral, to keep his name in the papers after he is gone. A quiet, lonely burial would be more fitting for such a miserable person.

I do agree that the nice, compromising political style needs to go. Thanks for the welcome, by the way!

[jmowreader]

9. Too soon?

"Fred Phelps’ Death Prompts Westboro Baptist Church To Protest His Funeral"

Read more: http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/09/fred-phelps-dies-westboro-baptist-church-plans-to-protest-funeral/#ixzz2w7EnGAlq

But seriously: what kind of a piece of shit do you have to be to get excommunicated from your own "church"?

[Bohunk68]

11. I think you read that wrong.

The son was excommunicated, not Fred.

[jmowreader]

13. I didn't read it wrong

From Nathan Phelps:

“I’ve learned that my father, Fred Phelps, Sr., pastor of the “God Hates Fags” Westboro Baptist Church, was ex-communicated from the “church” back in August of 2013. He is now on the edge of death at Midland Hospice house in Topeka, Kansas."

Fred excommunicated Nathan in 1980.

[Thor_MN]

15. The part I don't get is "the church" preventing members who left or were kicked out from

seeing the hate mongerer that they also kicked out. So they kicked Fred to the curb, yet still are trying to control who sees him?

[littlewolf]

18. I had to read it 2 or 3 times

to make sure I understood it. shesh

[jwirr]

24. I wondered that also but with the kind of bull they teach just getting sick was enough to condemn

him in their eyes

[calimary]

50. Pardon the irreverence here, but your comment just about made me spit my tea all over my screen!

"What kind of a piece of shit do you have to be to get excommunicated from your own 'church'?"

Made me LAUGH!!!!!

And the whole "church" thing. Definitely deserves to be put in quotes. THAT is a "church"? You put God into THAT?

"Church" my ass.

[LeftofObama]

12. K & R for visibility!

Even though I'm an atheist this smiley comes to mind...

[eShirl]

14. How can the church block visitation to someone they excommunicated?

I know they're family, but how do their wishes cancel out the other family members' rights?

[onethatcares]

17. it's not even a church,

it's a bunch of hate filled assholes running around acting like they are god.

Someone should file a lawsuit claiming emotional distress for their actions and take all they have.

Now that would be fair play in my book.

[eShirl]

20. that sounds like a church.

[RKP5637]

28. Yep, that's what many have become, hate clubs for hate fests with cult behavior. n/t

[jeff47]

61. If he's hospitalized, most likely one of the remaining church members has power of attorney.

And as a result, they get to tell the hospital who gets to see Fred and who doesn't. If he's hospitalized.

If he's not hospitalized, he's living in the church's compound, and they have the same rights as any property owners to exclude others.

[herding cats]

16. It looks like Fred found out what happens when you feed people a steady diet of hate.

Eventually they regurgitate it right back up on you. How fitting that he was excommunicated from his own church of hate in the end.

As to his death and the family blocking other family members from saying their goodbyes, well, that's just sad for the family members who are being abused.

[xchrom]

19. i can't Pass the Peace in this case -- that would make me a liar. nt

[jwirr]

23. If true it sound to me like the fight over the estate has already begun before he is dead. Greed

will out. I will not say I am sorry for any of them.

[madokie]

25. Can't say as I hate to see this bigot go

the world will be a better place when he does cross the line between life and death. just my opinion

[RKP5637]

26. Don't forget to flush the toilet! Sorry, I have no sympathy for some scum! n/t

[Jefferson23]

29. So maybe now, what is left of his twisted family will evaporate too...they will

give up their alleged church.

Can you imagine being the child of one these people...that is tragic.

[Auntie Bush]

35. I wonder if this "Church" qualifies for tax free income?

Just wondering!

[Jefferson23]

37. I found this:

In response to WBC's announcement that they would picket the vigil for victims of the December 14, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, several petitions to the White House (using the We the People system) have been submitted, calling on the President to legally recognize WBC as a hate group, revoke its tax exemption for religious organizations, and to ban protests at funerals and memorial services.[206] One petition, backed by the hacktivist group Anonymous, was submitted the day of the shootings, and reached more than 75,000 signatures within two days.[207]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church

[sweetloukillbot]

38. It's a big, hate-filled scam

They're tax free as a church, and they're all lawyers. They set up situations where people try to deny them their first amendment rights (picketing funerals and such), then they sue. And when they win, they claim the religious exemption to avoid taxes.

[Auntie Bush]

53. Is that true? They have sued people?

Some smart journalist will research that group and expose them for what they are, a hate group and take away their tax exempt status.

[jeff47]

62. They've sued many people. It's how the members of the church make their living.

Well, made their living. Cities and states stopped blocking their protest efforts, so the lawsuit stream has dried up.

[jsr]

30. Is his family going to picket his funeral?

[WinkyDink]

49. PERFECT!

[Vashta Nerada]

33. Good.

The world will be a better place without him.

[kaiden]

34. Since old Fred learned no lessons this go 'round,

may he come back as a burkha-clad woman living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. With Dick Cheney.

[flvegan]

39. I would imagine the "church" is trying to keep non-church members

from visiting, lest Fred rescind his hate in a bit of deathbed clarity and remorse, and speak against what he created with those monsters he calls family. Something like that might be devastating, though I don't know why he was "ex-communicated" from the entity.

Might also be devastating to have one of the miscreant followers of that entity dislodge a brain cell and actually think about what they're doing and realize the stupidity of it all.

[uncommonlink]

40. My mom always said if you have nothing kind to say about someone,

then don't say anything at all.............................................

[jmowreader]

94. Your mom never knew Fred Phelps

There are lots of people who need to be called out on their evil. Phelps is one of them.

[MineralMan]

41. Sadly, I do not believe there is reward or punishment after death.

So, his legacy of evil will not lead to justice for this vile person.

[PeaceNikki]

42. Phelps' death is a reward to the living. I'll dance like Michael Jackson on that grave.

[RKP5637]

58. The best is he will be away from the living. To me, death is death, one gets one chance in life, and

IMO he was one evil F, the world will be better without him, and I say good riddance.

[PeaceNikki]

43. I hope that he is in *excruciating* pain for a long time.

[WinkyDink]

48. Can't happen soon enough.

[RKP5637]

57. Some people in life are just evil F's and I say good riddance to them. n/t

[LiberalElite]

51. Is it wrong that I'm smiling?

[RKP5637]

56. Nope, I don't think so, I'm LMAO and smiling! n/t

[TlalocW]

52. I know this probably won't happen... Hell, I'm not sure I could do it

But when the old man does kick off, it would send a message if people did show up at his funeral with signs that said, "We Forgive You, Fred," and other similar messages.

But like I said... I'm not sure I could do it.

TlalocW

[Paladin]

54. "Any man's death diminishes me"

John Donne obviously never met Fred Phelps, Sr.......

[Crunchy Frog]

55. Massive picketing of his funeral?

[Cooley Hurd]

65. Apropos!

You fucking REAP what you sow!

[Cooley Hurd]

64. I'm not a grave dancer, and got my ass kicked when I asked for decorum...

...when Reagan died. But fuck this asshole...

[WhiteTara]

67. But his legacy of hate will live on. nt

[Iggo]

68. Good.

[LeftyMom]

70. "I did not attend his funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." -Mark Twain

[Paladin]

77. +1. (nt)

[Tree-Hugger]

71. I want to cheer and clap

Part of me wants to say, "haha, fucker!" and hope he dies in agony. Part of me hopes that Matthew Shepard himself will meet Fred at the pearly gates, and close them on him. Part of me wishes I believed in an actual hell with the devil and shit and that Fred burns there.

But, that's not how I personally roll (and no judgment to who feel differently, as expressed in this thread). I am more in line with this article:

http://thegaychristian.com/fred-phelps-lets-picket-funeral-love/

[Zorra]

73. "If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar;

for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God, whom he has not seen."
~ John 4:20



Phelps


"Wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be also"
Matthew 6:21

Gollum

[LongTomH]

83. +1000

Love the quotes......and the facepalm!

[Rocknrule]

74. My attitude towards the WBC can be summed up in one phrase:

Don't feed the trolls

[11 Bravo]

75. Rest in piss, Freddy. (And you will be if I ever make it to your grave site.)

[shenmue]

76. I hope he gets a nice tanning bed in Hell

[maddezmom]

79. He was ex-communicated from his own church?

[LongTomH]

80. I think we should mourn for a life wasted in hatred!

Phelps is, at the end of his life, a bitter old man, dying alone. Perhaps you can say he deserves it; but, we should try to have some compassion.

Edited to add: I agree with Kaiden (reply#34). Phelps obviously learned no lessons in this life; he'll have to work off his bad Karma over several lives.

[nadinbrzezinski]

84. You know, I feel for the son

but I know empathy. something that Fred Phelps is not capable off.

[arely staircase]

85. I wonder if his church will protest his funeral nt

[tea and oranges]

87. K & R

It's times like these that I'm almost sorry to be an atheist...

Fred's death will help end the hateful bigotry he "preached". Perhaps future generations will be astonished that such a person lived & prospered in the 21st Century.

I'm curious to see if the hate can outlive him. The one daughter (whose name I refuse to remember), the one who called David Pakman "Jewboy" when Pakman interviewed her, always seems pretty adamantly nasty.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

88. He's in for a terrible surprise.

[onethatcares]

89. when i first saw the OP

I thought it was about that ex presidential candidate that is pushing reverse mortgages.


sheeesh, I gotta get a life.

[Heidi]

90. Kick!

[Octafish]

91. Say a prayer for him.

God loves everybody.

[Ichingcarpenter]

95. Death is not an end

Death is not an end, but a beginning. Specifically, the beginning of an eternity of black nothingness.

[MFM008]

96. Fred is about to find out

If God hates fags or not.

[Gothmog]

97. May his passing be easy

Forgive our trespasses as we forgive the trespasses of others.

As a father of a LGBT daughter, I have issues with this group

[Liberal_in_LA]

99. hate group of the century

[Gothmog]

100. As the father of a LGBT daughter, I have issues with group

However, I will leave judgment to G-d

[Aerows]

98. My give a shit meter is now broken

It is lodged so firmly past "not at all" that I don't know what to do with it. I shook it a few times, but no, it's still stuck way past "don't give a shit".

Nothing gives me more joy than to see those who are so absolutely sure what their makers intend than those that meet him for themselves and find out they are doomed.

[Blue Owl]

101. Why Phelp yourself, Fred

n/t

[backscatter712]

102. If I were the believing sort, I'd have something to say when he finally passes:

"THANK GOD FOR DEAD PHELPS!"

Hey, do unto him as he would do unto you...