Fred Phelps (Westboro Baptist anti-gay protestor) on death bed (Updated - died 19 March 2014)

I hope nobody even bothers picketing his funeral. Just put him in the ground and forget him. What a miserable man.

Amen. I've been saying for years that if the Westboro fools weren't given nearly as much publicity, they'd have slithered into nonexistence far faster.

There are certain people who are so extreme and over the top in their screwed up bigotry that I almost feel sorry for them. Living inside their heads must be sheer misery. Usually, my pity is tempered by the harm such people do. Harder to feel sorry for someone who hurts other people because of his own pathology. But as the article stated, Phelps probably helped gay and lesbian rights far more than he hurt them overall.

What a ruined and twisted life this man led.

A couple of years ago one of the cable networks produced a show titled "America's Most Despised Family" (or something close to that) about the Phelps clan. A journalist had managed to ingratiate himself with them, and they allowed him to video interviews and Westboro services and family interaction. It was all very straightforward, above board. He never pretended anything, was up front with the family in expressing his disagreement with their views.

But it was riveting. Patriarch Fred Phelps never appeared, but his major son and other family members did, and were completely forthcoming about their beliefs, in a chilling, quietly confident manner. The journalist was going to Hell, they had no doubt about that, and if that's what he wanted, it was okay with them. They had "excommunicated" one of the granddaughters for having worn a bikini on a beach in Texas, as I recall, and for being unrepentant about that. And that also didn't trouble them at all. If she didn't repent, that was okay, too. She would go to Hell, because that was God's will.

Their absolute confidence about what they believed and what they did based on those beliefs was just plain creepy. And they knew quite well that they were hated by almost everyone else in America, and were perfectly okay with that, because they, alone, were doing God's bidding.

I don't have any further opinion on the perhaps imminent passing of Fred Phelps. I agree that his "crusade" (using the term with complete understanding of what it means) against homosexuals has been counterproductive to his aims. But that wouldn't bother the Phelps clan at all, either. They think they will wind up in Heaven pretty much by their lonesomes, and that's okay with them, too.

caw

Was that the one with Louis Theroux? He's good at letting his interviewees underestimate him.

Fred senior was excommunicated from his own church?

I'm always torn by news like this.

There's a part of me that doesn't wish suffering on anyone. I may not know he's suffering, but I sympathize for him and family nonetheless.

And then there's the part that understands the kind of hatred this man spread. It believes that he's now laying in a bed he made splinter by splinter and that he's wrought what he's experiencing.

In the end, neither my negative feelings nor my positive ones are going to change anything if Fred Phelps isn't ready to repent his hatred. So drink deeply, Fred. Taste what it is you've poured from your very soul. Whatever that might be. I wish for you everything that you've spent your life creating.

Helix said:

Was that the one with Louis Theroux? He's good at letting his interviewees underestimate him.

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I don't recall the jounralist's name. In plain fact, it was almost irrelevant, and I think he wanted that to be the case. He knew that he didn't need to pass editorial judgment, all he needed to do was to get them to be comfortable and expres their views. Which he did, and they did. I think he accurately understood them, and knew that they would be happy to express their concepts without worrying about other people's reactions to them.

They most certainly did that.

caw

And shortly he will be on his way to get God's opinion on his version of 'God's will'.
What a horrible way to have spent your life: excommunicating your kids, and then being excommunicated yourself. And, apparently being held incommunicado. Heck, at this point maybe he'd like to talk to the relatives he tossed out earlier.

Helix said:

Was that the one with Louis Theroux? He's good at letting his interviewees underestimate him.

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I think it may have been. From blacbird's description it sounds like it. That was a fascinating documentary. Theroux is brilliant.

And as for Phelps - well, it couldn't happen to a nicer person, could it?

ETA: On second thoughts, I believe old man Phelps did appear in Theroux's documentary. If I remember correctly he was sitting in a room that looked like battle planning office. He told Theroux that he (Theroux) would be going to hell. I was struck by the absolute smugness with which he said it, as if he took great pleasure in what he believed would be Theroux's future suffering. The phrase, 'the banality of evil' comes to mind.

I first heard about him when I was in high school. I remember thinking how sad it was that he had chosen to devote his life to something so unbelievably negative, and wondering how he would feel when he was on his deathbed. Sadly, it seems we may never know.

GailD said:

I think it may have been. From blacbird's description it sounds like it. That was a fascinating documentary. Theroux is brilliant.

And as for Phelps - well, it couldn't happen to a nicer person, could it?

ETA: On second thoughts, I believe old man Phelps did appear in Theroux's documentary. If I remember correctly he was sitting in a room that looked like battle planning office. He told Theroux that he (Theroux) would be going to hell. I was struck by the absolute smugness with which he said it, as if he took great pleasure in what he believed would be Theroux's future suffering. The phrase, 'the banality of evil' comes to mind.

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He did appear in the documentary eventually. There's also a follow up documentary Theroux did for those who are interested, America's Most Hated Family in Crisis.

For anybody unfamiliar with Louis Theroux (I'm not sure how big he is outside of the UK), his documentaries are well worth checking out for writing inspiration. Some very strange stuff within and, as others have said, he does a top job of getting people to open up around him (mostly by getting people to underestimate him as the perfectly polite and underconfident British geek).

I'm curious about this right here:

juniper said:

"While the 'God Hates' crusade that Phelps has been on has continued, last year Fred himself dropped away from the monster he created, was excommunicated and the public was prevented from interviewing or talking to Fred."

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Who prevented the public from interviewing Fred? If he was excommunicated, (or shunned or whatever) I would imagine that the WBC itself would have no say in the matter. of who he gets to talk to ... unless of course they excommunicated him and are now caring for him, all the while telling him he's going to Hell.

My worst fear is he has become a very sick old man and then his nasty horrible hateful adult children whom he brainwashed into being haters have taken total control of him, excommunicated him, and then barricaded him into a household bedroom (or at this point a hospice) where they have been medically caring for him but refusing to allow him any contact with the outside world.

As disgusting of a person as I think he is, that's just a horrible way for any human (even an inhumane human like Fred Phelps) to spend their dying days.

I'd rather like to think that the Topeka Council on Aging or some form of family services or an elder-care advocate in Kansas could step in and have him taken from the care of his children on the grounds of mental abuse (they DID excommunicate him, right?). And then family court can appoint as guardian someone who won't sit as his bedside and tell him day and night for the next few remaining weeks of his rapidly ending life that "We love you, Daddy, even though you're going to Hell any day now." As much as I hate when social services steps in and pries custody of children and even custody of aging parents away from people, this would be a case of custody removal that I would applaud.

I said elsewhere that, at a certain angle, I'm a big Fred Phelps fan. Against his most strident efforts, he made the world a better place. Phelps and his gaggle, with their obscene stunts, prompted some of the most creative and beautiful collaborations of decency I have ever had the privilege to see.

WBC will carry on and so will the fantastic thwart machine they've spawned.

Perks said:

Phelps and his gaggle, with their obscene stunts, prompted some of the most creative and beautiful collaborations of decency I have ever had the privilege to see.

WBC will carry on and so will the fantastic thwart machine they've spawned.

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I have to say this is one of the best descriptors of anything I've ever read. Brilliant and absolutely true!

Die slow and painfully Fred. As you have sewn, so shall you reap the fruits of your labor. For all the hate and pain you have given others you deserve it.

Why must all of the world's greatest comedians die before their time? I mean, seriously, you can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of this man's stand up routine every time he speaks! Now he is preparing to ride that great pink Sodomobile in the sky.

Does God not have a sense of humor?

Or is it that God Hates Comedians?

He is a miserable bully now dying in the hands of the heartless monsters he created. His ham-fisted hatred may have inadvertently helped the very people he longed most to wound, but he has also caused a great deal of real anguish by protesting at funerals, using the deaths of real people as occasions to highlight his ugly prejudices. The end does not justify the means.

He has neither my sympathy nor my glee. I'm not the least bit sorry to hear this miserable old fart is on his way out, or that it's not all warm and fuzzy for him. Good riddance.

I get all the hate and bile over this guy, but at the same time, I can't help but think this would be the perfect time for some medical practitioner, be it doctors or hospice caregivers, who are a part of the LGBTQ community to volunteer their services to Phelps' son. Sort of the ultimate turn the other cheek gesture, or "love the sinner / hate the sin" kind of thing.

Devil Ledbetter said:

He has neither my sympathy nor my glee. I'm not the least bit sorry to hear this miserable old fart is on his way out, or that it's not all warm and fuzzy for him. Good riddance.

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What Devil said. He has neither my sympathy nor my glee either. One thing he does have is my apathy.

I'm not religious at all, but on the offchance that Hell exists, one can only hope that Phelps and the rest of his like-minded ilk will be consigned in its lowest depths for all Eternity. Other than that, he's nothing more than cockroach waste.

I haven't heard anything about his affliction. I haven't read that closely.

I've already said I don't want him to suffer, but imagine the cosmic irony if it's AIDS?

No, this isn't an Onion article

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

Evidently, the Westboro Baptist Church will be protesting his funeral.