Chronic Murmuring

Expose of Fred Phelps

Thanks to Maphet for posting this expose of fundamentalist preacher, Fred Phelps, of Topeka Kansas. Phelps is the owner of such websites as GodHatesFags and other similar sounding hate-based sites. The expose is deeply painful to read. Don't read it if hearing about how a reverand could over a lifetime physically torture each of his thirteen children. The expose is well-written, and writes from the angle that his children are really the ultimate victims. Phelps' decision to take his hate campaign public, aimed at homosexuals, is presented mainly as an alternative to what might be Phelps' true passion - beating the crap out of his wife and children. When the children grew too old, and him too old, he channeled that hate, anger and hurt into homosexuals.

When I finished reading the expose, I felt a lot of pity for this man, but especially for his children. It seems likely that he suffered terrible abuse as a child himself. The article alludes to that possibility, but had been unable to verify it.

He is apparently a brilliant, intelligent mind, by almost all accounts. He was editor of the law review of his law school, had been accepted into West Point at the age of 16, and according to his former faculty, simply astounding. He was converted to Christianity through a tent revival growing up, after which he nixed the plans to go to West Point, and instead went to Bob Jones University in Cleveland, TN. There's a weird mix of Calvinism in his beliefs, which I found interesting. It's a kind of extreme Calvinism - hyper-Calvinism in which the pastor and his particular flock hold the only keys to the kingdom, and are the only elect. But it was interesting to read his story, especially in light of the recent discussion at Wayne's blog over whether God hates particular people without also loving them.

While reading this blog, I began to remember how easy it is for intelligent, yet scarred, individuals to inject their own pain, hurt and brokenness into the gospel message. The result being a tapestry of theology that makes it impossible to separate our own screwed up selves from the Word of God. When you get to the point where you are beating your wife, and able to justify it theologically, then honestly, what hope is there for you? When that happens, it takes a truly traumatic experience to snap a person out of it - kind of like what happens to Ed Norton's character in American History X - it took getting brutally raped by a bunch of his supposed ideological (nazi) comrades while in jail for him to see the problems with his beliefs. May God have mercy on this man and his children and grandchildren.