Intriguing news has come out of Kansas, as an estranged (read “sane”) Phelps son has reported that his father, Fred Phelps, has been ex-communicated from the Westboro Baptist Church and is now at death’s door.
On Nate Phelps’ Facebook page, Nate Phelps posted, “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.”
(link)
So, this is how the world ends for one: not with a bang but a whimper. And like Nate Phelps, I have mixed feelings, and it’s more than simply not wanting to speak ill of the dead, or the nearly dead.
The image of a man reduced from a hated leader to a shadow of himself by the very machine he created has tragedy written all over it. A part of me feels that I should hate Fred Phelps, but now I kind of feel that he is a pitiable figure, the force of his hatred revealed to be the sham that it is.
If I have any hope, it’s that Phelps sees this himself, and he repents for all that he has done. I hope that he has learned that hatred gets you nowhere. However powerful it can make you, it’s only temporary. In the end, we all stand humble in judgement under God. And some are going to have to be a lot more humble than most.
Blogging has been slow as I’ve been wrestling with a number of deadlines, but I have added more writing credits to my belt.
- Kitchener Post - Spring Election Brings Three Ideas on Transportation - written one day before Wynne took middle class tax increases off the table, rendering her transportation platform almost identical to that of the NDP.
- Kitchener Post - Politicians Tackle the Drudgery So We Don’t Have to
- Kitchener Post - Missing Downtown Ingredient Keeps the Recipe Incomplete
- Kitchener Post - Valuable Archives Must Be Preserved