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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy father, the hate preacher: Nate Phelps on escaping Westboro Baptist Church
By Alex Hannaford
6:50AM GMT 12 Mar 2013
It was five minutes to midnight as Nate Phelps quietly picked his way through the three interconnected rooms where his siblings slept. At the end of the corridor there was the dining room. To the right, a closed door to the church which adjoined the house. There was no sound from the top of the staircase that led to his fathers room. Nate stood there in the darkness, staring at the old red clock in front of him and watched as the minute hand approached 12 and the moment he would turn 18.
He ran as fast as he could, back through the three rooms and out of the door into the night. Nate had no idea who had heard him or who, if anyone, was coming after him. He jumped into his waiting car, an old banger hed bought for $300 from the high school security guard the previous week, and prayed as the engine spluttered to life. Then he disappeared, away from the church, from his fathers abuse and from the only life hed ever known.
Phelps is the sixth of 13 children of Fred Phelps, the notorious pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. Westboro first came to international attention after its members (consisting largely of members of Phelpss extended family) picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, the student who was murdered in 1998 because he was gay.
At Shepards funeral, Phelps and his followers held signs that read: God Hates Fags and No Tears for Queers. By 2005, the church was picketing funerals of fallen soldiers too. During one, Phelps told the Associated Press: Our attitude toward whats happening with the war is the Lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime.
more
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9913463/My-father-the-hate-preacher-Nate-Phelps-on-escaping-Westboro-Baptist-Church.html
Cha
(298,746 posts)infect them. Too bad about shirley.
A hater who beat his own kids.. quite the legacy mr asshole has built for himself.
thanks n2doc
Sadiedog
(353 posts)ck4829
(35,121 posts)When does it become child abuse? If you've seen the children, you see the atmosphere of hate and psychological abuse that they are in.
It's almost like the city of Topeka regards the Phelps compound as something that you shouldn't talk or do anything about.
EvilAL
(1,437 posts)Hopefully they crumble into nothingness, a clan of fuckin hate is all they are and I do not think they are worthy to breathe the same air as the rest of society.
Dryvinwhileblind
(153 posts)Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)SleeplessinSoCal
(9,253 posts)Why would American newspapers keep a lid on this?
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)santamargarita
(3,170 posts)the Republican terror that's predominant in these racist households.