"I have concluded that any system sustained by hatred, any theology that acts with deliberate cruelty to others and laughs at the suffering it causes, any ideology that marginalizes a group of people based on whom they choose to love is morally bankrupt and I reject it."
—
Nate Phelps, the son of Fred Phelps of the
Westboro Baptist Church, tells a high school audience that his father's mission in life is a farce [
via]
The son of one of the most outspoken religious men of the 80's and 90's, Fred Phelps, came out in condemnation of his family's religious beliefs at Clayton High School on March 10th. In it, he described his childhood and how he suffered at the physical abuse of his father and how it would sometimes last for hours on end. He talked of his teenage escape at the age of 18 and the lengths he went to hide his new car from his friends and family.
"I left the night I turned 18, literally at midnight," Phelps said. "I knew I was going to do it when I turned 15 or so. I bought a car when I was 17—hid it—no one knew it was mine. [I] packed my stuff up and at 11:30 on the night of my 18th birthday, I backed it into the driveway and loaded it up and went inside. [I] waited for the clock to hit midnight, and then I left."
Nate Phelps, the seventh of 13 children, knew that if he were caught or took the steps to return back to his family, he would be severely beaten for violating "the rules." I found the following video online and thought the interview was really great (granted Peter Klein is kind of bad with interupting and not letting Nate speak at times), and thought I would share. I like Nate a lot. I like his outlook and how he came to make his decisions about religion, and his willingness to let his kids make up their own minds. I don't think many parents get how utterly terrifying religion is for a 4, 5, 6 year old child. And I also believe that inflicting that kind of fear (that you can go somewhere and burn and be tortured forever if you step out of line) is wrong, if not cruel. I understand the concept of punishment, but I feel like 10 minutes in time out is a far cry from eternity of damnation.
It is so disturbing to me that the children in this photo are being taught to hate from birth and to believe that God hates the majority of people. These idiots picket the funerals of our military soldiers, celebrities, and abuse victims who have died, all in the name of God. They spew hatred in every ounce of their sermons, and the messages they deliver affect people's lives. I blogged about one of Fred Phelp's children in February on the abuse he had endured while living with with his father and his other siblings, it is really upsetting.
