As the months and years go by, I grow more and more aware of the blessed environment of my family of origin (as psychologists say). My family is not perfect, but my parents are good and decent people who worked hard and raised us with love and discipline. My heart hurts for this man, and for the countless others like him. I pray that the Hound of heaven tracks him down and transforms this guy's life, and his family's. God bless him.

Their "religion" isn't close to Calvinism.

Thank you, Poster #2. There is nothing of Calivinism, Wesleyism or any branch of Christianity in that creep.
Ramona (the pest)

There are great theological differences in Phelps' brand of Christianity and Islam. There are also many similarities in the way both he and Moslems preach and practice their respective faiths.

I have a dear friend who fled a cult, taking her children with her. Her husband is still in it. This man's description of his childhood fits her story to a T.

There is a link embedded in the story that provides an audio of the interview with Nate. My reading time is limited in the morning, but being able to listen to the interview was enriching. Too bad so many here will miss that recording.

Just because Fred Phelps calls himself Westboro Baptist Church doesn't make him Baptist or a church. It's not fundamentalist Calvinist, it's not Christian, it's not anything religious. What Fred Phelps did was child and spouse abuse and he taught too many of his children to do the same. He's of the devil, not Christ!

When are the media ever going to notice that Phelps doesn't even *call* himself Christian?

Link: http://eve-tushnet.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_eve-tushnet_archive.html#112474146614650981

What does Fred he actually believe? It is, somehow, even weirder than you expected:

In fact, it appears that he hand his tribe are working on a new religion altogether, complete with new scriptures.

Members of WBC generally avoid the name "Christian" when referring to themselves, preferring the mysterious term "Tachmonite."

The Tachmonites believe Phelps is "the last prophet," with the power to determine who will be damned and who will be saved. They themselves, as followers of Phelps, also have the power to condemn souls to hell. Most people are destined for hell, but "Good Samaritans" who help the Tachmonites (for example, police officers who prevent counter-protesters from assaulting them) may be offered an indeterminate "reward" for their good conduct.

They've written their own scriptures, which are divided into two categories: "delectable epics" and "letters to heretics." The "delectable epics" (the term is the group's) are based loosely on Acts in the New Testament. The epics detail the Tachmonites' various protests against gays, President Bush, Elton John concerts, and the military and portray the Tachmonites alternately as invincible "super heroes" and defenseless victims of brutal rage. Some of the epics are in prose, and some in poetry.

And there's more (at the link)

This is the only 'Christian' effort that makes the news. Dick Gordon, Salon and the rest of the lsm have no clue what Christian efforts look like or who benefits or the costs that the work entails. Disgusting!

Maybe Fred's father saw him for what he was. Maybe a few more wallops would have helped.

Fred Phelps needs an exorcism.