Interestingly, the source of this information (one of his estranged children) also claims that he was excommunicated from his own “church” (really just a compound populated by his extended family) last year.
Often when people pass on the popular sentiment is “Let us not mourn their death, but celebrate their life.” I think this may be one of those “Let us not celebrate his death, but rather mourn his life” situations.
As the piece says: it’s just a few crackpots. The guy is dying having been outwardly rejected by many of his family members, while their church’s mission is falling flat on its face as gay rights and acceptance are at an all-time high.
his repressed homosexuality
PS: accusing people of being secretly gay is not the best way to champion gay rights.
To all the people saying “ooh dont give them the attention, show them how meaningless they are”. They won’t see that. They will see it as a gracious and generous show of respect for an elder statesman. They deserve nothing less than they have dished out.
Make them feel like shit for a change.
Make them fearful of attending a loved one’s funeral.
Make them the ones who have to beg for dignity.
I hope he has a long, drawn out, terrible illness and I hope he suffers as much as he and his kind have made other people suffer.
To be honest I’m not sure who would even be offended by a picketing of Phelps’ funeral. The family members who weren’t already estranged from him have apparently excommunicated him from the very hate group he founded. The rest of the world at large, from the far left to the far right, either revile him for his beliefs or are angered by his tactics.
When he dies, it is very likely he will die alone and unloved.
I know, but I remember my mum working at an old peoples home and one of the things that would occasionally happen is that people who had shown no previous signs of being gay would form same sex couples (This was less than two decades since the legalisation of homosexuality in the UK). The policy was to let them be unless they were being visited by family.
Knowing that, his hyperfocus on the LGBT community, and that he would have had to do something embarassing to be excommunicated from his own church just makes me wonder.
Either way, take solace in the knowledge that he lived long enough to see his hate-filled publicity stunts ultimately help speed along the LGBT rights movement. One activist’s take:
That is my requiem to Fred Phelps. He was a man with a mission. His failure to succeed is his triumph.
He achieved the most epic fail in modern history. Not only did he not inspire a single person to his point of view, he drove millions away in revulsion. For everything he lost in personal credibility and respect, he helped fortify the well being of those he sought to destroy.
