Fred Phelps is dying, and he's been excommunicated from his own church.

Killer Wench

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/03/16/290696376/westboro-baptist-founder-is-on-the-edge-of-death-son-says?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=npr&utm_campaign=nprnews&utm_content=03162014

I'm still trying to figure it out. It seems he was excommunicated because he set their church on the path of picketing those funerals.

So I wonder if his family will picket his funeral?

Firewalkwithme

Good riddance. That guy is a grade A lunatic who has warped the minds of most of his family and brought misery to innumerable innocent people.

whirlpool

I'm so incredibly confused. If he was excommunicated, then why/how would they block people from seeing him? Am I missing something really obvious or is that article just very poorly written?

Festy

Pity there isn't a hell for him to go too

Firewalkwithme

whirlpool wrote: »

I'm so incredibly confused. If he was excommunicated, then why/how would they block people from seeing him? Am I missing something really obvious or is that article just very poorly written?

Who cares if he was excomunicated?

He will be dead soon, that the important thing. YAY

whirlpool

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

Who cares if he was excomunicated?

He will be dead soon, that the important thing. YAY

Because the article is saying that the westboro church excommunicated him, yet now they are preventing people who have left them to visit him. There is not a single part of that that makes sense to me :-/

StompToWork

IMHO, that Shirley wan is the real "brains" behind the operation. My theory is that Fred realised the error of his ways a while back, but that crazed yoke of a daughter of his ploughed things along.

finin

Are you sure he wasn't caught stroking to 28 Dicks Later, Swollow Hal or Buttman and Throbbin'?

Firewalkwithme

whirlpool wrote: »

Because the article is saying that the westboro church excommunicated him, yet now they are preventing people who have left them to visit him. There is not a single part of that that makes sense to me :-/

They are his family so they could well have the power to do that. For all we know, he could have signed over Power of Attorney to them when his health declined.

His daughter is a complete nutjob and last I heard, very senior in the "church" so she could be the one pulling the strings now.

thesandeman

When I read the post title I thought it had something to do with a famous swimmer. Makes sense now.

Zillah

I don't get how someone could have the power to kick the founder out of a cult?

Firewalkwithme

Zillah wrote: »

I don't get how someone could have the power to kick the founder out of a cult?

There is precedent for this.

Apple once kicked Steve Jobs out.

toastedpickles

Zillah wrote: »

I don't get how someone could have the power to kick the founder out of a cult?

Because "religion" that's why

StompToWork

Zillah wrote: »

I don't get how someone could have the power to kick the founder out of a cult?

Wikipedia "Steve Jobs"!!

I'm not attempting to make any comparisons whatsoever, I just made the reference in order to demonstrate that cults are more like corporate business then we probably realise. If there is a feeling that the person at the helm is not doing the job properly, then anything is possible!!

Firewalkwithme

StompToWork wrote: »

Wikipedia "Steve Jobs"!!

That joke is SO 3 mins ago :P

Scuid Mhór

StompToWork wrote: »

IMHO, that Shirley wan is the real "brains" behind the operation. My theory is that Fred realised the error of his ways a while back, but that crazed yoke of a daughter of his ploughed things along.

Really don't think there are any brains in that family, so to speak of anyhow.

Eeden

I thought that the ideology of the Phelps religion said that if someone died, it meant they had displeased god in some way? So maybe they have to excommunicate him for that reason? I could be wrong. *God* knows, it's pretty hard to keep up with their beliefs.

StompToWork

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

That joke is SO 3 mins ago :P

Fecker!!! I was right proud of my post, so I was!!!

imitation

I've had a few pints, but even I can see the photo at the top of that article is baltently Photoshopped. Perhaps a simple distraction to keep people distracted from the real issues that plague society ?

Vito Corleone

May he rest in peace.

Da Shins Kelly

I've always suspected that the daughter was the real driving force behind that family more than anyone. She's the mouthpiece anyway.

I wonder why they excommunicated him. If he has dementia or something like that, he might be saying things that they don't want anyone knowing about.

Firewalkwithme

imitation wrote: »

I've had a few pints, but even I can see the photo at the top of that article is baltently Photoshopped. Perhaps a simple distraction to keep people distracted from the real issues that plague society ?

Umm, have you never seen any of the documentaries made about them? They are a plague to society.

jane82

I think he has realised the error of his ways and they want him out incase he talks.
Blame him on being a neghead if he talks blame him on being a sinner if he doesnt.
Keep the support and money in tact either way

StompToWork

imitation wrote: »

I've had a few pints, but even I can see the photo at the top of that article is baltently Photoshopped. Perhaps a simple distraction to keep people distracted from the real issues that plague society ?

In what way was it photoshopped? The effect you are seeing is called "Depth of Field", and the photographer has nailed it!! Foreground and Background are blurred and the subject of his/her photo is sharp - in this case, the protesters.

Apologies. This post is off topic. Its just the photographer in me.

pragmatic1

Great news. I love it when bad people are going to die.

nocoverart

Is this the guy that featured on a Louis Theroux Doc? or perhaps I'm as far out as a lighthouse. Anyways, he sounded like a bad egg, wont be missed.

whirlpool

pragmatic1 wrote: »

Great news. I love it when bad people are going to die.

I prefer when they are going to suffer.

uch

Who's Fred Phelps ?

Mince Pie

He is a hateful man but I won't be celebrating his passing. I'll be ignoring it and I truly hope that no one pays any heed or turns up to his funeral.

Firewalkwithme

nocoverart wrote: »

Is this the guy that featured on a Louis Theroux Doc? or perhaps I'm as far out as a lighthouse. Anyways, he sounded like a bad egg, wont be missed.

The very same. It was titled "The Most Hated Family in America". I'm pretty sure he did a follow up on them a few years later too.

DesperateDan

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

The very same. It was titled "The Most Hated Family in America". I'm pretty sure he did a follow up on them a few years later too.

Both on Netflix. Louis so bad.

Andrewf20

The WBC are probably a big catalyst for driving some people away from christianity in general. Ironic perhaps.

As great as the USA is in some respects, its incredible what the WBC can get away with in terms of the funeral picketing. Its similar to scientology winning tax exemption status in the US. The immorality of it all and yet it goes on.

padd b1975

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

Umm, have you never seen any of the threads made about them? They are a plague on boards.

FYP :rolleyes:

padd b1975

uch wrote: »

Who's Fred Phelps ?

Michael's dad?

bnt

whirlpool wrote: »

Because the article is saying that the westboro church excommunicated him, yet now they are preventing people who have left them to visit him. There is not a single part of that that makes sense to me :-/

The kind of people we're talking about, they need only pure spite as a reason. But if Fred really has lost even some of his hate and bigotry, the church won't want that to get out. I can see the headlines on Friendly Atheist already: "Westboro Baptist Church's head has de-conversion on deathbed, regrets hurt caused by his followers".

polydactyl

Don't they believe they are immortal and that any cancer or mental illness proves that you are a sinner and therefore evil?

So if the head guy is dying from something that will prove to the other nut jobs that he is "evil" so they would have kicked him out to preserve their beliefs.

They are of course all evil.

P. Breathnach

Mince Pie wrote: »

He is a hateful man but I won't be celebrating his passing. I'll be ignoring it and I truly hope that no one pays any heed or turns up to his funeral.

Not even some peaceful protestors bearing placards?

Mince Pie

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Not even some peaceful protestors bearing placards?

Nope! Not a thing. Just ignore like he never existed.

Femme_Fatale

StompToWork wrote: »

IMHO, that Shirley wan is the real "brains" behind the operation. My theory is that Fred realised the error of his ways a while back, but that crazed yoke of a daughter of his ploughed things along.

I dunno. From what I've read, Fred Phelps was a brute to his children when raising them. He set the seeds of the whole thing, not Shirley - her hatred is only learned from him.

Scuid Mhór wrote: »

Really don't think there are any brains in that family, so to speak of anyhow.

Unfortunately there are plenty. These aren't yokels in the hills at all; they're highly educated, normal-seeming people. They even seem quite nice.

padd b1975 wrote: »

FYP :rolleyes:

Not the first time I've seen you object to criticisms of the Phelps Padd.

Da Shins Kelly

They are all very well-educated. They're all lawyers that know their rights inside out so they can sue the sh*t out of anyone who is less clued-in who violates their rights. That's how they make their money. They're hateful, sure, but they're not stupid at all.

Gael23

May he go straight to hell. He's no loss that's for sure.

holystungun9

Great swimmer, though. Now he's off to the great big swimming pool in the sky (or basement).

krudler

good riddance tbh

loobylou

They're bible literalists. Don't blame them, blame the book.

I hope people don't go overboard picketing his funeral and stuff. While many people understandably detest the man and everything he and his "church" stand for, I think it would be better for people to stay away, show that they are better than him and not stoop to his level. (And I say this as one of the "fags" that God apparently hates! :rolleyes:)

One of the oddest things about Phelps is, despite his obsessive hatred of gay people, Catholics, the military and countless others, he was actually a civil rights activist in the sixties. He took cases on behalf of black clients when other white lawyers refused to do so. Goes to show that not even he is 100% evil.

Cantremember

Has he been excommunicated for dying? Would make about as much sense as everything else that church believes.

Femme_Fatale

loobylou wrote: »

They're bible literalists. Don't blame them, blame the book.

I'd be inclined to blame them since they're responsible for their actions.

Cartoon_Head

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

His daughter is a complete nutjob and last I heard, very senior in the "church" so she could be the one pulling the strings now.

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

I've always suspected that the daughter was the real driving force behind that family more than anyone. She's the mouthpiece anyway.

Not anymore apparently.

Sounds like the church is tearing itself apart from the inside. Not that I have any sympathy for Shirley but it doesn't surprise me that such a conservative group would have an all-male board that wouldn't stand for a woman being in control of things.

On another note, every time I see the phrase "the elders" being used it reminds of "the elders of the internet" from the IT Crowd!

Wossack

loobylou wrote: »

They're bible literalists. Don't blame them, blame the book.

gonna give that defense a shot

/puts down American Psycho

RoboRat

May he go straight to hell. He's no loss that's for sure.

May he get bummed for eternity by something sharp and sandpapery

yayabalexreya

StompToWork wrote: »

IMHO, that Shirley wan is the real "brains" behind the operation. My theory is that Fred realised the error of his ways a while back, but that crazed yoke of a daughter of his ploughed things along.

This had occurred to me too.