# Fred Phelps, f'accuse! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 9, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012 "2003-05-09T01:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/21 "2003-05-09T03:37:30Z")
FWIW, I talked to two Westborrhoids several years ago on a religion & politics listserv forum. (Specifically, Charles Hockenbarger and (IIRC) Ben Phelps, Fred’s grandson.) It was an interesting experience, to say the least. They seemed to have a bad cop/evil incarnate cop thing going. Phelps would rant like something out of _The Exorcist_, telling people to go commit suicide by climbing up elephants’ butts, etc. (And meanwhile shrieking bloody murder if anyone gave even the slightest insult in return, claiming that by doing so they were making death threats against him, etc.) By contrast, Hockenbarger would make a big show of being the “reasonable” one who wanted nothing more than to have a quiet, levelheaded debate about the evil fags. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/22 "2003-05-09T03:40:00Z")
Also, it’s important to note that Fred wasn’t born in Kansas. He’s a transplant from Mississippi. So his insanity is not a point against Kansas folk (Kansasians?). Then again, it’s not a slur on Mississippi, either. Like I said, lunacy is everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/23 "2003-05-09T03:42:55Z")
I don’t often laugh out loud in the office, **Ben** , but your thread title just cracked me up. ---
**Author:** ![NoGoodNamesLeft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8797f3/32.png) [@NoGoodNamesLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoGoodNamesLeft)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/24 "2003-05-09T03:47:19Z")
\ It’s actually “j’accuse”, not “f’accuse”. \ ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/25 "2003-05-09T03:48:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ben \* > \*\*FWIW, I talked to two Westborrhoids several years ago on a religion & politics listserv forum. (Specifically, Charles Hockenbarger and (IIRC) Ben Phelps, Fred’s grandson.) > \*\* Isn’t Ben Phelps the kid who keeps the website up and running? Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/26 "2003-05-09T03:54:07Z")
Now this looks interesting! [http://www.fredthemovie.com](http://www.fredthemovie.com) I really want to see it. Hmm. LC ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/27 "2003-05-09T04:00:24Z")
I’m a Kansan, most of my friends are Kansans, the correct term for a denizen of this state is “Kansan”. 🙂 I’m told one of the anecdotal explanatory tales of the state name has to do with a Native American tribe who lived in this region, who called themselves “The people of the wind”, or Kansaw in their language. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/28 "2003-05-09T04:03:33Z")
**Linty** , I think the word is Kanzanians. 🙂 **Fred Phelps, or How I Learned to Stop Thinking and Hate the Fags** ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/29 "2003-05-09T04:06:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoGoodNamesLeft \* > \*\*\ > It’s actually “j’accuse”, not “f’accuse”. > \ \*\* Whoosh! (Try saying the thread titled out loud) ---
**Author:** ![carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/30 "2003-05-09T04:08:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoGoodNamesLeft \* > \*\*\ > It’s actually “j’accuse”, not “f’accuse”. > \ \*\* [sub]psst…say it out loud…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/31 "2003-05-09T04:10:17Z")
Curses! Foiled again by **Miller** and his busy hands! But at least I didn’t spell anything wrong. [sub] **Gaudere** ’s law check…ok.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![mojave66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mojave66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojave66)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/32 "2003-05-09T04:13:05Z")
> [@](#): > > FWIW, I talked to two Westborrhoids several years ago on a religion & politics listserv forum. (Specifically, Charles Hockenbarger and (IIRC) Ben Phelps, Fred’s grandson.) Brother! I was on that forum for a couple of months. I finally quit after Ben Phelps declared he was a prophet of God. What a piece of work. I recall one Phelps protest (in a city I don’t recall) that was counterprotested by the local gay bars. Not by pickets or anything like that, instead they did a “Phelps-a-thon” where you pledged money for every minute a Phelps follower stayed on the picket line. IIRC, they raised a fair amount of money for AIDS groups in the community. ---
**Author:** ![bo989](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@bo989](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bo989)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/33 "2003-05-09T04:13:47Z")
I’d almost consider buying it if I wasn’t afraid of where the money would end up. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/34 "2003-05-09T04:22:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bo989 \* > \*\*So, have you ever seen him out and about? Ever talked with him, heard him speak? \*\* Oh yeah, I have. But it’s been a long time since Phred himself was doing much picketing. He appears to be ill, although the reports of what is wrong with him vary. Strongest rumor is cancer. I’m Episcopalian now, but I wasn’t when I was one of the people who helped a local Episcopal church, St. David’s, hold their own signs. Phred had a particular thing against them, a long story. Anyhoo, before St. David’s got an injunction to keep him a certain distance from their church property, we often had the two groups of sign carriers intermingled. Makes for some peculiar pictures. Phred would walk up and down the sidewalk, sometimes spouting Bible verses, then, in a lower voice, uttering really nasty cursewords at us. We did not call ourselves picketers, we were “witnessing”(the REAL Gospel, not the WBC version) One thing that made me respect the local Episcopal diocese is how Bishop Smalley came out and held signs with us once. He wanted, I think, to make a show of support for us, instead of, like some clergy would do, hiding in their office. If you look at my email address the first three letters are “chw”. When coming up with the address I wanted something other than my first name there. “chw” stands for an insult Fred used to hurl at us women who were witnessing at St. David’s. It means “crop headed whore”. See, Fred believes that for a woman to cut her hair is unBiblical. I honestly think the man is insane. I want to hate him, but as a Christian I’m not supposed to. It’s a struggle, let me tell you. I try to remind myself that Saul of Tarsus(sort of a proto-Fred) became St. Paul, and if I believe that then I have to believe that not even Fred is beyond redemption. To me, when he says that people are irrevocably doomed, that is the worst sort of lie. Oh well, I should get off of my soapbox now. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/35 "2003-05-09T04:25:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mojave66 \* > \*\*Brother! I was on that forum for a couple of months. I finally quit after Ben Phelps declared he was a prophet of God. What a piece of work. \*\* Was this the same forum? I was referring to BELIEF-L. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/36 "2003-05-09T04:28:14Z")
BTW, thanks for the compliments on the thread title. My wife actually coined “f’accuse,” although in a different context. ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/37 "2003-05-09T04:39:36Z")
Fred Phelps is an absolute joke. I was very disappointed when his plane was grounded and he was forced to miss a neighboring city’s (Covington, KY) hearings on an anti-discrimination ordinance. I wanted to stand across the street and just laugh. He parades around like some great authority or moral leader to thousands, when his “church” is 90% composed of family members and in-laws. He was, as I recall, stripped of his status as a minister within his denomination, barred from practicing law along with a couple other members of his family, accused of repeated abuse by two sons, along with accusations of fraud in business ventures. His much-vaunted civil rights record is not much more than frivolous lawsuits in petty claims courts (which is part of what got him barred). The man is a pathetic, neurotic, worm with megalomaniacal dreams. He is a failure as a lawyer, as a minister, as a father, and as a man. His one and only marginal success is tearing down what others have built, inflicting pain upon those already burdened with far too much, spitting upon the dignity of Christianity, and then shrieking to high heaven when someone dares to call him what he truly is. If Fred Phelps is going to Heaven when he dies, the fire and brimstone hold no terrors when compared to eternity surrounded by hypocricy. ---
**Author:** ![carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/38 "2003-05-09T04:39:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baker \* > \*\*To me, when he says that people are irrevocably doomed, that is the worst sort of lie. > > Oh well, I should get off of my soapbox now. \*\* Nope, looks like you have a pretty sturdy one, there. Preach on, brother. (Or sister, as the case may be.) ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/39 "2003-05-09T12:28:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baker \* > \*\*Oh yeah, I have. But it’s been a long time since Phred himself was doing much picketing. He appears to be ill, although the reports of what is wrong with him vary. Strongest rumor is cancer. > > \*\* Yea, I hope it’s slow and extremely painful. I know, I know, that makes me a bad man. I can live with it. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012/40 "2003-05-09T12:57:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Weirddave \* > \*\*Yea, I hope it’s slow and extremely painful. > > I know, I know, that makes me a bad man.\*\* In this case, I forgive you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-faccuse/174012.md?page=3)