# Fred Phelps is dead. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 20, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169 "2014-03-20T17:59:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/41 "2014-03-21T01:21:06Z")
Louis Theroux, who spent quite a bit of time at that compound, theorized that Phelps was mentally ill. Some kind of hate-addiction thing. Anyway, George Takei posted about his death. > [@](#): > > Today, Mr. Phelps may have learned that God, in fact, hates no one. Vicious and hate-filled as he was, may his soul find the kind of peace through death that was so plainly elusive during his life. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/42 "2014-03-21T01:33:30Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I guess God hates Phelps. I guess he hates us all eventually. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/43 "2014-03-21T01:50:22Z")
> [@Missy2U](#): > > If this is out of line, mods, I am very, very sorry. > > But good fucking riddance to bad rubbish. I hope that is not out of bounds because that was my very first thought. ( i wish i could believe in afterlife cause I would want my dearly departed GAY father to meet this guy…:dubious: Fred wouldn’t have had a chance) Good fucking riddance! ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/44 "2014-03-21T02:11:24Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > \*Poor Fred is dead > Poor Fred Phelps is dead > All gather round his coffin now and cry… > > He loved the birds of the forest > And the bees of the field > He loved the mice and the vermin in the barn > And he treated the rats like equals, which he knew was right! > And he loved the little children > He loved everybody and everything in the world > Only he never let on, so nobody ever noticed\* > > with apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein. Fred Phelps was incapable of love. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/45 "2014-03-21T02:12:58Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > I keep hearing “ding dong the witch is dead” I was thinking that, but didn’t want to say it, because in this case it’s insulting to witches. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/46 "2014-03-21T02:49:32Z")
I encountered that hateful group many times back in the 80s and 90s, when my friends and lovers, one by one, succumbed to AIDS. I always felt that when that bastard finally croaked, I’d be dancing in the street. But now that he’s gone, the reason to celebrate is that his hatred had no effect on the world. His life and his death were meaningless. He might as well never have existed. And that’s reason to celebrate. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/47 "2014-03-21T03:01:10Z")
I am hopeful that the following lines from psalms prove prophetic. Put not your trust in princes, sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/48 "2014-03-21T03:04:24Z")
I would never celebrate anyone’s death, but I don’t feel obligated to mourn every time. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/49 "2014-03-21T03:20:45Z")
I’m not sorry he is finally gone and I do hope he suffered, but at least with Phelps you knew where he stood. He is not the kind of bigot who bothers me. It is the bigots who wrap themselves in the flag and sit in positions of power. It is the type of voters who elect or support brain dead people who blame tornadoes and other events [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/19/susanne-atanus-congress-\_n\_4993555.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/19/susanne-atanus-congress-_n_4993555.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592) on gay marriage and abortion. Phelps and his ilk are only a symptom, not a cause. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/50 "2014-03-21T05:20:36Z")
Did I miss something? There is going to be no funeral, it seems. What are they going to do, toss his remains out on to the plains? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/51 "2014-03-21T05:29:25Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > I thought the OP’s article was from the cDc and figured they were treating him like the removal of a plague or something. ISTR that when they wanted to protest a funeral in Canada, the Mounties wouldn’t let them across the border. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/52 "2014-03-21T07:37:47Z")
[Quick cartoon turnaround](http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive/3518) ---
**Author:** ![wheresmymind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@wheresmymind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheresmymind)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/53 "2014-03-21T08:01:56Z")
Despite (and maybe because of) all the pain and angst he caused many individuals, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ultimately caused more people to support gay rights. The WBC was so obnoxious that they disgusted even the most conservative Americans. I wonder how many people who reflexively squicked at the thought of two dudes or ladies getting married, or were simply wary of a big change in tradition took a look at him and said “Well, maybe I shouldn’t be on the same side of an issue as this guy.” ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/54 "2014-03-21T09:46:53Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I encountered that hateful group many times back in the 80s and 90s, when my friends and lovers, one by one, succumbed to AIDS. I always felt that when that bastard finally croaked, I’d be dancing in the street. But now that he’s gone, the reason to celebrate is that his hatred had no effect on the world. His life and his death were meaningless. He might as well never have existed. And that’s reason to celebrate. A wonderful way of seeing it. I will celebrate this with you. To this great and beautiful world, which his hatred could not touch! He came, he passed, he meant nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/55 "2014-03-21T11:31:01Z")
So the WBC says no funeral because they don’t “worship the dead.” I never thought funerals were about worship, I thought they were about paying your last respects. I guess that shows how much respect WBC has for one of their own. Personally I’d give him a Viking funeral - send him down the Kansas River in a flaming canoe. The problem is, the Kansas River is polluted enough already. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/56 "2014-03-21T16:06:28Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > We don’t know that he was really a proponent of civil rights. We know that he was a civil rights attorney for a time, but he may have just found it a profitable industry to work in in its early days. Seems like you’re right. The pretty reliable British newspaper _The Guardian_ has in its obituary: “Relatives have said he took on lucrative civil rights cases while espousing racist views at home.” I try to look for the good side in people, sometimes it’s difficult… ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/57 "2014-03-21T16:16:02Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > … Personally I’d give him a Viking funeral - send him down the Kansas River in a flaming canoe. The problem is, the Kansas River is polluted enough already. Close. Very close. But, if it’s in a flaaa-aaaa-aaaaah!-ming canoe, I’d give the environmental concerns a pass just this once. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/58 "2014-03-21T17:08:41Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Don’t Call Me Shirley: > > Musicat: > > What an interesting thing to say about a guy who lived into his 80’s. I get where it’s coming from (his anti-gay slogans), but no one lives forever, and I can’t see an octogenarian’s death as being indicative of any divine attitude toward him. If anything, his long life would argue for the opposite position. Maybe Satan didn’t want him either. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/59 "2014-03-21T18:10:46Z")
I like this reply to the article posted above: > [@Megan Phelps-Roper](#): > > I’m so sorry for the harm he caused. That we all caused. But he could be so kind and wonderful. I wish you all could have seen that, too. Too bad, Megan, that’s not the side he showed the world. I’m happy to hear of his other side, but even more happy that he won’t be spewing out his hatred, amplified by his little cult. I’m also glad that Megan can show a bit of class in her reply. It can’t have been easy to grow up like that and develop any reasonable sense of values, but there’s a clue here that maybe she did. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169/60 "2014-03-21T18:22:14Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Personally I’d give him a Viking funeral - send him down the Kansas River in a flaming canoe. The problem is, the Kansas River is polluted enough already. The problem is he’s dead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dead/684169.md?page=4)