# Fred Phelps is dying.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [March 16, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820 "2014-03-16T05:20:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/41 "2014-03-16T14:08:26Z")
[http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2014/03/fred-phelps-reportedly-near-death.html](http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2014/03/fred-phelps-reportedly-near-death.html)
The above link has some interesting commentary on Fred. I rather liked some of it, like the quote from a Rod Dreher, from _American Conservative._
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/42 "2014-03-16T14:16:12Z")
> [@Trinopus](#):
>
> Paradoxically, the best thing we can do is not to hate him, but, instead, to show a truer Christian forgiveness than he ever knew how to show.
So… those of us who aren’t Christian aren’t required to forgive, right?
While I have empathy for those who care about him, his family and friends (presuming he has any of the latter) I can not mourn the passing of his toxic hatred.
> [@](#):
>
> In death, he will cause no more pain…nor suffer it.
I suppose that depends on whether or not the hell he preached about exists, because if it does he is surely going there.
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/43 "2014-03-16T14:56:16Z")
> [@astorian](#):
>
> And yes, Nathan has spoken out publicly against his family many time before. Here’s a speech he gave at a “Rally for Reason,” with many of his angry relatives present and shouting at him. I myself am a faithful Catholic, but it’s hard not to feel for Nathan or to admire him.
>
> [Nonreligious Questions](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/camelswithhammers/2012/03/nate-phelpss-sadness/)
IIRC, Nathan’s the one who escaped in the middle of the night, the day he turned 18, and had quite a struggle at first.
Oh, and I find I don’t feel anything in particular, other than sympathy for Nathan’s emotional turmoil. Sounds like the legacy of hate will roll on for a while without that old opportunist to guide them. (He was a civil rights lawyer for years - because it was an untapped market, nothing more.)
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/44 "2014-03-16T15:09:37Z")
> [@elbows](#):
>
> No one should be surprised he’s been excommunicated from his own made up church?
>
> Did he make up a church where his daughters have the power to 'excommunicate ’ him?
>
> How is ‘excommunicated’ even applicable to a made up church?
>
> Who makes themselves head of their own church and empowers others to unseat them?
>
> Just when you thought they couldn’t appear any stupider, they do!
It seems your understanding of how churches (even “made up” ones, whatever that distinction might mean) are incorporated is misinformed. Just like any other non-profit, they must file Articles of Incorporation, which must include an organizing/operating board. That board must be capable of making executive decisions. So yes - any and all churches are empowered to unseat the director of that church, despite being “made up” or not.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/45 "2014-03-16T15:53:02Z")
“Darn.”
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/46 "2014-03-16T16:01:02Z")
> [@Baker](#):
>
> But after a lot of thinking and prayer I have come to realize that if I believe that Saul of Tarsus(the Fred of his day) could become Paul, professing God and dying for him, then that could happen for Fred too. It’s never too late to come back to God.
>
> Never.
That was damn pretty, **Baker**. Thank you.
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/47 "2014-03-16T16:22:59Z")
In an effort to address the good in people in their last days, I remind (or inform for the first time) that in his younger days, Phelps was a defender of civil rights for blacks.
> **[Fred Phelps | Civil rights cases](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps#Civil_rights_cases)**
>
> Phelps earned a law degree from Washburn University in 1964, and founded the Phelps Chartered law firm. However, in 1969, upon a finding of professional misconduct, authorities suspended him from practicing as a lawyer for two years.
> Phelps' first notable cases were related to civil rights, and his involvement in civil rights cases in and around Kansas gained him praise from local African-American leaders.
> "I systematically brought down the Jim Crow laws of this town", he claimed. Phelps' daugh...
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### Author:  [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/48 "2014-03-16T16:33:07Z")
After mulling this thread for a day, I’ve decided I would picket the funeral if I had the means. My sign would be:
\*\*Phred said,
“God hates fags.”
God says,
“I forgive everyone, even Phred.”\*\*
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### Author:  [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/49 "2014-03-16T16:35:18Z")
> [@Lucretia](#):
>
> I’m posting this here, because I know that many comments will be…less than kind.
I dunno. Perhaps we can all go to Kansas and protest at his funeral. Or line up and piss on his grave. Those are reasonably kind thoughts, considering the asshole extraordinaire that Fred Phelps was in his life.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/50 "2014-03-16T16:38:12Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> “Darn.”
“_Gosh_ darn.”
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### Author:  [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/51 "2014-03-16T16:41:36Z")
> [@Clothahump](#):
>
> I dunno. Perhaps we can all go to Kansas and protest at his funeral. Or line up and piss on his grave. Those are reasonably kind thoughts, considering the asshole extraordinaire that Fred Phelps was in his life.
Why bother? The biggest show of contempt that you can offer the man would be to ignore his death completely. Show that all of his efforts in life had no impact. The alternative is to reinforce the idea that he did anything that mattered.
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/52 "2014-03-16T16:55:58Z")
After responding to this thread with this post, I will do the one thing that makes people like him and his “church” the most upset, I will ignore it.
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/53 "2014-03-16T16:57:13Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#):
>
> After responding to this thread with this post, I will do the one thing that makes people like him and his “church” the most upset, I will ignore it.
Ha! Didn’t see post 51
🙂
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### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/54 "2014-03-16T17:00:05Z")
It’s too bad I’m not a good enough person to forgive him.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/55 "2014-03-16T17:06:35Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#):
>
> Why bother? The biggest show of contempt that you can offer the man would be to ignore his death completely. Show that all of his efforts in life had no impact. The alternative is to reinforce the idea that he did anything that mattered.
> [@AncientHumanoid](#):
>
> After responding to this thread with this post, I will do the one thing that makes people like him and his “church” the most upset, I will ignore it.
Yeah, [DNFTT](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DoNotFeedTroll.svg).
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/56 "2014-03-16T17:22:15Z")
> [@Clothahump](#):
>
> I dunno. Perhaps we can all go to Kansas and protest at his funeral. Or line up and piss on his grave. Those are reasonably kind thoughts, considering the asshole extraordinaire that Fred Phelps was in his life.
You’d only be taking yourself down to the level you believe Fred to be on.
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### Author:  [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/57 "2014-03-16T17:30:47Z")
> [@VunderBob](#):
>
> **God says,
> “I forgive everyone, even Phred.”**
And that’s _precisely_ why I don’t believe in God, and never will.
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### Author:  [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/58 "2014-03-16T17:34:34Z")
As an atheist, I know that it’s very likely that \*this \*is the only life we get, so death sucks. I don’t wish it on anyone.
That said, fuck this guy. Die forgotten and alone.
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### Author:  [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/59 "2014-03-16T17:41:10Z")
\*“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” \*
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-phelps-is-dying/683820/60 "2014-03-16T17:43:45Z")
> [@Chimera](#):
>
> Well, if God exists, then Fred will soon get a chance to be judged as he has judged others. Not even remotely a position I would wish to be in, given the awfulness that he has ascribed to God.
>
> And really, even if God existed and he was forgiven and taken into heaven? Still a bit of hell to spend that eternity knowing the pain and suffering he had inflicted upon the world. And I mean, really KNOW it. To know the harm he did, to know how wrong he was. For all eternity.
God is forgiving and loving. He will show Fred to the apartment he picked out just for him in the West Hollywood section of Heaven. God will also introduce Fred to his new roommate Bruce the hairdresser.
Besides being all knowing, all loving, and all forgiving God has one hell of a sense of humor.
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