# We're Getting a Visit From Fred Phelps! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 5, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176 "2004-11-05T14:00:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/21 "2004-11-08T23:04:16Z")
So, **Midnight** , how did it go? ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/22 "2004-11-09T04:20:40Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > A few years ago when the Harlem Boys’ Choir played the Lied Center at KU (Hi Professor Folk!) Phelpsy was out in force. What does he have against the Harlem Boys’ Choir? > [@Baker](#): > > So, **Midnight** , how did it go? Fine, I guess. I didn’t even get out of the car, just took the pictures from inside (I hope they turn out all right—the car was moving). They were just standing on the sidewalk in front of the school, holding their signs and yelling at people. I hadn’t realized how many people would be there to watch. The traffic at that intersection was backed up for blocks. Several of them had large American flags that they were dragging around on the ground or walking on. There were a few counter-protesters, but only maybe three or four, as far as I could tell. There were more of Phelps’s group than I was expecting, maybe fifteen. I was told that when they picketed the churches in town, there were only about eight of them. I’m going to take the film to be developed tomorrow and hopefully, I’ll be able to get the pictures on a disk, so I can post them soon. Sorry it took me so long to reply, but I’ve just been so busy tonight—lots of check-ins. I’m feeling kind of brain-dead at the moment, and I may have forgotten something, so I might post again when I get home in about an hour. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/23 "2004-11-09T05:18:11Z")
I just wanted to add that it was so sad to see those young people out there today—teenagers, mostly—holding those signs and screaming, “God hates fags!” How awful must it be to grow up in that environment. I can only imagine what a gay kid in that family would go through. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/24 "2004-11-09T10:46:40Z")
Yes, Fred has raised more than one generation of sad kids. His eldest children(he has thirteen, although only nine are connected with the family) are peers of mine, and I’m almost fifty. So there’s lots of grandchildren that are “in the fold” so to speak, and I think even a great-grandchild or two. But the latter would be very young. I once was counter-picketing them, and a Phelps grandchild, a kid about ten, ask me if I shaved gerbils and put them up my rectum to get “excited”. It saddened me more than angered me. What a perverted idea of human sexuality and love is being passed on the the young people, that a _child_ would use images like that. Kids aren’t born ugly like that. They have to, in the words of Rodgers and Hammerstein, “be carefully taught” _…You have to be taught Before it’s too late Before you’re six or seven or eight To hate all the people your relatives hate. You have to be carefully taught…"_ ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/25 "2004-11-13T15:37:58Z")
> [@MidnightRadio](#): > > What does he have against the Harlem Boys’ Choir? Uh… I don’t know. Who can guess the motivations of Phelpsy? My guess is that any artistic endeavor pursued by boys is inherently ‘faggy’. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/26 "2004-11-13T16:50:20Z")
Id God hates fags so much, why doesn’t he just stop smoking? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/27 "2004-11-13T17:38:13Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > From what I recall, often Fred and co will say they’re going to picket somewhere and then they fail to show up. I can’t remember the reason, though. Because many of their scheduled picketing sites are far away, and _it costs money_ to fly there, rent hotel rooms. etc. (When your ‘church’ is basically just your family members, donations aren’t that great.) Plus by announcing that they are going to picket some event in a far-away town, they get all the publicity they want – the local news media will rush to read their vicious press releases on air, and then follow-up with interviews from local people who don’t want them there, etc. No need to actually go there and picket when the local news media does it for you! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/28 "2004-11-13T20:14:12Z")
He doesn’t haveanything against the boy’s choir, it’s just that he knows a lot of folks would go to see them, so he get’s more folks to see his signs. The WBC pickets down at the Topeka Performing Arts Center quite a bit. You should have heard what Dennis Miller, and later Sinbad, had to say about him! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/29 "2004-11-13T20:58:38Z")
> [@](#): > > You should have heard what Dennis Miller, and later Sinbad, had to say about him! No fair, you can’t leave us hanging like that! C’mon, tell us! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/30 "2004-11-13T21:09:13Z")
Ok, the visit from Miller was back a long time ago, in 1992, when Fred and Co. were first starting out their picketing. The original picketing site, at 10th and Gage, proved too confined for them, so they started picketing funerals and local entertainment. I attended the Miller act not knowing a thing about him. My sister was going too, and told me I HAD to hear him. So we cross the picket line, pretending not to notice. Miller walks out on stage and everyone stands and cheers and claps for him. His opening lines were “Gee, that’s the second warm welcome I got tonight. I got here and saw some folks outside with signs and I thought ‘I’ve got fans!’ Then I read the signs. That group is seriously fucked up.” He went on with some other extremely profane comments about the WBC, you can insert your own. Sinbad happened to perform several years ago on Oct. 31. He came out and told the audience “You people here in Topeka really take Halloween seriously don’t you? There’s a guy outside pretending to be a preacher. I tried to give him some candy and he got mad at me!” The audience howled, let me tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/31 "2004-11-14T00:37:36Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > Uh… I don’t know. Who can guess the motivations of Phelpsy? > > My guess is that any artistic endeavor pursued by boys is inherently ‘faggy’. I think you’re on to something with that - when my brother graduated from Kansas State, it was with a BS, in the College of Arts & Sciences. The Phelps clan was there picketing, and the best explanation we could come up with as to why on earth they were picketing a graduation ceremony was that in their twisted minds, A&S most likely had the highest ‘fag’ concentration, because of the Arts part of it. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/32 "2004-11-14T00:43:56Z")
> [@DeadlyAccurate](#): > > You know, I have to wonder, do gay people even think about homosexuality as much as Fred Phelps does? No, we don’t. We do have lives outside of “all that”. Sorry I can’t think of anything witty or fabulous to say (shrug). ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/33 "2004-11-14T00:45:27Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Take it from me,\*\* don’t\*\* try to get close to Fred and the rest of the WBC. They have a penchant for violence. Borrow a 35mm camera and a couple of long lenses, so you can film it all in relative safety. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/34 "2004-11-14T00:50:54Z")
> [@MidnightRadio](#): > > Several of them had large American flags that they were dragging around on the ground or walking on. That shows just how much they respect the country and its flag, doesn’t it. Slather em all in BBQ sauce and serve em up to the local biker gang 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/35 "2004-11-14T13:13:40Z")
Wait a minute, **SteveG1**. Let’s get a little realistic here. I mean, there are some things even bikers won’t eat. 😃 CJ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/36 "2004-11-14T14:28:02Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > That shows just how much they respect the country and its flag, doesn’t it. Slather em all in BBQ sauce and serve em up to the local biker gang 😛 IIRC, it’s to show that our country is in distress-the same reason they fly the flag upside-down. I think about what, four kids have left the fold. Two boys and two girls. One went so far as to change her last name, to avoid the notoriety. The oldest boy, Fred Jr, from what I understand, almost did leave, but after his fiance committed suicide, and Fred Sr. actually ran around the house dancing and screaming, “Ding dong, the whore is dead!” he kinda lost any motivation or desire to do so. How sad. I wonder if they’ll still continue when Fred kicks the bucket. I actually pity his children-they all went through hell growing up with him as a father. His treatment of gays pales in comparison to what he put his own family through. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/37 "2004-11-14T15:15:05Z")
I had never heard of them until I saw them outside the Johnson Space Center following the crash of the space shuttle Columbia. There were miles of cars dropping off signs and flowers at the entrance to JSC in support of the astronaughts, and then, near the entrance, there were these freaks with their “God Hates Fags” and “God Crashed the Space Shuttle” signs. Most who saw them, like me, were at first stunned, not knowing who they were or why they were here, and then angered. I’m not sure why they came here, but they did have a ring of police protection around them- they certainly weren’t making a very good impression in this pro-space community. I wondered if they were hoping to be assaulted for the publicity or something. Why else show up with such a hate-filled message in such an emotionally charged atmosphere? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/38 "2004-11-14T15:23:07Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > I’m not sure why they came here, but they did have a ring of police protection around them- they certainly weren’t making a very good impression in this pro-space community. I wondered if they were hoping to be assaulted for the publicity or something. Why else show up with such a hate-filled message in such an emotionally charged atmosphere? Maybe they misunderstood why it’s called the “Johnson” Space Center… ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/39 "2004-11-14T19:46:20Z")
God hates astronauts too? Sheesh. Looks like this asshole Phelps hates everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176/40 "2004-11-15T04:34:25Z")
Those who think Fred and the WBC hate **everyone** are right on the money. At this point I think all they care about when they picket is getting as much exposure as possible. Take for example their regular Sunday morning picketings of local churches. They don’t pick the liitle churches on quiet streets, they pick the bigger buildings on streets that have traffic even on Sunday morning. They don’t show up at small events on back streets, they picket the Topeka Performing Arts Center when the most popular performers are showing, and a lot of tickets have been sold. Their faxed push hot buttons, like when two police officers died in a helicopter crash in town, and they said that the men died for the sins of the TPD against their church, that God had personally struck them down. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-getting-a-visit-from-fred-phelps/273176.md?page=3)