Hi Shuckins,
I was discussing Phelps and the Phelpasees on another list just today. After reading through his Websites and a few of the articles about him published by estranged relatives or written by himself, its hard to know whether he is more demented than evil or vice versa. Either way, he and the Christian faith are as far from one another as east is from west.
Anyway here are some things about Fred and his actions and beliefs that most people don't know, taken from Wiki.
Apparently Fred is totally unaware of the whole God saves sinners via unmerited grace thing or why the Apostles didn't just kick the cripple at the temple gate and tell him "God hates Israel."
Regarding his Disbarment -A formal complaint was filed against Fred W. Phelps, Sr. on November 8, 1977 by the Kansas State Board of Law Examiners for his conduct during a lawsuit against a court reporter named Carolene Brady. Brady had failed to have a court transcript ready for Phelps on the day he asked for it; though it did not affect the outcome of the case for which Phelps had requested the transcript, Phelps still requested $22,000 in damages from her. In the ensuing trial, Phelps called Brady to the stand, declared her a hostile witness, and then cross-examined her for nearly a week, during which he accused her of being a "slut," tried to introduce testimony from former boyfriends whom Phelps wanted to subpoena, and accused her of a variety of perverse sexual acts, ultimately reducing her to tears on the stand.[10] Phelps lost the case; according to the Kansas Supreme Court:
The trial became an exhibition of a personal vendetta by Phelps against Carolene Brady. His examination was replete with repetition, badgering, innuendo, belligerence, irrelevant and immaterial matter, evidencing only a desire to hurt and destroy the defendant. The jury verdict didn't stop the onslaught of Phelps. He was not satisfied with the hurt, pain, and damage he had visited on Carolene Brady.[10]
In an appeal, Phelps prepared affidavits swearing to the court that he had eight witnesses whose testimony would convince the court to rule in his favor. Brady, in turn, obtained sworn, signed affidavits from the eight people in question, all of whom said that Phelps had never contacted them and that they had no reason to testify against Brady; Phelps had committed perjury.[11]
On July 20, 1979, Fred Phelps was permanently disbarred from practicing law in the state of Kansas[11].
Regarding his theology -Phelps claims to be an old school Baptist, which includes embracing ... predestination. ... However, he takes it further so as to say that almost nobody is a member of the elect, and furthermore that he and the members of his congregation (mostly his family) are the only members of the elect, because they are the only ones not afraid to publish the current relevent application of the word of God (that "God hates studmuffins").
During 1993–94 interviews with the Topeka Capital-Journal, the four Phelps children (out of thirteen) who had left the church asserted that their father's religious beliefs were either nonexistent to begin with or have dwindled down to nearly nothing. They insist that Westboro actually serves to enable a paraphilia of Phelps, wherein he is literally addicted to hatred (this statement would serve as the inspiration for the title of the book about Phelps' life). Two of his sons, Mark and Nate, insist that the church is actually a carefully planned cult that allows Phelps to see himself as a demigod, wielding absolute control over the lives of his family and congregants, essentially turning them into slaves that he can use for the sole purpose of gratifying his every whim and acting as the structure for his delusion that he is the only righteous man on Earth.[12] In 1995, Mark Phelps wrote a letter to the people of Topeka to this effect; it was run in the Topeka Capital-Journal.[13] The children's claim is partially backed up by B.H. McAllister, the Baptist minister who ordained Phelps. McAllister said in a 1993 interview that Phelps developed a delusion wherein he was one of the few people on Earth worthy of God's grace and that everyone else in the world was going to Hell, and that salvation or damnation could be directly obtained by either aligning with or opposing Phelps. Phelps maintains this belief to this day.[12] Phelps and his family picket somewhere every day. They picket about 15 churches every Sunday.[14]
On the Westboro website godhatessweden.com, Phelps declares the heavy Swedish losses in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, initially calculated (exaggeratedly) at 20,000, to be God's punishment of Sweden for the prosecution of Åke Green and depicts a granite monument designed by himself to Green as a Christian martyr, announcing plans to erect copies of it throughout the U.S. In response, Green has called Phelps "appalling" and "extremely unpleasant" [19], stressing that while Phelps proclaims hatred for homosexuals and condemns them to Hell, Green hopes for them to repent and go to Heaven. Furious, Phelps then renounced Green as a traitor and an ingrate.
Political and biographical stuff you probably didn't know -Phelps has run in various Kansas Democratic Party primaries in Kansas five times, but has never won. These included races for governor in 1990, 1994, and 1998, receiving about 15% of the vote in 1998.[20]
Phelps supported Al Gore in the 1988 and 1992 elections.[21] In his 1984 Senate race, Gore opposed a "gay bill of rights" and stated that homosexuality was not a choice that "society should affirm".[22] Phelps has stated that he supported Gore because of these earlier comments. According to Phelps, members of the Westboro Baptist Church helped run Gore's 1988 campaign in Kansas. Phelps has stated that he hosted a Gore fundraiser in his home attended by about 500 people. Gore spokesman Dag Vega declined to comment; "We are not dignifying those stories with a response."[23][24][25] Also, Fred's son, Fred Phelps Jr. held a fundraiser, which Al and Tipper Gore attended, at his home in Topeka, and Fred, Jr. served as a Gore delegate to the 1988 Democratic National Convention.[26]
Phelps has repeatedly championed Fidel Castro for Castro's stance against homosexuality; in 1998 Harper's magazine published a letter Phelps sent to Castro in which he praised Castro and lambasted the U.S. In 2004, when a pro-homosexual Cuban refugee announced plans to travel to Cuba, Phelps sent another letter to Castro "warning" him of the man's plans and requesting travel visas for a group of WBC congregants so that they could follow the refugee around Havana with signs bearing anti-U.S. and anti-homosexual slogans. Castro also ignored that appeal.[citation needed]
In 2003, before the fall of Saddam Hussein during the Iraq War, Phelps wrote Hussein a letter praising his regime for being, in his opinion, "the only Muslim state that allows the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to be freely and openly preached on the streets."[31] Furthermore, he stated that he would like to send a delegation to Baghdad to "preach the Gospel" for one week. Hussein granted permission, and a group of WBC congregants traveled to Iraq to protest against the U.S. The parishioners stood on the streets of Baghdad and heavily patronized Baghdad establishments holding signs condemning Bill and Hillary Clinton and anal sex.[32]"
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps
