I just read the following by Nate Phelps-- yes the son of that consummate hate-monger, Fred Phelps.
I was so impressed by his letter that I had to share. If you've seen it already, it's worth a re-read.
http://natephelps.com/10801.html (http://natephelps.com/10801.html)
Sickening and horrible. But I'm so glad he is now free.
May Reason be with him.
May the demons of his childhood go to that place they seem so fond of.
Many years ago I read a longer, and much more painful, first-hand account of his childhood.
It has left me wondering to this day what happens to FP's grandchildren when they return home from yet another bout of trampling US flags while heaping insult and injury onto the private pain of complete strangers for no logical reason. Do they suffer the same rounds of vile-lent physical, mental and emotional abuse? How could they not, with their grandfather even more entrenched into his own crazy world, and surrounded/reinforced by the echo chamber of his mindless minions -- their own parents. I've wondered about his poor, tormented wife as her daughter, the truly disturbing Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper, has supplanted her as Fred's outspoken female mouthpiece (an inherent contradiction on so many levels). I wonder about the youngest children he claims as his own, and what kind of god would wring children for quite so long a time from that poor woman's body.
I wonder about a society that *knowingly* turned a blind eye on abuse of that scale -- because it feared his 'power' and was reluctant to interfere with 'paternal rights' -- thereby helping to turn him into the monster he has become. And finally, I wonder what will happen to all those legally enslaved in his compound, when he finally shuffles off his mortal coil.
:'( :P
Kids are property in the US.
More or less, I supposed minors are.
I am glad that Nate somehow summoned the strength of mind to get the heck out of that horrific family scene in spite of his father's brainwashing. I am so, so sorry that his mother did not pick up and leave with the kids as soon as this started, which any mom in her right mind should have done.
Quote from: Opsanus tau on April 03, 2010, 04:53:03 PM
... which any mom in her right mind should have done.
Key phrase, here is "right mind".
Many religions so affect one's sense of 'self' that you literally cannot think beyond the walls such religious teaching creates-- it is not remotely possible.
It usually takes an outside force, some external trauma or influence to pierce those walls, directly intruding into your mind's worldview.
We typically have a rather libertarian view, with regards to adults' choice of worldviews--which is good, I think.
Unfortunately, that preference fails when it comes to poor benighted women like the wife of Fred-- alas I do not even know the poor woman's name, so eclipsed she is by her evil husband's hate.
Of course some kids are good at advanced theology. As in this extract from "Outnumbered" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outnumbered):
----
Ben: Can I ask you another question about the Bible?
Vicar: Err, well yes of course you can Ben.
Ben: King Herod set out to kill baby Jesus, right?
Vicar: Right yes he did, yep.
Ben: Well, why didn't baby Jesus zap him?
Vicar: Well yes, I suppose in theory he could've... zapped him...
Ben: Because Herod was a tiny little speck of nothing to Jesus, cause Jesus could have squashed him with a hippopotamus or -
Karen: But Jesus was meek and mild.
Vicar: Well, yes, that's true Karen.
Karen: And besides, he knew that when when King Herod got to hell, God would roast him until his eyeballs exploded!
^ :) ^
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As regards kids being property in the US, it is sadly true regardless of the color of the local political map. Several years ago, an abused 11 year old boy escaped -- in the middle of the night -- from a locked basement dog kennel in the dead of winter. He walked, barefoot and coatless through the snow, to the local police station to *BEG* for help for even younger siblings still chained in the kennel.
The local judge quickly ordered that the boy (not to mention his siblings) be removed from protective Child Social Services custody post-haste and returned to his home because the father's parental rights were being violated by negative publicity.
A hue and cry went up from the local populace, which seemed to genuinely confuse the judge, who was only standing up for family values in a sea of godless liberals.
:P :P :P
It reminds me a quote from a video game:
you could no more domesticate a child than a boa constrictor...
Apparently certain attitudes are still close to that description.
I've got my grandson Cap'n B coming to stay over tonight. I think of that kid and try to imagine how anyone could do that kind of stuff to a child.
As old and cynical as I am, I just can't comprehend it. Okay, young kids can drive you to distraction at times and I can understand a smack given by a parent at the end of their tether. But this vile sadism....