Death of a Tyrant

Fred Phelps is the head of the Westboro Baptist Church. The WBC is a 'church' based out of Kansas that has become known for picketing military funerals, LGBT activities and basically anything and anyone they deem 'evil'.  The WBC has been banned in a few countries. They have been sued and taken to court over free speech rights. Because of the WBC many states now have laws restricting picketing at funerals. The WBC is largely made up of the Phelps extended family, Fred being the patriarch. They are the most hated family in the US.

And now Fred Phelps is in a hospice dying.

A few years ago I would have been overjoyed at this news. This man is the most hateful, angry and terrifying person I've ever known within my lifetime. The stories his excommunicated children and grandchildren have told of this evil man's ways of 'teaching' them is horrifying.

There have been many documentaries made featuring the Phelps family as well as the WBC. They are an average looking family who is also very intelligent. Many of them go to college and become lawyers. They are not stupid people. They just happen to all have grown up  under the same iron thumb of Fred Phelps. They have all been forced into believing the evil things this mad man has trained them to accept since birth.

I almost can't blame them. I feel sorry for the children. I feel sorry for the young adults. I feel sorry for the grown children of Fred. His daughter, Shirley, is the one I feel most sorry for. She is too far gone. She went to school and earned her law degree. She is not an unintelligent woman. She's a very strong and motivated woman. She was just raised to believe a horrible lie. Just like many religious people are. This family just happens to be more forceful with their horrible opinions.

Fred Phelps dying is not something I wish to celebrate. The suffering and death of another person is not something to be joyous over. I do not feel happiness in his dying. As much as he and his family are hated by others, he was loved and cared for by his remaining children, grandchildren and church members.

Just because this family was mean and hurtful to so many others doesn't mean that we are now allowed to relish in their pain. Many people are happy to see this man die. I'm not saddened by it. But, I have no wish to picket his funeral- if they even have one for him. ( I really thought he had died a few years back and they had just buried him in the backyard.)

The best thing to do is let this man die and not make it news. That's exactly what this family wants. More news and time in the spotlight. Let Fred Phelps die and perhaps the 'church' will go with him.