The truth shall set you free, but healing the damage caused by the lies is going to take some work.The "most hated person in America" used to be noted atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair. It's somewhat interesting that now the "most hated person" is Fred Phelps, pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, and his family and followers. They are hated because they do everything possible to spread a message of hate and fear. Madalyn Murray O'Hair's son became a Christian fundamentalist whose organization does its best to try and turn our government into a theocracy.
Nate Phelps, the son of Fred Phelps, is a freethinker and a non-believer. Read more about how he managed to endure the cruel, harsh conditions dealt out by a patriarch with more openly expressed hate-mongering than any rightwing pundit you can think of.
He escaped becoming one of the "God Hates ____" crowd, but is still dealing with post-traumatic stress and the lingering fears that are hard to purge after they've been pounded into your brain so hard. He was one of the main inspirations for the forming of this support Group, "Life After Christian Fundamentalism" (which I think I may join when I get more time to participate).
Also, check out Nate's website, and blog.
This is a topic that I feel close to, as it's a journey that I have made as well, and want to say more about it but it is just going to have to wait until work eases up on me a bit.
2 comments:
so true about hate.
They are stupid, but mainly, they are dangerous. Actually those particular wackos are so extreme that they even drive a few other extremists back toward the center (not enough though).
It's so great to know that at least 3 of Phelp's kids have escaped their father's hateful cult. Thanks so much for linking to this article!
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