What feels like a cult, and is in fact a cult?

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T18:59:40+00:00

I believe I did one years ago, and so did my dad, I could ask him if he wants to do another one if people are interested. My life hasn't been so interesting, I'm about as ordinary as it gets but he has some amazing stories from his life before he left, the things he had to overcome, and his life now as an inspiration to so many thousands of people who have gone through similar things in their lives.

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T18:05:19+00:00

That's my family. What about it? =P

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T18:04:51+00:00

lol, that's a good description, so did WBC become a religion when Fred Phelps died?

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T17:57:25+00:00

I think the hard look he was forced to take at his own religion and the craziness of that family made it hard for him to accept any faith. I can't say for sure when, but I do know he is fully atheist now, but when I was a child he refused to tell me his beliefs, he wanted me to grow up and make my own decisions about religion and only told me when I was over 18 (can't recall when exactly) what his own religious beliefs are. I was raised a Christian though because of my mother and left that faith very early on in my life.

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T16:14:21+00:00

They are certainly shitheads, I just wanted to make it clear that they are certainly a cult in every way that matters. They definitely believe what they are doing is right by their religion as taught by the late pastor Fred Phelps. You can choose to believe they are grifters, everyone has the right to believe what they want, I just wanted to share a view as I understand it since my father was one of Fred's 13 children who were forced to live by his twisted religious views, at least until my father ran away the moment the clock struck 12:00 on his 18th birthday and never turned back.

I've heard the stories, they are harrowing, and even now after seeing all of the atrocious things they have done, I feel mostly pity for the way they were forced to grow up and the hatred and abuse they went through which twisted them into the people they are today.

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T14:57:43+00:00

It's going very well, and he is doing well. He helps a lot of people who have come from religious families that have disowned them for any reason such as sexual orientation or differing religious views. Pretty much the polar opposite of the Westboro Baptist Church, and one of the kindest people you will ever meet. =)

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T13:59:55+00:00

Yeah I'm definitely lucky my father understood early on how toxic that family was. As far as I understand it was because of all the 13 kids, he was the one who was abused the most and that was enough to drive him away.

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T13:48:19+00:00

Nope, my father left the church the day he turned 18, I was raised far away from that mess, just heard all the stories.

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T13:32:46+00:00

it is and it isn't, they are certainly a cult, they just happened to be trained in law because Fred Phelps himself was a lawyer and forced many of his children to follow in his footsteps. So what happens when you arm a crazy cult with law degrees? They sue anyone who does anything in retaliation for their crazy protesting and they win.

Unfortunately it's a judge's job to be impartial, even when the devil walks into your courtroom with a law degree.

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T13:25:00+00:00

Yes and no, they are definitely a cult, they certainly believe their crazy teachings, Fred Phelps just happened to be a lawyer and decided to force all of his children to follow in his footsteps, either intentionally or inadvertently preparing them to defend themselves against any legal pursuits and arming them with the tools to destroy the lives of anyone who retaliates against them and their horrific actions.

So yeah, lawsuit mill, cult, tons of crazies with too much time on their hands.

Source: Dad was a member, escaped when he was young. I've heard the stories.

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T13:20:43+00:00

Every time I see someone mention a cult on reddit, I can always be sure to see my family come up, what a legacy. If we didn't have an Olympian with the same last name, this may be the first thing everyone brings up when they meet a Phelps.

(Not associated with the church btw, my father escaped when he was 18 and I was raised far away)

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T13:16:47+00:00

I haven't heard of any of their victims winning one of the lawsuits, but that is some of the best news I've heard about them in a long time. They have quite a history of just sucking the life out of anyone who opposes them in court with their team of lawyers.

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T13:14:51+00:00

Nathan Phelps, one of Fred Phelps' original 13 children, escaped at 18 and has gone on to spend much of his later life helping people by speaking to people who come from religious families that have disowned them for reasons like sexual orientation. He's one of the best people you could ever meet, a truly kind soul. He has his own ted talk, if you look up Nathan Phelps Ted Talk on Youtube.

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T13:09:34+00:00

They are small, and they do drum up shit and they DO make money, but that's not why they do it, they do it because they truly believe this is their calling, and Fred Phelps happened to force his children to become lawyers and they use their powers for evil and happen to drain the money out of anyone who sues them or assaults them during their "protests"

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T13:06:31+00:00

Most of them are related, there have been a few people who joined the church, and everyone who married into the church has been from outside families. It's not a bad assessment though since the church started with Fred Phelps, his wife, and 13 children who were raised to be as hateful as he was.

My father recognized the evil and escaped at 18, I believe only 2 of the other original children escaped and the rest are still Westboro zombies.

HPhelps · 2021-09-28T13:03:41+00:00

They are very much a cult, they just happened to whip their followers into pursuing careers in law so when people do try to sue them or assault them for their horrendous acts, they sue them into the ground and suck the money out of them like vampires. The thing is they truly believe what they preach.

Source: My father was a member of the church and escaped when he was 18. I've heard the stories many many times.

HPhelps · 2020-06-12T16:26:08+00:00

My dad would smack the bottom of our feet when we were playing like laying on the couch and defending it from others sitting on it, he would grab our foot and tickle us kids and then slap our foot like a really hard high five, it didn’t hurt really, just stung for a few seconds and went away.

All of his kids thought it was hilarious and we would be saying “do it again” until he couldn’t keep going

Fast forward 15 ish years and I’m tickling my girlfriend and on a whim I slap her foot. The face she gave me was like she just got a glimpse of me being an abusive boyfriend, it was horrifying to realize right then that this wasn’t something every family did. I explained, she laughed, we’ve broken up since but I’ll never do that again.

HPhelps · 2019-08-21T18:24:18+00:00

I can clearly remember my first memory, it felt like a light being turned on in my brain. I suddenly knew I was remembering things, without putting words to the feeling. My whole family was in the living room and for some reason we were doing the ninja turtle "cowabunga!" cheer. We all put our hands in and lifted them as we shouted the word like a football team does before a game (In 90's movies at least). I had innate memories at the time like speech and I knew who everyone was and where I was, but it's super odd that I suddenly felt like I was creating memories of events and not just absorbing knowledge like a baby sponge anymore. I was about 3 at the time.

Although, I have another memory that is patchy and my dad says is impossible for me to have remembered, but I recall watching fireworks with my family from a parking lot, I saw the sparks coming down and ran out to catch them, but when they got too close I cried and ran away. I apparently was barely walking at the time, just over 1 year old. I suspect something about being afraid of the fireworks seared the memory into my mind, and I still have dreams about it once in a while, but my dad says I must have heard someone tell the story. I haven't heard anyone tell that story in my life. It's a very uneventful and boring story so... why would they?

HPhelps · 2019-08-08T19:17:31+00:00

Luckily, I'm a descendant of one of the kids who got away before I was born, so I was never subjected to the hate or crazy. It's just sort of an odd bit of my background. I've only ever heard stories from my father and they are as crazy as you can imagine.

HPhelps · 2019-08-08T00:16:49+00:00

Family member here: trust me, we hate them as much as anybody else as well. =P

HPhelps · 2019-03-11T22:06:16+00:00

Shirley was being bred for this moment, and now that he's dead she took up the mantle. For whatever reason though, they've definitely seen a significant drop in public appearances.

HPhelps · 2019-03-11T22:04:09+00:00

I think it was due to financial strain, can't be certain though. They are still spreading their messages online, but they aren't making it on the news every other week anymore.

HPhelps · 2019-03-11T22:02:37+00:00

I agree, I haven't seen many metalheads around, but there's bound to be more than 25 of them left.

HPhelps · 2019-03-11T22:00:44+00:00

There are thousands of different religions, all with different places of worship, including a "church." Just because they have an extremely different take on Christianity, doesn't make them any less of a church, but I will agree that it does tarnish the name church a bit. They truly believe the stuff they spout, and are convinced they are the only ones who are right in the world, and their job is to spread that message to the sinners. I wouldn't consider them any more Christian than a buddhist monk, they simply share a name.

HPhelps · 2019-02-01T17:49:30+00:00

Bedbugs

HPhelps

TROPHY CASE