Fred Phelps is dead

[Razmos]

Twitter is very confused:

[KhainiWest]

[ShinkuDragon]

when i saw the thread i thought fred would be the father of michael phelps or some sort of important family member to the swimmer. then i entered and read the thread.

but confusing fred with the ACTUAL swimmer? man, some people...

[xparasite9]

I'm honestly glad that he's dead.

What ever happened to "I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone"?

[Razmos]

Fred Phelps, 84, died late Wednesday (19 March), according to online postings of his church.And now, experts on the so-called church say it will likely fizzle out.
In the past few years, several members have left and it now only consists of a few remaining followers – nearly all family members of Phelps.
‘It's unclear whether this so-called church will survive the death of its founder,’ said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has closely monitored the group.
‘In some ways, it was a cult of personality.’
Potok compared the Westboro Baptist Church to past extreme-right groups, such as neo-Nazi groups National Alliance and Aryan Nations, that collapsed quickly after the death of their leaders.
‘When you build a group so much around the personality and politics of a single leader, it's sometimes difficult to keep that group alive when that leader dies,’ Potok said. ‘It's possible the church could fall apart in the next year or two.’

I'd heard that some members of his family (2 of his grandchildren I believe, though they could be more) left the church and both become advocates of gay rights and completely against the church (to the extent that the family blocked them from going to see Fred Phelps in the hospital).

Even hatred of that magnitude can't stand the test of time. Surveys have shown that the younger generations are way more accepting of homosexuality than the older ones, and it looks like it's forming cracks in that insane cult too. It won't be long before the whole thing is gone.

[MariettaRC]

While I'm glad to know the founder is gone, I'm not celebrating his death or even speaking ill of it. There's no point, considering the Church is still going to be around (apparently his daughter is the new church leader now) and it makes me no better than them.

It's also actually quite sad because apparently his own children who were excommunicated from the church were not allowed to see him on his deathbed. Whether that was his request or not, I have no idea.

[xparasite9]

converts

But isn't the WBC just mostly comprised of the extended Phelps family?

[KhainiWest]

[zeroforeverintime]

LOL! That made my day!