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Nathan Phelps

English Template:Infobox persoon Nathan "Nate" Phelps (Topeka (Kansas), 22 november 1958) is een Amerikaans-Canadese auteur, homorechtenactivist,[1] en publieke spreker over religie en kindermisbruik. Hij is de zesde van de dertien kinderen van dominee Fred Phelps (1929–2014), van wie hij —samen met drie andere kinderen— vervreemd is geraakt sinds zijn 18e verjaardag in 1976 tot zijn vaders dood.[2] Phelps heeft de Westboro Baptist Church definitief verlaten in 1980 en heeft de groep sindsdien in het openbaar fel bekritiseerd.[3]

Vroege leven

Phelps werd op 22 november 1958 geboren te Topeka in de Amerikaanse staat Kansas.[4] Van zijn geboorte tot zijn 18e woonde Phelps bij zijn ouders Fred en Margie. Hoewel hij op een lokale openbare school zat,[5] draaide zijn leven verder volkomen rond zijn vaders Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), die naast hun familiehuis stond[6] binnen een ommuurd complex.[2] Er werd streng toegezien op aanwezigheid bij geplande preken en de tijd buiten school om werd vooral ingevuld met geld inzamelen voor de kerk door snoepverkoop.[7][8] Dit werd later overtroffen door deelname in zijn vaders intensieve trainingsprogramma, waarbij Phelps en zijn broers en zussen na school regelmatig 8 of 16 kilometer gingen hardlopen,[5] met daarbovenop een rage-dieet.[9]

Phelps beschreef zijn vader als "ernstig bevooroordeeld",[6] gewelddadig[10] en mishandelend,[6] en heeft melding gemaakt van ellenlange afranselingen met een leren riem[2] en later met het heft van een houweel.[11] Phelps' broer Mark en zus Dortha hebben diens claims over fysieke mishandeling door hun vader bevestigd.[3][6][12][2][13]

Verlating Westboro

Op zijn 18e verjaardag verliet Phelps zijn ouders' huis. Hoewel hij innerlijk nog worstelde, liet hij zijn familie en de WBC in de steek, ondanks zijn diepe overtuiging dat dit betekende dat hij onmiddellijk in de hel zou belanden.[7] Met grote angst dat zijn ontsnapping zou worden tegengehouden door zijn mishandelende vader,[14] ontvluchtte Phelps, na het geven van een luide schreeuw van protest,[4] in het holst van de nacht zijn ouderlijk huis[6] met een oude auto die hij specifiek hiervoor had gekocht, met verder weinig plannen of voorbereiding voor erna.[9] Hij sliep de eerste nacht in het mannentoilet van een tankstation in de buurt.[4]

Phelps verliet de WBC voordat die begon met haar publieke demonstraties; hij heeft de oorsprong van de WBC-protesten toegeschreven aan zijn vaders uitsluiting van het juridische ambt.[13][7]

Kansas en Californië: van geloof naar atheïsme

After leaving WBC Phelps undertook various jobs before reuniting with his older brother Mark, and in 1978 they established a printing company together in Prairie Village, near Kansas City.[4] The company later relocated to Southern California. Phelps worked for 25 years in the print business.[7]

Three years after leaving, Phelps got back in touch with his family,[4] and for a brief period left Mark and the firm to stay with them. His father had offered to fund him through law school, a path which took eleven of his siblings into careers as lawyers[15] but which did not interest Nathan and he resisted. Fred never accepted him back, eventually denouncing him. Phelps then left again, this time for good. He permanently broke contact with his father.

In the 20 years following his departure, Phelps tried to find a milder form of Christianity, and raised his own children within an Evangelical church, but his doubts only grew as he continued studying religion. At the Reason Rally in Washington on March 24, 2012, he told that the events of 9/11 finally brought him to disbelief:


In addition to this, Phelps identifies both his experience reading Michael Shermer's book The Science of Good and Evil[7] and the birth of his first child[9] as turning points in his world view. Phelps now describes himself as an atheist.[5]

Career as activist, speaker and author

Phelps later moved to rural British Columbia, Canada,[5] and currently lives in Calgary, Alberta. He is the Executive Director of the Centre for Inquiry Calgary,[17] a secular organization that educates and advocates reason and science. He also serves on the board of directors for Recovering from Religion, an organization which offers education and practical support for people moving away from religion.[18][19]

He is an active public speaker[20] and appears at atheist, skeptical and secular events[14] including a rock festival.[21] He has spoken at numerous Gay Pride events[22][8][23] and describes himself as a "LBGT activist".[24][25] He emphasises his work raising awareness of child abuse related to religion and its legal status[7] and has published articles on this topic.[26]

He is known for his criticism of the Westboro Baptist Church through literature, interviews, public speaking at atheist conventions and his website. He states that his father physically abused him and the other Phelps children and he believes that the church was an organization for his father to "vent his rage and anger."[10]

As of 2014, Phelps is working on a book called "Leaving Westboro — Escaping America's Most Hated Church & Family."[17] In the same year, he made a widely reported announcement that his father was terminally ill,[27] and also that Pastor Phelps had been "excommunicated" from his own church during 2013.[28] His father died on March 19, 2014, not long after Nathan's announcement of his father's terminal illness.

Criticism

Phelps has been criticised by members of his family still active in the Westboro Baptist Church. His sister Shirley Phelps-Roper, a prominent spokesperson for the Church, said "Nathan Phelps is a rebel against God. He has nothing to look forward to except sorrow, misery, death and hell", and stated that he "left when he was a raging disobedient rebel with selective memory".[11] His only encounter with his father since 1980 was on a radio talk program, on which Fred Phelps was highly critical of his son.[7][6][4][10]

Westboro Baptist Church has itself been widely criticised, and has been described as "roundly derided" and "widely rebuked and criticised" by Christian groups[29] which distance WBC's views from their own, and in other cases WBC is accused of "misreading" and "misrepresenting" the Bible.[15][30] Phelps has responded to this position arguing that WBC's position was derived by his father from bona fide Biblical text[7] and has written on the wider subject of mainstream Christianity's rejection of extremists.[31]

See also

Template:Appendix

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelps, Nathan}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Canadian atheists]] [[Category:Canadian skeptics]] [[Category:Former evangelicals]] [[Category:LGBT rights activists from Canada]] [[Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States]] [[Category:People from Calgary]] [[Category:People from Topeka, Kansas]] [[Category:Westboro Baptist Church]] [[Category:American emigrants to Canada]] [[Category:Naturalized citizens of Canada]]

  1. ^ Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. Hampson, Sarah. (28 juni 2010). "After years of silence, Nate Phelps faces off with his anti-gay father". The Globe and Mail. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d "Inside the Westboro Baptist Church". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2001. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  3. ^ a b Kendall, Justin. http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/the-new-fred/Content?oid=2183486&showFullText=true "The New Fred: Shirley Phelps-Roper is just like her notorious father — except in one crucial way,"] Pitch.com, November 2, 2006. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Jon Michael Bell, Joe Taschler and Steve Fry (1994-06-29). "Addicted to Hate: The Fred Phelps Story. Exhibit A of the lawsuit filed in Shawnee County District Court in Topeka, Kansas by Jon Michael Bell against Stauffer Communications in June of 1994, Case number 94CV766. Chapter 8: Over the Wall at Westboro". Rslevinson.com. Deborah Levinson. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  5. ^ a b c d "Nate Phelps - Ex-member of the Westboro Baptist Church and Phelps family". AND Magazine. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Hannaford, Alex (2013-03-12). "Nate Phelps on escaping Westboro Baptist Church". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "80: Nathan Phelps". Irreligiosophy. 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  8. ^ a b Lawrence Tech Pride Week 2012 "Nate Phelps". YouTube. 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  9. ^ a b c Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. The Thinking Atheist. "Nathan Phelps Escaping Westboro Baptist Church". BlogTalkRadio.
  10. ^ a b c Anderson, Ric (2006-07-23). "Phelps' son speaks out". Topeka Capital-Journal.
  11. ^ a b Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. Trevor Melanson (2008-10-31). "Running From Hell - Growing Up In America's Most Hated Family (p6)" (PDF). The Ubyssey. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  12. ^ Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. "The Phelps family has declared war on Topeka". Topeka Capital-Journal. Topeka, Kansas: Morris Communications. 20 november 1994. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  13. ^ a b Kerry Lauerman (1999). "The Man Who Loves To Hate". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  14. ^ a b "Leaving Westboro: Nate Phelps traded a hate-filled faith for atheism". National Post. 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2014-02-11. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  15. ^ a b Andrea Stone Senior Washington Correspondent (2011-03-03). "Fred Phelps' Daughters May Misread Bible but They Know the Law". Aolnews.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ Daniel Fincke (March 26, 2012). "Nate Phelps's Sadness". Retrieved April 7, 2013. at the Reason Rally, 02:35–02:45 pm March 24, 2012.
  17. ^ a b "Centre for Inquiry Calgary". Centreforinquiry.ca. Centre for Inquiry Canada. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  18. ^ "Nate Phelps (bio)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  19. ^ "Board of Directors". Recovering From Religion. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  20. ^ "Events - Nate Phelps Official Website". Natephelps.com. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  21. ^ Brayton, Ed. "Nate Phelps at Rock Beyond Belief » Dispatches from the Culture Wars". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  22. ^ Pittsburg Pride Week 2010 Wednesday, June 09, 2010 (2010-06-09). "Stunning Pride Week kickoff: Son of anti-gay activist promotes tolerance at rally". Popcitymedia.com. Retrieved 2014-02-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ "Toronto Gay Pride 2010. Religion is Man-Made: Nate Phelps: Wesboro's forgotten son". Religionismanmade.blogspot.co.uk. 2013-06-24. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  24. ^ "Biography". natephelps.com.
  25. ^ "Nate Phelps: Breaking the mould". Daily Xtra. 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  26. ^ "Nate Phelps: Ritual Child Sacrifice Is Alive and Well in 21st Century America". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  27. ^ Adam Withnall (2014-03-16). "Fred Phelps, founder of 'God Hates Fags' Westboro Baptist Church, is 'on edge of death'". The Independent.
  28. ^ Martin Pengelly (2014-03-16). "Fred Phelps Sr, ex-pastor of gay-hating Westboro church, 'close to death'". The Guardian.
  29. ^ "Westboro Tornado Blame: Jason Collins and Kevin Durant to Blame for Oklahoma Twister, Claims Phelps (VIDEO)". The Christian Post. 2013-05-21. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  30. ^ "Fred Phelps is wrong about the gospel, right about the law". CNN. 2010-10-07. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  31. ^ Nate Phelps (2012-12-18). "Dear Maria". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
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