My Interview With Nate Phelps Son Of Pastor Fred Phelps

[meghanchavalier]

I recently did an interview with Nate Phelps, the estranged son of Pastor Fred Phelps, yes that Fred Phelps. The two couldn't be more differen't and I wanted to share it with you.

http://stoppingthehate.com/News-Article1900_Exclusive_Interview_Nate_Phelps_Estran ged_Son_Of_Fred_Phelps_Interviewed_By_Meghan_Chava lier.htm

[daleach]

Wow. Thats a real get. Nice job.

[meghanchavalier]

Thank you.

[2009AD]

excellent interview.

[Justawannabe]

Good interview, disturbing though.

[meghanchavalier]

The Phelps Family is definitely disturbing, but it was an eye opener for me to know that not everyone in the family feels the same way that Fred Phelps does about the gay community.

[Caramel]

Superb interview. Excellent work.

[Rogers]

It's really good to see how Nate and a few of his other siblings have rejected their father. It must have been very hard for them to turn their back on most of their family. As the saying goes, you can choose your neighbors but you can't choose your family. I also found it very revealing about what Nate said was the reasoning behind his father starting the protesting of military funerals. Kind of suggests a major personality flaw in his dad, but that's most likely stating the blinding obvious. To think you know the mind of God is most likely the greatest blasphemy of them all.

[a994]

I recently did an interview with Nate Phelps, the estranged son of Pastor Fred Phelps, yes that Fred Phelps. The two couldn't be more differen't and I wanted to share it with you.

http://stoppingthehate.com/News-Article1900_Exclusive_Interview_Nate_Phelps_Estran ged_Son_Of_Fred_Phelps_Interviewed_By_Meghan_Chava lier.htm


Thumbs up to you and Nate, Meghan! :D

[droog]

great interview meghan, nice work. i didn't know who fred phelps was when i clicked your post link, so i wikipediaed him and after reading the page, realized that he is evil in its truest form, somehow managing to infiltrate a church and use it as a front to cast hate among the world. oh and judging from his hatred of gays, he is probably a closet homosexual. good thing his son disowned him.

[rebeccacd17]

Great interview Meghan.

I can't imagine Nate's childhood, but I'm glad to hear that he and a few of his siblings have managed to escape his father's influence and engage in some critical thinking of their own. It says a lot about him that he can agree to an interview with a transsexual without hesitation after being raised in an environment completely filled with hate and fear. Thanks for sharing his story with us and for drawing out some of his experiences.

[elvis_p]

I echo the comments of others here: great job and excellent questions. Not only illuminating to get a peek behind the Phelps curtain in terms of motivation ("My father has anti-everyone beliefs."), but hopeful too. If anyone can emerge from an upbringing rooted in hate, abuse and fear while ultimately managing to embrace humanity, more light than darkness is possible.

Johann Hari spoke about the upward trajectory of gay rights here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-stonewall-riots-haven_b_223469.html

[meghanchavalier]

Nate Phelps is a really interesting person, and I was really happy that he agreed to do the interview. I can't imagine growing up with a father like Fred Phelps, but Nate said that he's definitely still working on the after effects and is a work in progress. That said, I'm glad that the interview shed some light into a family that everybody seems to know so little about.

The Phelps Family usually has something to say about the articles I've written about them on their website, but when it came to Nate's interview, they didn't say a word.