Michael Ejercito wrote:

It is worthy to note that there is nothing hateful written in Mark
Phelps's letter. Mark Phelps chose to respond to hate with love.

It is also worthy to note that the letter is over thirteen years old
and it's newsworthyness has long passed unless there has been some
radical change in the positions of either Phelps since that time.

johac <jhachmann@sbcglobal.com> wrote in news:jhachmann-
2B9BDB.22232722112006@news.giganews.com:

In article <1164259611.588054.323660@j44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
"Conspiracy of Doves" <mark_dp73@yahoo.com> wrote:

http://www.godhateswbc.net/8.html

A letter from a son who left
The Capital-Journal/May 19, 1993
By Mark W. Phelps

Editors Note: This is a letter Mark Phelps wrote last year to citizens
of Topeka and northeast Kansas. It is printed at his request. It was
received at . Contacted by telephone in California July 7, 1994, Mark
Phelps said the letter still represents his feelings. He also

cautioned

people against taking the letter out of context, saying there is
"gentleness" in the context of the letter and a hope that the

community

can better understand Fred Phelps based on what the letter contains.

"Many people have been asking me, over the past several weeks, about

my

father. They want to know what I think about him and 'What is he

really

like?' People's interest in what I think baffles me, but after careful
consideration, I decided to respond.

What is he like? Well, it's been 19 years since I left home, but his
behavior still appears to be the same. He considers his environment to
be against him without admitting, acknowledging or taking
responsibility for how he contributes to that. He likes to show

himself

as being moral, pro-family, pro-Bible, but his actions just don't add
up to that. I believe in God and the Bible, and my father's behavior
doesn't fit the description of behavior that would show in the life of
one who loves God; behavior characteristics such as Love, Joy, Peace,
Longsuffering, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness,
Self-control. Instead, my father's behavior characterizes, I believe,
Hate, Outbursts of Wrath, Contention, Jealousy, Vengefulness, Misery,
Harshness, and Selfish ambition. He mis-states the truth about his own
behavior, about others, about the Bible, with apparent ease and
regularity. He behaves with a viciousness the likes of which I have
never seen. He accepts no genuine accountability in his life and is
subject to no one. His lifestyle betrays the sacred trust of what a
pastor, husband, father and grandfather should be. I suppose if a
comparison were made between the life of Jesus Christ and my father,
there would not be much to compare.

I also realize that my father is a very unstable person who is
determined to hurt people. And because he is so bound to be hateful

and

hurtful, and because he's so untrustworthy, I believe it's a good idea
to respond to him with caution much like the caution used when dealing
with a rattlesnake or a mad dog. You see, the causes that he crusades
for, including the Bible, are not the issue here. He simply wants to
hate and to have a forum for his hate. If the causes he focuses on

were

the issue, that is, if they really meant something to him in his heart
and he meant for the things he does to be for the good, his behavior
would not be what it is. He would not betray his message with his
behavior. But, when he needs to, to vent his hate, he readily goes
outside the bounds of any previously stated 'value' or 'cause' he may
have supported. He experiences no moral dilemma when it comes to doing
what he wants to do. If it weren't the homosexuals, it would be
something else.

Yet checks and balances on his behavior are appropriate, on the part

of

the community, in order to at least confine his destructive behaviors
and to limit his influence. I believe that Topekans are making a good
effort to try and stop him and should continue to do so. He can seem
very intimidating. He can use foul language and come across with a
booming voice to the community, but the truth is, like the Wizard of
Oz, when Toto pulls the curtain back, instead of this big powerful
individual, it's only a small, pathetic old man. I feel sorry for my
father as I would for anyone who displays this kind of hate and evil
viciousness. These can only be the manifestations of tortured, injured
and agonizing souls."

I hate to imagine what his childhood must have been like growing up in
that family

There's a transcript online called "Addicted to Hate":

http://www.robertslevinson.com/gaylesissues/features/collect/phelps/bl_ph
elpschapter01.htm

From Chapter 2:

"Daddy's Hands"

Mark Phelps feels nauseated whenever he remembers that night. He was hit
over 60 times and his brother, Nate, over 200 with a mattock handle. Nate
went into shock. Mark didn't. A boy who became a compulsive counter to
handle the stress, Mark counted every stroke. His and Nate's. While their
father screamed obscenities and his brother screamed in pain. Every 20
strokes, their mother wiped their faces off in the tub. Nate passed out
anyway. That was Christmas Day.

Though he believes he should be the next governor of Kansas, Pastor
Phelps has never believed in Christmas. A mattock is a pick-***** using a
wooden handle heavier than a bat. Fred swung it with both hands like a
ballplayer and with all his might. "The first blow stunned your whole
body," says Mark. "By the third blow, your backside was so tender, even
the lightest strike was agonizing, but he'd still hit you like he wanted
to put it over the fence. By 20, though, you'd have grown numb with pain.
That was when my father would quit and start on my brother. Later, when
the feeling had returned and it hurt worse than before, he'd do it again.
"After 40 strokes, I was weak and nauseous and very pale. My body hurt
terribly. Then it was Nate's turn. He got 40 each time. "I staggered to
the bathtub where my mom was wetting a towel to swab my face. Behind me,
I could hear the mattock and my brother was choking and moaning. He was
crying and he wouldn't stop." The voice in the phone halts. After an
awkward moment, clearing of throats, it continues: "Then I heard my
father shouting my name. My mom was right there, but she wouldn't help
me. It hurt so badly during the third beating that I kept wanting to drop
so he would hit me in the head. I was hoping I'd be knocked out, or
killed...anything to end the pain. "After that...it was waiting that was
terrible. You didn't know if, when he was done with Nate, he'd hurt you
again. I was shaking in a cold panic. Twenty-five years since it
happened, and the same sick feeling in my stomach comes back now..."

--
Doc Smartass

johac <jhachmann@sbcglobal.com> wrote in news:jhachmann-
2B9BDB.22232722112006@news.giganews.com:

In article <1164259611.588054.323660@j44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
"Conspiracy of Doves" <mark_dp73@yahoo.com> wrote:

http://www.godhateswbc.net/8.html

A letter from a son who left
The Capital-Journal/May 19, 1993
By Mark W. Phelps

Editors Note: This is a letter Mark Phelps wrote last year to citizens
of Topeka and northeast Kansas. It is printed at his request. It was
received at . Contacted by telephone in California July 7, 1994, Mark
Phelps said the letter still represents his feelings. He also

cautioned

people against taking the letter out of context, saying there is
"gentleness" in the context of the letter and a hope that the

community

can better understand Fred Phelps based on what the letter contains.

"Many people have been asking me, over the past several weeks, about

my

father. They want to know what I think about him and 'What is he

really

like?' People's interest in what I think baffles me, but after careful
consideration, I decided to respond.

What is he like? Well, it's been 19 years since I left home, but his
behavior still appears to be the same. He considers his environment to
be against him without admitting, acknowledging or taking
responsibility for how he contributes to that. He likes to show

himself

as being moral, pro-family, pro-Bible, but his actions just don't add
up to that. I believe in God and the Bible, and my father's behavior
doesn't fit the description of behavior that would show in the life of
one who loves God; behavior characteristics such as Love, Joy, Peace,
Longsuffering, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness,
Self-control. Instead, my father's behavior characterizes, I believe,
Hate, Outbursts of Wrath, Contention, Jealousy, Vengefulness, Misery,
Harshness, and Selfish ambition. He mis-states the truth about his own
behavior, about others, about the Bible, with apparent ease and
regularity. He behaves with a viciousness the likes of which I have
never seen. He accepts no genuine accountability in his life and is
subject to no one. His lifestyle betrays the sacred trust of what a
pastor, husband, father and grandfather should be. I suppose if a
comparison were made between the life of Jesus Christ and my father,
there would not be much to compare.

I also realize that my father is a very unstable person who is
determined to hurt people. And because he is so bound to be hateful

and

hurtful, and because he's so untrustworthy, I believe it's a good idea
to respond to him with caution much like the caution used when dealing
with a rattlesnake or a mad dog. You see, the causes that he crusades
for, including the Bible, are not the issue here. He simply wants to
hate and to have a forum for his hate. If the causes he focuses on

were

the issue, that is, if they really meant something to him in his heart
and he meant for the things he does to be for the good, his behavior
would not be what it is. He would not betray his message with his
behavior. But, when he needs to, to vent his hate, he readily goes
outside the bounds of any previously stated 'value' or 'cause' he may
have supported. He experiences no moral dilemma when it comes to doing
what he wants to do. If it weren't the homosexuals, it would be
something else.

Yet checks and balances on his behavior are appropriate, on the part

of

the community, in order to at least confine his destructive behaviors
and to limit his influence. I believe that Topekans are making a good
effort to try and stop him and should continue to do so. He can seem
very intimidating. He can use foul language and come across with a
booming voice to the community, but the truth is, like the Wizard of
Oz, when Toto pulls the curtain back, instead of this big powerful
individual, it's only a small, pathetic old man. I feel sorry for my
father as I would for anyone who displays this kind of hate and evil
viciousness. These can only be the manifestations of tortured, injured
and agonizing souls."

I hate to imagine what his childhood must have been like growing up in
that family

There's a transcript online called "Addicted to Hate":

http://www.robertslevinson.com/gaylesissues/features/collect/phelps/bl_ph
elpschapter01.htm

From Chapter 2:

"Daddy's Hands"

Mark Phelps feels nauseated whenever he remembers that night. He was hit
over 60 times and his brother, Nate, over 200 with a mattock handle. Nate
went into shock. Mark didn't. A boy who became a compulsive counter to
handle the stress, Mark counted every stroke. His and Nate's. While their
father screamed obscenities and his brother screamed in pain. Every 20
strokes, their mother wiped their faces off in the tub. Nate passed out
anyway. That was Christmas Day.

Though he believes he should be the next governor of Kansas, Pastor
Phelps has never believed in Christmas. A mattock is a pick-***** using a
wooden handle heavier than a bat. Fred swung it with both hands like a
ballplayer and with all his might. "The first blow stunned your whole
body," says Mark. "By the third blow, your backside was so tender, even
the lightest strike was agonizing, but he'd still hit you like he wanted
to put it over the fence. By 20, though, you'd have grown numb with pain.
That was when my father would quit and start on my brother. Later, when
the feeling had returned and it hurt worse than before, he'd do it again.
"After 40 strokes, I was weak and nauseous and very pale. My body hurt
terribly. Then it was Nate's turn. He got 40 each time. "I staggered to
the bathtub where my mom was wetting a towel to swab my face. Behind me,
I could hear the mattock and my brother was choking and moaning. He was
crying and he wouldn't stop." The voice in the phone halts. After an
awkward moment, clearing of throats, it continues: "Then I heard my
father shouting my name. My mom was right there, but she wouldn't help
me. It hurt so badly during the third beating that I kept wanting to drop
so he would hit me in the head. I was hoping I'd be knocked out, or
killed...anything to end the pain. "After that...it was waiting that was
terrible. You didn't know if, when he was done with Nate, he'd hurt you
again. I was shaking in a cold panic. Twenty-five years since it
happened, and the same sick feeling in my stomach comes back now..."