I was in Memphis visiting The King when the devil died…
Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka hate monger Fred Phelps, that is. So I didn’t get to “experience” much of the hoopla that went down in Phelps’ wake – or at his wake – but a check of the church’s website proved telling.
These guys love to dish it out, but they totally can’t take it.
“The world-wide media has been in a frenzy during the last few days, gleefully anticipating the death of Fred Waldron Phelps Sr.,” the church’s blog begins. “It has been an unprecedented, hypocritical, vitriolic explosion of words. Do they vainly hope for the death of his body? People die – that is the way of all flesh.”
There’s more.
“So – the death of Fred Phelps’ body, a man who preached a plain faithful doctrine to an ever darkening world, is nothing but a vain, empty, hypocritical hope for you,” it continues. “It’s like every journalist in the world simultaneously set aside what little journalistic integrity they have, so that they could wait breathlessly for a rumor to publish: in-fighting, succession plans, and power struggles, oh my! How shameful! You’re like a bunch of little girls on the playground waiting for some gossip!”
What’d I tell you? Clearly a case of paper thin skin.
“Listen carefully; there are no power struggles in the Westboro Baptist Church, and there is no human intercessor – we serve no man, and no hierarchy, only the Lord Jesus Christ. No red shoes, no goofy hat, and no white smoke for us; thank you very much.
“No board, no separate decision making body, just humble servants of God – qualified according to the scriptures, and chosen by the church – privileged to feed the sheep for a time. 2500 years ago, the Prophet Jeremiah described this tabloid journalism quite well.”
And it looks like – at least for the time being – Phelp’s spirit will live on.
“God forbid, if every little soul at the Westboro Baptist Church were to die at this instant, or to turn from serving the true and living God, it would not change one thing about the judgments of God that await this deeply corrupted nation and world,” the blog continues. “That is the pinnacle of your hopes, and by far the most vain. Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, or the power of God.
“There is only one hope for any human – inside or outside of this little church – that God gives you repentance unto salvation. We pray that the Lord will do just that for any of our enemies whom he has predestined to eternal life. And for those who are truly the enemies of God – ordained of old to such a condemnation – we pray his righteous wrath and vengeance, wherein we rejoice.
“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”
Translation: On one hand the Westboros say they are praying for “their enemies,” but on the other, they said they plan to “rejoice” for “enemies of God” when the almighty kicks their asses straight to Hell.
How charitable of them!
So no mention that they ex-communicated him while on his deathbed?
That was a rumor that they seem to be denying here.
Although it doesn’t stack up as much of a tribute, does it?
Right at the end, Constantine the Great played a Glazer “Tease” with the gods, maybe Phelps tried the same thing.
Can’t blame a guy for trying.