2008-10-31 Running from hell

2008-10-31 Trevor Melanson The Ubyssey \Fred Phelps\Westboro Baptist Church\Nate Phelps\Shirley Phelps-Roper\Bible http://www.ubyssey.ca/?p=5624 Running from hell Running from hell  â€œThe Bible says â€˜spare the rod, spoil the child,â€™â€ explained Nate, â€œand he would be screaming that out as he was beating us.â€ One Christmas night, Pastor Phelps hit Nate over 200 times with a mattockâ€™s handle, swinging it like a baseball player. ... â€œA young lady got pregnant by a solider at Fort Riley,â€ explained Nate, â€œand [my fatherâ€™s] response to that was to kick her out of the church... and that sent most of the people packing. There was already that siege mentality developing: us against the world.â€ ... â€œI know that very early on [my father] was under the influence of those drugs,â€ Nate said. Pastor Phelps was attending law school and would take amphetamines to stay awake and barbiturates to come down. â€œIt spiralled out of control [and he] was prone toward violenceâ€¦.He just wasnâ€™t tolerant toward the presence of all of us kids running aroundâ€”and the accompanying noiseâ€¦.He would beat the kids with his fists and kick them and knee them in the stomach.â€

a glimpse into the hell that is Westboro Baptist Church through the eyes of Fred Phelps's son Nate   