The mattock, a close cousin of the pickaxe, is used to dig through tough, earthy surfaces—it loosens soil, breaks rock, and tears through knotted grass. Its handle is a three-foot wooden shaft, twice the density of a baseball bat and its dual-sided iron head is comprised of a chisel and a pick. It was Pastor Fred Phelps’s weapon of choice when beating his children according to his son, Nate Phelps.
“The Bible says ‘spare the rod, spoil the child,’” explained Nate, “and he would be screaming that out as he was beating us.” One Christmas night, Pastor Phelps hit Nate over 200 times with a mattock’s handle, swinging it like a baseball player.
Nate would hide out in the garage with his siblings, where he could escape his father’s wrath. What he couldn’t escape, however, was the fear of going to hell. He suffered much abuse growing up under the roof of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church (WBC)—he still suffers today.
39 comments
Phelps needs a month spent locked in a cell with a hairy, sweaty 400lb man dressed as Vlad the Impaler, a selection of girthy vegetables, seatless pants and no lube.
Actually, the original Bible quote is:
"He who spares the rod, hates his son."
*pffft* For someone who proclaims himself a man of Christ, he could at least know the words actually attributed to said carpenter, regardless of whether or not he heeds them.
It's sad that an agnostic deist like yours truly would know more of the Christian scriptures than a self-professed Christian.
My understanding of the phrase 'spare the rod' was that the rod was a stick used to guide sheep; i.e. to touch it to one of their sides to steer them. So it was about guiding sheep, any by extension through the metaphor, children, on the right way to go. Which is eminently reasonable.
It's NOTHING about belting the bejaysus out of them.
I remember saying this to a fundie friend, who was greatly relieved and said that she had hated hitting her children but felt she had to cos it was biblical; and much preferred this interpretation. Scary that a) she'd hit her children against her feelings and b) would be so easily swayed that me, a non-Christian, saying something I'd read somewhere, would influence her. (In this case, of course, it influenced her rightly, but still ...)
Ahh, religion. Where would we all be without the guiding light of our Saviour!
Answer: Better off. Paradise on Earth.
"There is no punishment in hell that is fit for the killer of a child" Old Hebrew saying.
Mister Phelps is living proof that the worst enemy of christianity is the christians.
Well, we already knew he was a terrible person. He's just racking up the bad karma, isn't he?
And Shirley Phelps-Roper needs to shut her mouth and go away. No one cares about her either.
Nate Phelps ran all the way to Cranbrook to get away from his family? Poor guy, there's a lot of people in that area just like his father. I know I grew up in Nelson. And yeah, when you leave the fold you are classified a traitor. I've lost my entire family except one brother who is also an outcast and the fear of hell never leaves you. Even to this day everytime something bad happens a part of me wonders if I'm being punished.
And my family was nothing compared to the Phelps. Although I'm sure they're on his mailing list now.
@ Mortok:
"I thought Phelps\' family was all as crazy as he is, but I guess not."
Yeah, actually a few of his kids left the cult and seem like pretty nice people. Of course, when you have 50 million kids, as Fred does, there will inevitably be a few good apples...
@Dark_Lord_Prime
No. I refuse to dignify this...creature's passing with anything more than the thing he fears more than anything.
Nothing. No jeers, no cries, silence. Okay, maybe I'd sneak in to piss on his grave, but I refuse to dignify him by acknowledging him. However, I do hope, that if there is a such thing as reincarnation, he comes back as a dung beetle.
I do, also, hope that this young man gets the honors of choosing Freddie's Nursing Home and Final Resting place. A ditch is far too good for him. Probably give the coyotes a stomach ache.
I never thought anyone was this low. Never.
If any hell exists, if it's anywhere near as bad and torturous as the Christians claim, it's too good for this waste of oxygen and skin.
This man is the only person in the world I would actually hurt intentionally given the chance.
Friends, save your barbs and jabs for when the celebration can truly begin: when ol' Fred and Shirley are planted in the ground. Then it's our turn. We will picket his and her funerals and hold up signs of hateful messages aimed straight at them. Later, we can piss on their graves. They scream about vengance and retribution? They and their ilk haven't seen the likes of which until the day we can overwhelm their funerals and shout outrageous and obscene hatred.
Of course, should we decided to do so, we will have lowered ourselves to their level. Somehow I doubt any of us would really want to do that.
What an asshole! Children are the gifts of God, they should be "spoiled", in a good way. They should be covered with love and affection, guidance and information.
I bet that assailant is/was pro-life. Protect the fetus with all our might, but when the brat is born we'll beat him half to death every week.
@MichaelL
"I seriously hope that there is a hell for people like Phelps."
Me, a deserted island, a bench (with straps), various 'appliances', and ol' Freddy boy.
He'd certainly know Hell.
@#899498
"should we decided to do so, we will have lowered ourselves to their level"
Not possible. The Phelps' are subhuman filthbags, and after Fred and Shirley stop polluting our world with their inferior existences, then it's righteous (and more than justifiable) payback time by everyone they've imposed the filth that is their presence upon.
Call it Sauce for the Goose* .
All you other Phelpses, your days are numbered. Aforementioned righteous vengeance is coming. Prepare yourselves...
*-i.e. 'If you can't take it, you shouldn't have started dishing it out upon everyone else in the first place'.
I... what? WHAT?
Fred Phelps, you are a disgusting waste of skin. You picket the funerals of innocent, good people just because they were gay, or soldiers, or something that God apparently hates. You beat your children with a miniature PICKAXE. Dante didn't describe a low enough circle of Hell for you. You... you... ugh. You're a monster.
I don't believe in Hell. I believe that we all go to Purgatory when we die, and that we there feel all the pain we have caused others that we were never sorry for. You're gonna be there for so long, though, that you might as well be in Hell.
Die in a fire, and soon. Then we'll all picket your funeral, and your fucked-up family will see what it's like to have a loved one's funeral spoilt like that.
@MichaelL
According to Buddhism, evil people who are selfish and abusive are either reborn as animals, or, if they were really warped, are reborn in Hell until they worked off their bad Karma.
Mr. Phelps, I'd lay off the sadism if I were you.
Even if Hell doesn't exist, it doesn't make you any less of a sick, twisted rabid dog.
[EDIT] You're absolutely right, HazelHolly, Dante's work isn't finished until a new section is written into the Inferno for people like Phelps.
Fred Phelps makes me wish there was a Hell so he could get chucked into the deepest layer of it. Preferably to spend eternity being sodomized with a spiked pole.
Okay, maybe not eternity, but a really really long time.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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