Bless them which persecute you…

a final blessing for Fred Phelps

by Jeffrey Hoffman*

Jeffrey Hoffman

Jeffrey Hoffman

Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.  — Romans 12: 14-21 (KJV)

Earlier today, Nathan Phelps, the estranged son of Fred Phelps announced on his Facebook Page that his father is near death:

 

For so many who have been deeply wounded by the hateful words and actions of this former student of Bob Jones University this news may bring a welcome sense of relief. For me, though, I am also struck by the profound sadness of Fred’s end: estranged from much of his family, cut off from the church he founded, universally reviled for his extremism and his bigotry, and likely suffering terrible pain in hospice. What a lonely, miserable end to a wasted life!

Fred Phelps's BJU Yearbook photo

Fred Phelps’s BJU Yearbook photo

And yet, as  a Christian, I know that this man who distorted the gospel of perfect love in Jesus Christ into a hateful, bigoted lie, this sad little man dying alone, is a child of God, created in God’s image and whom God loves very much.

So I weep. I weep for Fred Phelps. I weep for the damage that the misguided views of fundamentalism and extreme homophobia have wreaked in his life.  I weep for a man whose probable self-hatred caused so much harm to everyone around him. I weep for his family, torn apart by physical and emotional abuse and the aberrant divisiveness of “secondary separation.” I weep for all those innocent lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer, questioning and intersex young people around the country whose picture of God was so marred by Westboro Baptist Church’s activities that they cannot bring themselves to believe. I weep for all the families of veterans who have been terribly wounded by his protest stunts that invaded and politicized their private grief.

And I say “let the hatred end here and now.” Let this sad little man die his lonely death and let this be the end of all of that. May God send an angel to him, preferably a gay one, to show him compassion in his dying that he did not show to others in his living. May God, whose loving ways are mysterious and whose dealings in the hearts and minds of all men and women are inscrutable and undeserved have mercy on Fred Phelps.

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? — I Peter 3: 8-13(KJV)

So I bless you, Fred Phelps, though you have cursed me. I bless you and I do not curse. May God bring you into His light and peace.

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, I commend your
child Fred Phelps. Acknowledge, I humbly beseech you, a sheep of
your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your
own redeeming. Receive him into the arms of your mercy,
into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the
glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.

May his soul and the souls of all the departed, through the
mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

— from Ministration at the Time of Death, The Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (1979)

Jeffrey Hoffman
executive director
BJUnity


*The views represented in this post are the author’s alone.

4 comments

  1. THOMAS THIELEMANN says:

    May Gods mercy comfort this man who was so misguided in his interpretations of the teachings of Christ and the bible as he passes into gods kingdom.. May his entry into gods realm enlighten his soul to the truth that was so obscure to his eyes while here on earth. May the Lord forgive all his sins as he forgives the sins of all believers.

  2. James Dane says:

    Without God, forgiveness means so much more. Then you know that compassion comes from the self, and not your mystical sky ghost.

    • Jeffrey Hoffman says:

      I certainly respect that viewpoint, James, and I imagine we would agree quite a lot more than you might think about the harm caused by religious coercion.

      The opinions I expressed are mine alone. BJUnity exists to support LGBTQIA people from the independent fundamentalist environment, regardless of their current belief system. Many of our constituents embrace faiths other than Christianity, many have abandoned faith altogether, others of us retain our faith in Jesus Christ, though very different in attitude, understanding and expression from the fundamentalism of our past. We are a community of folks whose solidarity in shared experiences serves as a beacon of hope for a world in which religion-based bigotry and Bible-justified hatred have no place, no audience, and no power.

      Jeffrey Hoffman