The Most Hated Family in America

[Nutmegger]

They call themselves the most hated family in the US and they picket funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq. So what did Louis Theroux make of the Phelpses after three weeks?

~~Snip~~

The Magazine: How well known are they in the US?

Louis Theroux: They're well known because of these pickets which they've been doing for at least 15 years now. The pickets weren't always of soldiers' funerals, but it got more extreme as it went on. Originally it started as pickets of places where gay people congregated - a local park becoming a cruising area which they objected to, and then when Aids came along they said it was punishment for homosexuality and they began picketing Gay Pride parades and marches and also then the funerals of people who died of Aids. And they didn't originally use offensive words like "fag". They would say "homosexuality", but then it just escalated.

You say that in America the media tries not to give them the coverage, but aren't you just giving them a voice over here?

Viewers will have to see the show and judge for themselves how these people come across. Certainly this group view it as a platform and that's why they agreed to do the show. But I think what we did was something more than that. What we did, I think, was try to understand how a group like this operates; its group psychology, the way the beliefs are passed down the family, and how those beliefs can be held by very urbane, intelligent, professional people. So when you cover a group like this, you take a gamble that you will be able to get under its skin and reveal something about it, and something about us all as people, and I think we managed to do that.

~~Another Snip~~

They're relatively "normal" apart from this obsession with the pickets?

Louis: Yes. In some ways they're a model family. All these things that you associate with the breakdown of families, like the dad's gone to the pub all the time or they just watch TV and the parents don't talk to the kids, well you can't put that on this family. They spend all their recreational time together and they all look out for each other. They don't really have friends outside the church because all their best friends are in the church. It's important to recognise the good qualities of the family as it helps explain why so many of them have stayed in it and embraced the hateful stuff.

More here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6507971.stm

[tularetom]

1. Boy was I fooled!! I agree it's a hated family but I was really expecting

to see a picture of the scaly ugly disgusting bush matriarch and her foul brood...

[GCP]

8. My thoughts exactly n/t

[Warpy]

2. Why is that phony church still tax exempt?

The congregation is limited to blood relatives and inlaws.

They started to get an infusion of cash in 2002. That's when they started to stay on the road nearly full time. I want those books opened. I want to know who's been supporting them.

Being a professional lawsuit filer only got Phelps so far. Something else is going on now.

[TreasonousBastard]

4. I've suspected for years that...

they're getting funding from some surprising sources. It would be amusing to see the books. All of them-- I'm sure there's more than one set around.

There could be some rightwing funding from groups that like to say "Hey, we're not that bad."

But I've always suspected some money coming in from some screwed-up leftwing sources, cynically thinking that these clowns make the whole anti-gay crowd look like jerks. Which they do, of course.

I keep hearing that some of the family members actually work for a living, so there's some money available. And, we don't know how much is salted away from the professional plaintiff business. Or how much it actually costs to keep a busfull of monkeys on the road for six months.

They may not be tax-exempt any more. Is there an easy list around, or do you have to pretend to give them money and see if it's deductible?

[Tom Joad]

3. As repulsive as these people are, they never killed anyone, Bush has the responsibility for hundreds

of thousands of people, in Iraq alone. All of them lost their lives due to his work.

[murielm99]

5. But there are strong allegations

of child abuse. Some of the family members who left the church have the scars to prove it.

[Gabi Hayes]

6. could've sworn that this was going to be another thread about:

credit to the VRWC

whoever wins the demnom will be vilified just as badly as the last three dem candidates were, if not moreso

did you see CNN run clips of the South Park Hilary bashing episode? it was just on

[dansolo]

7. That description sounds just like a cult

"They don't really have friends outside the church"

I am not a psychologist, but that doesn't sound at all healthy. Is this person that naive? The reason that the family is so tight knit is because they have been indoctrinated into their way of thinking, and any outside influence is avoided. That sounds like a recipe for a cult to me.

[krispos42]

9. They are lower than whale shit

They protested the funeral of my boss' nephew, killed in Iraq on March 14th.

350 Patriot Guard Riders kept them at arms length.

The story's in my Journal, as is a link to the flyer the slime put about about my boss' nephew, Spc. Forrest John Waterbury.

I hope the entire congregation meets Jesus soon. Preferably through a flaming bus wreck.

[EstimatedProphet]

10. Oh sure, they're normal!

And daddy goes into screaming rages that last literally for hours, and beats his children to the point of near hospitalization on a daily basis. A model family indeed. Google "Addicted to Hate", a book about Phelps, for more info.

[Initech]

11. They're even despised by most of the right wing. When will that asshole learn?

I'd be really interested to see this, what those bunch of crazy lunatics are like in person. I bet it's scarier than one can imagine. :scared:

[ret5hd]

12. Remember when THIS was the most hated family???