I‘m feeling a bit poorly today, so in lieu of an actual post, here’s an old comic I found on a blog called Grottu. I’m pretty sure this is what our old friend NWOslave sees when he looks at the world.
Slightly more on topic, here’s a frame from an old romance comic; you can find a discussion of the somewhat, er, problematic story it’s from on Sequential Crush.
@Cthulhu’s Intern
That’s an interesting theory. I don’t know if that makes it better or worse, though…like, on one hand, I’d be glad to know that they didn’t actually believe all those horrible things, but on the other, how sick is it to torture families that have lost someone they love for money?
I don’t really buy it. The interviews of the Phelps kids (I know there’s a youtube link somewhere)…I don’t think that can be faked. A five year old isn’t going to lisp about f**s burning in hell or whatever if she hasn’t grown up soaked in that environment. I don’t think they could really coach that for the cameras. (If I’m wrong and they did…again, I don’t know if that makes the more or less evil.) Plus, there are at least two kids of his that I’m aware of who have been completely kicked out of the family and excommunicated. They’ve talked somewhat about the horror show they grew up in, and how they have no contact with their family now. I think they probably would have come forward if it was really a scam (not to mention that you don’t normally disown your kids for not following in the family “business”). I guess you could assume that they’re in on it, too, but the more people you add to a conspiricy, the more it becomes unlikely for it to be able to remain a secret. And we’re talking, like, upwards of 50 people or so with the Phelps clan. I can’t really believe they could be that sucessful at keeping everyone in line and on script.
Addicted to Hate is a pretty extensive book about Fred Phelps and the clan. I think the more likely explanation is that he is seriously mentally ill* and, unfortunately, has the force of personality that his family bought into his delusions instead of getting him help.
* That is NOT to say that a person has to be mentally ill to be hateful and evil, or that being mentally ill makes one hateful and evil. But from listening to his rantings and reading a little of his history, it does seem to me like he has a history of severe depression, mood swings, and delusions. But I’m obviously not his (or anyone’s) psychiatrist; I just struggle with mental illness, myself.
My theory on the Phelps family is that at one point they were perfectly rational people, and then Grandad went off the deep end and started trying to turn the family into his own little personality cult, and enough of his kids went along for the ride that they were able to pull most of their kids, spouses, etc. with them. They’re definitely con artists, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t actually believe all kinds of ridiculous shit too.
I think Jack Chick was the first true Troll.
I’m surprised he let an indie film be made of his Dungeons and Dragons tract.