For most of his life, Nate Phelps, now 51, has been silent. But last year, after a writer figured out who he was when riding in Mr. PhelpsÂ’ taxi in Cranbrook, B.C., he went public. Mr. Phelps had moved to Canada to be with a woman he met online after a difficult divorce from his first wife, with whom he has three children and a stepchild.
At conventions in the United States and Canada – he was in Toronto earlier this month to speak at the Centre for Inquiry, a non-profit organization that promotes critical thinking – he has spoken out about his father’s church, comprised mainly of Phelps family members. Many have called it a cult. His father physically abused all 16 of his children and his wife, Marge, who is now 85, he alleges. Two other children have left the family and changed their names.
Once Mr. Phelps had left his father’s control, he would interpret every event as evidence of God’s wrath – something as simple as a speeding ticket would be a sign of his impending damnation, he explains. Even though he understands that homosexuals don’t choose their sexuality, doubt creeps into his mind when he defends them. “It isn’t an intellectual thing. It’s an emotional thing. It’s what was hard-wired into my brain. And it whispers, ‘What if I’m wrong?’ ”
After years of silence, Nate Phelps faces off with his anti-gay father - The Globe and Mail
Does God hate Fred Phelps?