Monday, February 27, 2006
How deep is Fred Phelps closet?
Leonard Pitts Jr has a well thought out column in which he states that he knows why Fred Phelps does all the hateful anti Christian things he does.
Well, I don't think he's as crazy as he seems. Heck, nobody could be. No, he's not disturbed. He's just gay.Well, it is only a theory, but it makes sense to me.
Hear me out. How often have we seen public moralists railing against that which they themselves secretly indulge? Think Jimmy Swaggart with his prostitute. Think Dr. Laura's pose in the nude. And for goodness' sake, how many times have we seen homosexuality condemned by those who turned out to be closeted themselves? There was Pat Robertson biographer-turned-gay-activist Mel White; Spokane Mayor James West, who spent his days opposing gay rights and his nights in gay chat rooms; and Gary Cooper and Michael Bussee, who founded a group that purported to cure people of homosexuality but gave it up when they fell in love with each other.
Consider all that, and then consider the sick ferocity of Phelps' attack:
God hates "fags."
Gays are vomit-eating dogs.
Gays are "worthy of death."
Can you say "self-hatred," boys and girls? Come on, isn't it obvious? The poor fellow is gayer than a Bette Midler AIDS benefit. In San Francisco.
He needs not our condemnation but our understanding. Maybe someday he'll find the strength to stop living this lie. He might just go on to be the greatest gay-rights activist this country has ever known. Maybe then, in the arms of the right man, he'll stop hurting.
Kind of chokes me up to think about it.
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