Nathan Phelps
Encyclopedia
Nathan "Nate" Phelps is an author
, speaker on religion
and child abuse
, and an LGBT
advocate. Phelps is the seventh child of Pastor Fred Phelps
, and has been estranged from the majority of his family since his 18th birthday. Phelps has since declared himself an atheist. He is known for his open criticism of the Westboro Baptist Church
through literature, interviews, public speaking at atheist conventions and his website. He states that his father abused him and the other Phelps children and believes that the church is an organization for his father to "vent his rage and anger."
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, speaker on religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, and an LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
advocate. Phelps is the seventh child of Pastor Fred Phelps
Fred Phelps
Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. is an American pastor heading the Westboro Baptist Church , an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas...
, and has been estranged from the majority of his family since his 18th birthday. Phelps has since declared himself an atheist. He is known for his open criticism of the Westboro Baptist Church
Westboro Baptist Church
The Westboro Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals and desecrating the American flag. The church is widely described as a hate group and is monitored as such by the...
through literature, interviews, public speaking at atheist conventions and his website. He states that his father abused him and the other Phelps children and believes that the church is an organization for his father to "vent his rage and anger."