Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Fred Phelps Docu: Fall From Grace
Fall From Grace is truly an inside look at Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC). Filmmaker K. Ryan Jones went inside the church and the Phelps family homes over an extended period to make the documentary. In closing scenes, or maybe it's in the extras, the Phelps family watches and approves of an early cut of the film. That's because not only does Jones showcase the church's repressive, legalistic Old Testament views on human sexuality and their protests against gays, America, and, generally, anyone who doesn't embrace their theology but he also respectfully shows the Phelps clan as real human beings in family settings.
Moreover, Jones also documents how WBC members have been attacked by the many self-righteous liberal and conservative hypocrites whose tolerance of freedom of speech extends only to those with whom they agree. On more than one occasion this has involved actual physical violence against the family or the threat thereof. The Showtime trailer does a good job showcasing how Jones has chosen to represent the family.
The music video below demonstrates that this band of happy haters (and that's a word I am generally loathe to apply because it is so often misused but it is a word the WBC embraces) also has a certain perverse sense of humor. Here is the Westboro Baptist Church (featuring Jonny B) singing "God Hates the World".
See also: "God Bless Fred Phelps"
Labels: Christianity, civil liberties, Fred Phelps, LGBT, video
