Nate Phelps, The Son Of 'That' Phelps Joins Campaign To fight Homophobia







CALGARY — Nate Phelps, the estranged son of a notorious anti-gay American preacher, has been selected to head an organization in Calgary that fights against homophobia.
Phelps is the new executive director of The Centre for Inquiry, an atheist and agnostic organization that believes in the separation of church and state.
Its mission stands in stark contrast to the values and beliefs held by Phelps' father, Pastor Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., who came to the attention of Canadians in 2008 when he tried to come here to picket Greyhound Bus beheading victim Tim McLean's funeral. The senior Phelps said the decapitation was God's response to Canadian policies on abortion and homosexuality.
In recent years, his Kansas congregation has outraged many Americans for its verbally abusive protests at the funerals of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.
Though he was raised in his father's faith, Nate Phelps has as an adult been an outspoken critic of the senior Phelps.
In 2005, Nate Phelps moved to Canada and was living and working in Cranbrook before being recruited by The Centre for Inquiry, a charitable organization with a mandate to educate in religion, ethics and society; pseudo-science, paranormal and fringe-science claims; and medicine and health.
Nate Phelps said he won't use the centre as a soapbox to speak out against his father.
"I think there is a place for a strong secular role in Canada. We keep an eye on things happening and keep a secular balance," he said.
In his first in-depth television interview in April, the younger Phelps talked about a childhood dominated by a fear of going to hell. In the interview, he said he believes the Westboro Baptist Church shares some of the same traits as a cult.
The centre's former executive direction, Cliff Erasmus, who stepped down from the position while on sabbatical said Phelps is widely known in the secular community and that is a boon for the group.
"I hate to be using another person's celebrity for an agenda but his agenda is the same (as ours)," said Erasmus. "Education is No. 1 and battling homophobia is No. 2."
Phelps' role as executive director of the centre is to build on membership and visibility in the community.
Steve Polyak, publisher of GayCalgary and GayEdmonton magazines, thinks the job is a great path for Phelps. Polyak heard Phelps speak at the University of Calgary in March.
"It shows that people can change from what they're raised to believe by parents and the Bible," added Polyak.
Started in 1991 and based in the U.S., the centre has been operating in Calgary for two years.


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