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Ex-Westboro Baptist Church Member to Speak at Collin College.
Nate Phelps speaking at Collin College
By Liz Dudek
10/26/2012
For Release: Immediately Upon Receipt
Contact: Liz Dudek, 469-443-2344, edudek1@cougarmail.collin.edu
PLANO, TX – What would it be like to grow up in America’s most notorious church? A brave man who ran away from his family and church at age 18 seeks to answer this question by describing a side of the Westboro Baptist Church that has yet to be portrayed by national and international news media. From abuse and extreme religious indoctrination, to excommunication and escape, Nate Phelps tells the story of what it’s like on the inside. He will be speaking at Collin College on Friday, October 26th about his childhood experience, along with his religious journey through adulthood.
The Westboro Baptist Church has garnered international attention for protesting at the funerals of deceased soldiers throughout the United States. During such protests, members of the Westboro Baptist Church display large, colorful signs with phrases like “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” “God Hates America,” “Thank God for AIDS,” and other inflammatory remarks. As recorded on the group’s official website, “WBC has conducted over 33,000 such demonstrations since June, 1991” at a variety of funerals, parades, and other events. It is monitored as a hate group and has faced legal action, a Supreme Court case, consistent counter-protests, and its leaders are even banned from entering the United Kingdom.
Since leaving his home with the Westboro Baptist Church, Nate Phelps moved to California to start a new life and family. Eventually he moved to Canada, where he recently began telling his story to various groups around the country. Today he is the Executive Director for the Center for Inquiry Canada and serves on the Board of Directors for Recovering From Religion, an organization dedicated to providing support to people who leave their religion.
Inside The Cult: Growing Up in the Westboro Baptist Church is hosted by the Secular Students at Collin College (SSCC), an affiliate of the Secular Student Alliance. SSCC is student organization that seeks to advocate for the separation of church and state, provide a social outlet and activism opportunities for non-religious students, and promote an open forum for discussion regarding a variety of topics. The group holds weekly meetings at Collin College on Wednesday nights at 6:00pm. For more information or to contact an officer, visithttp://secularstudents.org/collin.
The event will be held in the John Anthony Theatre of the Collin College Spring Campus located in Plano, Texas, on Friday Oct. 26th, at 6:00pm. For more information, visit or join the Facebook event at http://tinyurl.com/insidethecult or visit http://secularstudents.org/collin to contact an officer.
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