Tue. March 18, 2014
Actor George Takei has weighed in on the news that Fred Phelps is in a hospice home.
Phelps' estranged son, Nate Phelps, said in a Facebook post that his father is living "on the edge of death" in a hospice house and has been excommunicated from Westboro Baptist Church, which he founded in the 1950s.
Related: Westboro Baptist Church's Fred Phelps "on edge of death," son claims
Many of Nate's 12 siblings remain in the Topeka, Kansas-based church known for coining the phrase "God hates fags" and picketing at the funerals of fallen soldiers, because their deaths are the price America pays for its acceptance of "the sin of homosexuality."
"I take no solace or joy in this man's passing," Takei, who is openly gay, wrote in a Facebook post. "We will not dance upon his grave, nor stand vigil at his funeral holding 'God Hates Freds' signs, tempting as it may be."
"He was a tormented soul, who tormented so many. Hate never wins out in the end. It instead goes always to its lonely, dusty end."
Takei is best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek.
Related Op-Ed: When the time comes, LGBTs should respect the passing of Fred Phelps
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