HATE

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela

Children are born with a clean slate concerning their perception of other humans. They possess no predetermined proclivity dictating that they develop hatred for those who are different from them. Hatred is not a genetic trait but a cultural one, a learned behavior rather than an inherent one. Acts of hatred are learned through the environment in which a child is raised. Children who hate are taught to believe a certain set of principles or rules and anything that doesn't align with them is labeled as “evil.”

Fred Phelps bombarded his children from birth with a doctrine of hate focused upon the LGBT community, using every method possible in his attempt to instill the same seething hatred within his offspring. Nate, Mark and Dortha, along with their 10 siblings, were subjected to years of Fred Phelps’ vitriolic, hate-filled, hell, fire and brimstone sermons each Sunday while also being brutally physically, mentally and emotionally abused on a regular basis in their home. The children of Fred Phelps were bred, conditioned and raised to hate whomever their father dictated they should.