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      Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis

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      Frankly, Mr Shankly
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      Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Mar 28, 2011 07:40:04 pm
      Just watched The One Show with Louis Theroux on it and was thrilled to see that a follow up to his documentary from 4 years ago, America's Most Hated Family, will be shown on BBC 2 this Sunday April 3rd at 9pm. For anyone who didn't see the first documentary, it revolved around Theroux spending a couple of weeks with a family called the Phelps who are part of a cult Christian extremist group called the Westboro Baptist Church whose anti gay and hate messages have garnered much anger in the USA.


      From the BBC Press Office

      Following up on his hugely popular and acclaimed 2007 documentary The Most Hated Family In America, Louis Theroux returns to Topeka, Kansas, for a second visit to the Westboro Baptist Church.

      A fire-and-brimstone Christian group, made up of 80 or so members of the Phelps family, the WBC have made themselves notorious in America – and worldwide – for their pickets of the funerals of soldiers killed in action, where they wield anti-gay placards. The Phelps believe the soldiers were killed as part of God's punishment of America for its toleration of homosexuality.

      But, four years on from Louis's last visit, there are signs of disarray in the Phelps clan. A series of defections of family members has shaken up the church. They've been at the centre of a landmark Supreme Court case and, possibly because of the resulting attention, their beliefs have become increasingly bizarre.

      In America's Most Hated Family In Crisis, Louis is once again granted a behind-the-scenes look at America's most controversial Christian group as it gears up for what it sees as the final showdown with doomed America. Louis explores the church's strange new belief that Obama is The Beast spoken of in the Book Of Revelation, and their conviction that we are now in the run-up to the second coming of Christ.

      But the church members have now seen his first documentary and, as a result, they revile Louis, who they see as one of the most evil men in all human history – alleging that he is on a par with Pontius Pilate for his supposed mockery of true Christianity.

      Yet the church members also see the spreading of their message as a necessary part of the church's out-reach, even if it means spending time with a hopeless unbeliever.

      Louis also tracks down two of the departed members – young women, both of whom he had interviewed in the first film when they were still inside the church. He probes the parents of the apostates, who have "cut off" their renegade daughters, and who now affect a strange and chilling indifference to the separation.

      Louis gets under the skin of the church members, showing the human cost of living as part of an extreme religious group: the secret pain of parents who've turned their back on their children; and the forbidden yearnings of the younger female devotees.


      http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/2011/wk14/unplaced.shtml#unplaced_louis

      redkenny
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #1: Mar 28, 2011 08:38:25 pm
      Boss!

      I'll be watching this.
      racerx34
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #2: Mar 28, 2011 08:47:03 pm
      Will be interesting to see how he adapts his style to suit a group that knows he is exposing them. Looking forward to this
      smigger15
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #3: Mar 28, 2011 08:57:40 pm
      Love Louis Theroux, will be tuning into this  ;D
      shabbadoo
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #4: Mar 28, 2011 10:13:05 pm
      Only in america.
      Roddenberry
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #5: Mar 28, 2011 10:28:33 pm

      Not quite Shabs, religious zealots all over the globe, of many denominations.
      srslfc
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #6: Mar 28, 2011 10:50:06 pm
      Looking forward to this. Love all Louis documentaries.
      HUYTON RED
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #7: Mar 29, 2011 12:34:21 am
      Not quite Shabs, religious zealots all over the globe, of many denominations.

      Actually to be fair this lot Louis followed were absolute loons and not only had a go at gays, if I remember rightly they also had placards on one occasion slagging their own soldiers off.

      Not just religious zealots, but proper F***ing cu*ts!
      srslfc
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #8: Mar 29, 2011 12:42:46 am
      Actually to be fair this lot Louis followed were absolute loons and not only had a go at gays, if I remember rightly they also had placards on one occasion slagging their own soldiers off.

      Not just religious zealots, but proper f**king cu*ts!

      They did HR. They were picketing a funeral of a US soldier.
      shabbadoo
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #9: Mar 29, 2011 12:44:36 am
      Actually to be fair this lot Louis followed were absolute loons and not only had a go at gays, if I remember rightly they also had placards on one occasion slagging their own soldiers off.

      Not just religious zealots, but proper f**king cu*ts!

      And how they f**king get away with it too.

      WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH - WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS CALVINISTS (1 of 8)
      HUYTON RED
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #10: Mar 29, 2011 01:11:17 am
      They did HR. They were picketing a funeral of a US soldier.

      Now I remember, sorry but picketing a funeral is F***ing low.
      Frankly, Mr Shankly
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #11: Mar 29, 2011 01:43:09 am
      What really saddened me about the first film was how they used the vulnerability of the young children within the family to brainwash them into these thoughts of hate. But sadly that's all too common across the world today.

      It's great to hear of the many defections including two girls he interviewed in the first film from that crazed religious cult. I wonder if it's the two daughters of that vile old woman? They seemed very intelligent and it was bizarre hearing them repeating the sentiments of their elders.
      « Last Edit: Mar 29, 2011 01:50:01 am by Frankly, Mr Shankly »
      Bahrosa-LFC
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #12: Mar 30, 2011 05:38:32 am
      This should be good. I actually just watched the first one yesterday...
      Ross
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #13: Mar 31, 2011 10:50:53 am
      Might watch this actually. Sounds like a good laugh.
      nnilswerdna
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #14: Mar 31, 2011 10:54:26 am
      gotta love Louis, top interviewer.

      Takes the piss without them knowing it but he can also cut it straight too.

      I love the Vegas one he did where that guy lost big and he wouldnt reveal how much ahahahaha
      shabbadoo
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #15: Mar 31, 2011 10:55:23 am
      Might watch this actually. Sounds like a good laugh.

      Quite the opposite ross,its disgusting.
      fields of anny rd
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #16: Mar 31, 2011 02:42:36 pm
      Love Louis Theroux, watched a few of his videos on youtube recently as well. When he was following Max clifford about, then when he was following some crackpots who claimed to be alien killers.

      This is t.v gold btw

      Crazy old guy believes he can talk to Aliens

      You have to watch this, I laughed for about a week.
      Frankly, Mr Shankly
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #17: Mar 31, 2011 05:25:02 pm
      Love Louis Theroux, watched a few of his videos on youtube recently as well. When he was following Max clifford about, then when he was following some crackpots who claimed to be alien killers.

      This is t.v gold btw

      Crazy old guy believes he can talk to Aliens

      You have to watch this, I laughed for about a week.

      Yes! I remember that one! That was classic!
      HUYTON RED
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #18: Apr 01, 2011 11:14:05 am


      Louis Theroux: Westboro Baptist Church revisited

      After tales of defections, Louis Theroux investigates what's up with America's most hated family.

      There are names I've been called in the course of making documentaries, but to be described as "one of the chief workers of iniquity in the whole history of man" takes some beating.

      The man making the claim for me - which was somehow offensive and weirdly flattering at the same time - was Steve Drain, a member of the ultra-strict and very notorious Westboro Baptist Church. He went on to say I was on a par with Pontius Pilate.

      I'd earned my special status by filming a documentary about his unique religious community in 2006. Entitled The Most Hated Family in America, it followed a three-week stay I made among the Kansas-based Phelps clan.

      Under the guidance of their angry pastor, the Phelpses have arrived at the idea that the only Biblical practice for Christians in our age is to carry placards with unbelievably offensive anti-gay slogans (Fags in Hell, Fags Eat Poop, and so on) and turn up at high-profile funerals, especially those of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

      In my programme I had taken issue with the Phelpses' gloss on the Bible and with their whole interpretation of the idea of Christian charity. I'd seen their practices as a by-product of the warped thinking of their pastor, Fred Phelps - known as Gramps - imposed on family members from birth through a well-orchestrated campaign of indoctrination.

      According to the Phelpses' world view, my failure to recognise the only "true Christians" anywhere in the world today made me equivalent to the man who ordered Jesus Christ himself killed.

      Now I was back with the Phelpses, standing with Steve in his front room, weathering his Biblical obloquy (delivered with a smile and followed by a rather contradictory "welcome back") having made a return trip to Kansas for a second film about their church.

      Normally I don't do follow-ups. But I'd made an exception in this case because of an e-mail I'd received from one of the fire-breathing young zealots I'd interviewed on my first trip, announcing she'd left the church. She cited our conversations as one of the influences.

      She had now changed her life, found a boyfriend and had zero contact with anyone still inside the church, including her family. A little research revealed that several others I'd met on my first visit were also now apostates. This included Steve's own daughter, Lauren.

      Further reading revealed the Phelps clan itself was going through something strange. The father of a soldier whose funeral the Phelpses picketed had won a massive, multi-million dollar award against the church. The judgement had been overturned, but the case was now before the supreme court and the ensuing controversy had put the Phelpses centre-stage in America.

      The Phelpses thrive on publicity and the attention seemed to have pushed the clan into a whole new level of over-excitement, with announcements that Obama was the Beast spoken of in the book of Revelation and that Jesus would be back in a matter of months. The departures, the case, the apocalyptic thinking - it all seemed to add up to a return trip.

      Some have asked why the Phelpses allowed us back in having seen the first film. They were in their own weird way fans, seeing our original effort as (I think) basically fair - and more importantly regarding it as part of their destiny to have their message widely heard and then rejected.

      For the broad mass of humanity to go to hell, they must have first been exposed to the gospel and failed to heed it. Our programme had been seen by millions around the world. In my own way, I had a part in the divine plan. And so I'd made my way back to Zion, as they like to call their block of houses on a suburban street in Topeka, for a week-long stay.

      The emphasis on the end-time scenario turned out to be entirely real. Obama "fits all the descriptors" of the Beast, apparently. The scenario of Jesus's return, as described to me, went like this: the Phelpses would win their Supreme Court case; the nation would rise up and force the Phelpses to leave America; they'd go to live in Jerusalem; 144,000 Jews would convert to Christianity (this was my favourite part of the prediction, given the Phelpses' track record of anti-Semitism); then Jesus would come back.

      The departure of several of the younger Phelpses was all part of this plan too. The Bible describes a final winnowing of the membership in the last of the last days. But what I hadn't expected was that the Phelpses felt obliged to pretend to be pleased their daughters had left.

      The family regard it as their duty to "rejoice in all of God's judgements" - murders, cancer, natural disasters, and the loss of their loved ones to the lures of carnality and fornication (the word covers a multitude of activities in the Phelps lexicon, including probably hand-holding and playing the harpsichord in mixed company).

      When I raised the subject of their lost membership, the Phelps parents did their best to stick to the script and express satisfaction. But it was all rather forced and unconvincing and a bit sad.

      Another surprise was how much I had personalised the story by this time. My role in returning to the church had changed somehow. I was no longer a disinterested journalist. I'd seen too much. It was more like going to see family members with whom one has fallen out, with the same sense of rawness and exasperation. Quite quickly my encounters with the Phelpses stopped being polite and turned barbed and impatient - on both sides.

      The result of all this is the new documentary feels quite different than the original - though still funny, a little darker and stranger. I am fair in the film, but it is no good me pretending I don't understand the human cost of what they are engaged in.

      What emerged to me was I was seeing a family that through its own tortured logic was involved in a long process of tearing itself apart, while denying at every stage what it was plainly doing. Many of their activities are deeply repellent and yet it is also possible to see the Westboro Baptist Church as human beings who, in a weird way, are victimising themselves along with all those they picket.


      The Phelpses picketed the funeral of Albert Snyder's son and he is battling them in court



      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12919646
      Red Barrovian
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #19: Apr 01, 2011 11:42:58 am
      If anyone has a spare 40 minutes, this is well worth watching. :lmao:

      Shirley Phelps Gets Pranked
      Frankly, Mr Shankly
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #20: Apr 03, 2011 04:26:58 pm
      If anyone has a spare 40 minutes, this is well worth watching. :lmao:

      Shirley Phelps Gets Pranked

      Ha!! Unbelievable how a woman can be so immature, petulant and wicked at the same time. Sad figure of a human being.
      Dexter
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #21: Apr 03, 2011 07:18:30 pm
      Nice, I get the BBC2 here aswell, will be watching this later tonight.
      HUYTON RED
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      Re: Louis Theroux - America's Most Hated Family In Crisis
      Reply #22: Apr 03, 2011 09:41:31 pm
      Watching this now.

      The whole family are F***ing religious brainwashed fruitcakes.

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