- Megan Phelps-Roper began as someone “who was friendly with her classmates and her teachers, but viewed them with extreme suspicion–she knew they were intentionally evil or deluded by god”, and wasn’t vocal about her beliefs(Chen). She became more vocal about the church’s teachings. She became very open about God’s hate for gay people and began protesting “every day walking in a circle while holding signs with messages…such as WARNING GAYS IN THE BUSHES! WATCH YOUR CHILDREN!” when her grandfather saw gay people in their neighborhood(Chen). As she became older she realized the church’s idea of God punishing people who rebelled against God was not right and “couldn’t bring herself to post a tweet thanking God for Murphy’s death”(Chen). Finally she had the courage to stop holding up signs that said that gays deserve to die and leave the church because she realized she didn’t agree with the teaching that “‘gays were worthy of death’” and the marginalization of women in the church(Chen).
- Social media helped embolden Phelps-Roper’s message because it reached a larger crowd than in real life. According to the author of the article, Chen, using social media offered “ a window into the life in the church”(Chen) and put the church on the map and she eventually reached seven thousand followers on her account. She was able to increase the publicity of the church and share its teaching with her many Twitter followers. Being on social media influenced the shift in her beliefs because she was able to see other people’s points of view and evaluate her own. The author of the article, Chen states “When Abitol asked why Westboro always denounced homosexuality”(Chen) she realized her grandfather never adressed that answer so she started to reevaluate her point of view. (PUT TEMPLATES IN)
- The style of conversation that got through best to Phelp-Roper was hearing other people’s religious perspectives such as Albitol’s and the other person acknowledging both sides of the argument. When people shut her down they wouldn’t get through to her. Using a calm tone, whether it is on social media or in person, helped people get through to her. This teaches us that we may not agree with everyone but it does not give an excuse to be aggressive towards others and share our perspectives and to listen to other perspectives, we may learn something new. These methods of getting through to others can be useful in confronting hate speech. Phelps-Roper shifting her beliefs with the influence of outside perspectives is an example of redemption being possible no matter what stage you are in life and how strongly you believe in something.
- I would ask Phelps-Roper why she didn’t question the teachings early on. I am curious to see if she ever heard other people’s perspectives when she was younger and they made her quietly question her beliefs.
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