Posted on Oct 12, 2019
How Twitter Helped Change The Mind Of A Westboro Baptist Church Member
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Growing up as a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, Megan Phelps-Roper was taught that God hated gay people. The church, which was founded by Phelps-Roper's grandfather, Fred Phelps Sr., became infamous for picketing the funerals of U.S. soldiers — whose deaths it believed were a punishment for America's sins and its tolerance of homosexuality.
Phelps-Roper began protesting at funerals when she was 19, though she started picketing at a younger age. "We held signs that said, 'Thank God for dead soldiers.' 'Thank God for IEDs.' 'God hates you,' " she says.
It wasn't until a few years later, when she began running the Westboro Twitter account, that she began to truly question the church's hateful teachings. Many Twitter users responded angrily to her, but others seemed sincerely interested in creating a dialogue.
"They started asking questions and digging into our theology. ... As they were able to find these contradictions and present them to me," Phelps-Roper says. "I understood that we could be wrong about something. ... That was the beginning of the end for me. I had this unshakable faith and it had been shaken."
Phelps-Roper began protesting at funerals when she was 19, though she started picketing at a younger age. "We held signs that said, 'Thank God for dead soldiers.' 'Thank God for IEDs.' 'God hates you,' " she says.
It wasn't until a few years later, when she began running the Westboro Twitter account, that she began to truly question the church's hateful teachings. Many Twitter users responded angrily to her, but others seemed sincerely interested in creating a dialogue.
"They started asking questions and digging into our theology. ... As they were able to find these contradictions and present them to me," Phelps-Roper says. "I understood that we could be wrong about something. ... That was the beginning of the end for me. I had this unshakable faith and it had been shaken."
How Twitter Helped Change The Mind Of A Westboro Baptist Church Member
Posted from kcur.org
Religion
Christianity
LGBTQ+
Theology
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."On her relationship with her family since leaving the church
The understanding is that if you even see them out in public, there should be no interaction at all. They just pretend not to see you. ... Shortly after my sister and I left ... we realized pretty quickly, we have nothing to lose, and we have nothing to gain by following those rules. We have nothing to lose by reaching out to them. ...
I realized that if I was changed by these discussions with outsiders, if they could find a way to get through to me even though I did not want to be gotten through to — I was so zealous and I was such a hardcore believer — how stupid would it be, how wrong would it be not to have that same hope that my family could change, that my mother could change? And so we start sending letters, and birthday gifts, and postcards, and tweets, and talking in interviews that we know that they'll see. And making these arguments, and hoping that — even if it doesn't cause them to leave Westboro, if it can cause them to moderate in some way, if I can help them see that protesting funerals is not a biblical thing ... So we make these arguments and hope that something will get through. And I think some things have."
..."On her relationship with her family since leaving the church
The understanding is that if you even see them out in public, there should be no interaction at all. They just pretend not to see you. ... Shortly after my sister and I left ... we realized pretty quickly, we have nothing to lose, and we have nothing to gain by following those rules. We have nothing to lose by reaching out to them. ...
I realized that if I was changed by these discussions with outsiders, if they could find a way to get through to me even though I did not want to be gotten through to — I was so zealous and I was such a hardcore believer — how stupid would it be, how wrong would it be not to have that same hope that my family could change, that my mother could change? And so we start sending letters, and birthday gifts, and postcards, and tweets, and talking in interviews that we know that they'll see. And making these arguments, and hoping that — even if it doesn't cause them to leave Westboro, if it can cause them to moderate in some way, if I can help them see that protesting funerals is not a biblical thing ... So we make these arguments and hope that something will get through. And I think some things have."
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