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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUnfollow: How a prized daughter of the Westboro Baptist Church came to question its beliefs.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/23/conversion-via-twitter-westboro-baptist-church-megan-phelps-roperOn December 1, 2009, to commemorate World AIDS Day, Twitter announced a promotion: if users employed the hashtag #red, their tweets would appear highlighted in red. Megan Phelps-Roper, a twenty-three-year-old legal assistant, seized the opportunity. Thank God for AIDS! she tweeted that morning. You wont repent of your rebellion that brought His wrath on you in this incurable scourge, so expect more & worse! #red.
As a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, in Topeka, Kansas, Phelps-Roper believed that AIDS was a curse sent by God. She believed that all manner of other tragedieswar, natural disaster, mass shootingswere warnings from God to a doomed nation, and that it was her duty to spread the news of His righteous judgments. To protest the increasing acceptance of homosexuality in America, the Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funerals of gay men who died of AIDS and of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Members held signs with slogans like God Hates Fags and Thank God for Dead soldiers, and the outrage that their efforts attracted had turned the small church, which had fewer than a hundred members, into a global symbol of hatred.
Westboro had long used the Internet to spread its message. In 1994, the church launched a Web site, www.godhatesfags.com, and early on it had a chat room where visitors could interact with members of Westboro. As a child, Phelps-Roper spent hours there, sparring with strangers. She learned about Twitter in 2008, after reading an article about an American graduate student in Egypt who had used it to notify his friends that he had been arrested while photographing riots. She opened an account but quickly lost interestat the time, Twitter was still used mostly by early-adopting techiesuntil someone e-mailed Westboros Web site, in the summer of 2009, and asked if the church used the service. Phelps-Roper, who is tall, with voluminous curly hair and pointed features, volunteered to tweet for the congregation. Her posts could be easily monitored, since she worked at Phelps Chartered, the family law firm, beside her mother, Shirley, an attorney. Moreover, Megan was known for her mastery of the Bible and for her ability to spread Westboros doctrine. She had a well-sharpened tongue, so to speak, Josh Phelps, one of Megans cousins and a former member of Westboro, told me.
In August, 2009, Phelps-Roper, under the handle @meganphelps, posted a celebratory tweet when Ted Kennedy died (He defied God at every turn, teaching rebellion against His laws. Teds in hell!) and a description of a picket that the church held at an American Idol concert in Kansas City (Totally awesome! Tons going in & taking picseven tho others tried to block our signs). On September 1st, her sister Bekah e-mailed church members to explain the utility of Twitter: Now Megan has 87 followers and more are trickling in all the time. So every time we find something else to picket, or have some new video or picture we want to post (or just something that we see on the news and want to comment about)87 people get first-hand, gospel commentary from Megan Marie.
As a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, in Topeka, Kansas, Phelps-Roper believed that AIDS was a curse sent by God. She believed that all manner of other tragedieswar, natural disaster, mass shootingswere warnings from God to a doomed nation, and that it was her duty to spread the news of His righteous judgments. To protest the increasing acceptance of homosexuality in America, the Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funerals of gay men who died of AIDS and of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Members held signs with slogans like God Hates Fags and Thank God for Dead soldiers, and the outrage that their efforts attracted had turned the small church, which had fewer than a hundred members, into a global symbol of hatred.
Westboro had long used the Internet to spread its message. In 1994, the church launched a Web site, www.godhatesfags.com, and early on it had a chat room where visitors could interact with members of Westboro. As a child, Phelps-Roper spent hours there, sparring with strangers. She learned about Twitter in 2008, after reading an article about an American graduate student in Egypt who had used it to notify his friends that he had been arrested while photographing riots. She opened an account but quickly lost interestat the time, Twitter was still used mostly by early-adopting techiesuntil someone e-mailed Westboros Web site, in the summer of 2009, and asked if the church used the service. Phelps-Roper, who is tall, with voluminous curly hair and pointed features, volunteered to tweet for the congregation. Her posts could be easily monitored, since she worked at Phelps Chartered, the family law firm, beside her mother, Shirley, an attorney. Moreover, Megan was known for her mastery of the Bible and for her ability to spread Westboros doctrine. She had a well-sharpened tongue, so to speak, Josh Phelps, one of Megans cousins and a former member of Westboro, told me.
In August, 2009, Phelps-Roper, under the handle @meganphelps, posted a celebratory tweet when Ted Kennedy died (He defied God at every turn, teaching rebellion against His laws. Teds in hell!) and a description of a picket that the church held at an American Idol concert in Kansas City (Totally awesome! Tons going in & taking picseven tho others tried to block our signs). On September 1st, her sister Bekah e-mailed church members to explain the utility of Twitter: Now Megan has 87 followers and more are trickling in all the time. So every time we find something else to picket, or have some new video or picture we want to post (or just something that we see on the news and want to comment about)87 people get first-hand, gospel commentary from Megan Marie.
A great long read. Truth, compassion and humanity always win.
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Unfollow: How a prized daughter of the Westboro Baptist Church came to question its beliefs. (Original Post)
Brickbat
Nov 2015
OP
Renew Deal
(81,863 posts)1. I read the entire thing, and there are a lot of lessons there.
One of them can apply to DUers. Don't assume the worst about people. You don't know what people's life experiences are.
Does it mean that there are people that can be reasoned with like lets say...teabaggers? Not sure about that yet. But if Westboro Baptist types can listen to reason, I guess anyone can.
Stardust
(3,894 posts)2. K&R. That was an amazing read. Thank you.
mac2766
(658 posts)3. What a great read...
You need to read the article in it's entirety.
I had my falling out with the church many years ago. I've been a non-believer since that time, and feel enlightened for being so.
ellie
(6,929 posts)4. Thank you for posting this!
It was a great read.