- Who is Adrian Chen? and how does his background/areas of expertise help inform you about his perspective as it relates to this article?
Adrian Chen’s first article working for The New Yorker was “Unfollow”. According to the New Yorker website, he was a staff writer who wrote about technology and online culture. His twitter is mostly political tweets with some jokes littered throughout, similar to how he portrayed Megan Phelps-Roper in his article. This small amount of information helps me realize that he is aware of the online communities surrounding politics and religion, so he has an insider perspective on how social media interactions shaped Phelps-Roper’s transformation.
2. Write a brief summary, using your words and direct quotes, of Megan Phelps-Roper’s personal transformation, as described in Chen’s piece. Be sure to include 2-3 direct quotes, framed properly. Choose quotes that help illuminate changes Phelps-Roper experienced along the way.
Megan Phelps-Roper was brought up to believe that any tragedies were: “warnings from God to a doomed nation” and that she must spread God’s word. She did so by protesting funerals, rallies, and pride marches along with other members of the Westboro Baptist Church. This denomination was founded by her grandfather, so she was an active and spirited member of the church. She began to spread her God’s word on Twitter where she was met with some Jews and gays who mostly wanted to have honest and friendly conversations with her to understand her point of view. In making these online connections, her humility for others began to show. She started embracing new types of music and cultures, which led to her questioning her own culture. Eventually, Westboro’s values seemed to shift into elder men having power over the women in the church. While this wasn’t a complete flip in beliefs, it was enough for Phelps-Roper to question everything: “It stopped feeling like this larger than life divine institution ordained and led by God, and more like the sniping and sordid activity of men who wanted to be in control”. She began to realize that everything wasn’t as it always seemed. She turned to different versions of scripture to better understand what she had learned her entire life. After careful consideration and persuasion, her and her sister, Grace, decided to leave the church and discover what it meant to be human and not disgraced by God for every action.
3. In your opinion, how did social media embolden Phelps-Roper’s initial message as a spokesperson for Westboro Baptist Church? How did interactions via social media influence her drastic shift in personal belief? Use at least two direct quotes, framed with help from our discussion/slides on Quote/the Quote Sandwich method, to support your claims.
Phelps-Roper initially used social media to spread God’s word. As she continued her use of it, her interactions with others became a main focus for her. She found joy in arguing with others online because it was fun and she enjoyed the friendliness of specific people she met. However some of these people had motives she was unaware of, such as Abitbol who developed a relationship with her over Gossip Girl: “he wanted to humanize Jews to Westboro. ‘I wanted to be like really nice so that they would have a hard time hating me’”. His humility towards her did more than stop her from hating him; it opened her eyes to understanding that feelings weren’t hated by God, a sign she used to hold while picketing. When one of her favorite actresses in a popular movie died, instead of wanting to picket her funeral like she used to, she felt a sort of sadness: “She couldn’t bring herself to post a tweet thanking God for Murphy’s death”. This was Phelps-Roper’s first turning point, as she began to feel concern for people’s feelings outside of the Westboro Church. Social media helped her develop relationships with people outside of the church who opened her eyes to different beliefs and perspectives, which shaped how she changed her personal beliefs.
4. “Anybody’s initial response to being confronted with the sort of stuff Westboro Baptist Church says is to tell them to f*** off,” said blogger David Abitbol (Chen 79). But it was less-aggressive communication styles that “got through” to Phelps-Roper, that in part influenced her to reconsider her belief system. What style(s) of conversation (consider message, tone, perspective) had the most impact on Phelps-Roper? What might her story teach us about confronting hate speech? What about redemption?
Phelps-Roper often mentioned kindness and humor in her favorite online interactions. She discovered that it was in her best interest to keep her tweets short and sweet due to a character limit and she found that she was able to have more productive conversations if she didn’t resolve to insults. In her upbeat political tweets, she made connections with people from all over the world who held varying perspectives, and all who wanted her to see another point of view. She built connections with others outside her church and began to view them with care: “I was beginning to see them as human”. Her online conversations were littered with jokes and trying to understand one another’s perspectives. Her story teaches us that the best way to confront hate speech is with an open mind, but keeping a strong footing in your point of view. It is important to share ideas with others, even if you are in complete disagreement because it can broaden your perspective to a new world of thinking. Phelps-Roper’s experience with social media helped her escape from a toxic environment and open her mind to new ways of viewing people, the world, and God.
5. If you were to meet Phelps-Roper today, what question would you want to ask her, and why?
If I were to meet her, I would ask if there is anything from her old life at the Westboro Baptist Church that she still believes, as she was brought up with these views for almost 30 years. I find it fascinating how someone can change their perspective from something so drastic to dancing on tables at a drag queen bar.
