Adrian Chen is an investigative reporter who has worked for various news articles outlets such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Gawker, and New York Magazine. After Reading about Chen’s contributions and investigations, I have no doubt he is a reliable and impressive writer. Adrian has exposed parts of the dark web and got an internet creep fired. As it relates to this article, Chen is clearly continuing his investigative streak, researching and digging up insider information from places with backward thinking compared to the rest of the world. He is seeking to uncover the truths of famous controversies and bring them into the public eye.
Born into a hateful community that believes that God’s intent is purely spiteful instead of loving, Megan Phelps-Roper gradually uncovers the faulty teachings of her community at Westboro Baptist Church through social media’s influence. Phelps-Roper grew up picketing anything from pride parades, Jewish synagogues, and even dead soldier’s funerals. Illustrating how distorted their beliefs were and how deep into this religion Megan was without knowing any better, she expresses, “She couldn’t wait to picket Ground Zero” (Chen). A horrific statement and reaction to such a tragedy struck the nation, though a pleasant thought for the people at Westboro Baptist Church. Phelps-Roper’s father mentions that 9/11 is a punishment from God due to America’s amenability to homosexuality. The roots run deep in this family, making it more difficult for one such as Phelps-Roper to come to their senses and leave as she eventually does. As the church’s social media “ambassador,” Megan took it upon herself to seek out public Jewish figures to target, landing her on David Abitbol. He proved a perfect adversary for Phelps-Roper due to his extensive knowledge of the Old Testament. What shocked Megan was his unanticipated friendliness. She is able to communicate with others, like Abitbol, through all sorts of messaging, whether public or not. When it comes to the topic of social media, most will readily agree that it is a practical tool for communication. Where this agreement usually splits, however, is on the question of, “Is it good for us?”. Whereas some are convinced that humans use social media in excess, meaning it is causing our brains to regress, others including myself, maintain that it has done the opposite and thus widened our outreach and cognitive skills. As she becomes more involved in the community provided by social media, Phelps-Roper has grander accessibility to look at tweets and direct messages with perspectives different from her own. Watching humans be humans instead of “sinners,” Megan admits, “ I was beginning to see them as human” (Chen). Taking the quote to exhibit an alteration in her mindset, Megan glimpses into the lives of people outside of Westboro and notices how life is experienced in significantly different ways. Abitbol, in particular, tries to give Megan evidence to prove that her community is wrong, effectively exposing double standards that hit close to home. C.G. is another major influencer whom she met on social media. He advocated for a third perspective, which Phelps-Roper had not considered, for those who were not of the religious sort, though still agreeable people. Over time, she was beginning to understand the hurt in the world on an emotional level, something that was not allowed in the church. For example, the images of malnourished children in Somalia made her break into tears, yet, her mother had quite the opposite reaction, celebrating the famine. This incident made Phelps-Roper question the ethics of Westboro. Following changes in leadership within the church, the decisions became secretive, controlling, and conservative, causing Phelps-Roper to become more confused and consider leaving altogether. She did not simply drop everything and leave since this was still a gradual exit. She first convinced her sister to depart along with her. After everything that has occurred, Megan gets more confident to express her questioning of the church’s practices to her sister, constantly messaging her and finally leaving indefinitely. Without the influence of social media, who knows if Megan Phelps-Roper would have left at all? It was an extensive process for her to learn the benefits of seeing other’s perspectives instead of blindly following the harsh words and practices of her family and community where she was raised. Megan tries to make up for the harm caused by herself and the Westboro Baptist Church since leaving, finding outlets to share their story and getting help from others who support them in their transition into the world outside Westboro.
Charitably speaking, Phelps-Roper was enraptured by the publicity and outreach of social media. It began with her using it as a platform to spread the hateful views of Westboro Baptist Church but slowly evolved into Phelps-Roper unraveling their twisted beliefs. Megan was delighted by the reactions, particularly the outrage, from strangers or other public figures using Twitter. Phelps-Roper concedes, “It’s proof that people are seeing it and reacting to it” (Chen). A statement illustrating the internal gain Megan experiences whenever a response is received. Not only did this ecstasy arise through public posts, with direct messages to argue in a more private, targeted manner. Through messaging people whom she was taught to hate, such as C.G. and Abitbol, she unknowingly learned a lot about the outside world and the damage her community was generating. While Megan would not admit to these messages being good for her morality, it is implied that these interactions are precisely what contributed to her “escape” from the Church. Over time, she realized that these people she was attempting to stir up and cause controversy with were humans, too, and enjoyed similar pastimes. Phelps-Roper was a fan of the show “Clueless,” so following a favorite actress’s death, Megan saw the mourning of social media users in addition to her family expressing their excitement over a “sinner’s” death, leaving Megan struggling with her emotions. Phelps-Roper likens the contradicting responses, “The contrast between the grief on Twitter and the buoyant mood in the basement unsettled her” (Chen). This quote indicates something greater is beginning to grow underneath the surface; it is significant to pick up on the indications of a shifting perspective despite the time it may take. Phelps-Roper displays an uneasy feeling as only the beginning of the change she went through due to her presence on social media.
Megan Phelps-Roper often used social media to tick people off and gain attention for Westboro Baptist Church. Any member of the church would respond crudely to aggravated social media strangers, but Phelps-Roper was caught off guard by David Abitbol’s cordial responses. Abitbol would use such friendly and jocular tactics to make Megan realize that people she learned to hate are people, too. Relating to the “sinners” online, Phelps-Roper began to reconsider her beliefs. In addition to Abitbol’s messages, another user, C.G., provided another perspective entirely for Megan to consider. Frequently, the fight with others would be how Westboro does their religion wrong, but C.G. included the angle of people who are not religious, though still decent people. Such conversations over the cruelty of Westboro gave Megan a new thought process and a way for herself to determine what is wrong from right. Instances such as this imply a way to talk to those who partake in hate speech by treating them like any other human while gently criticizing their views through jokes and being pleasant overall. Redemption can transpire as sharing one’s experiences, like those described by Megan Phelps-Roper. Recovery may not easily be achieved, however, using small actions and speaking out against the wrongs in society can bring people closer together to form a new community of peace. Providing a fresh perspective, outside of the regular back and forth of an argument, one is able to bring a new light to the issue and potentially change people’s outlook on life. A gentle and polite tone can do wonders to get through to people who only respond in an aggressive manner.
Personally, I would like to ask Phelps-Roper about the realization about the indoctrination that occurred at Westboro Baptist Church. If it hit her suddenly and the questions just began flowing like a flooded river, I am curious to know how she dealt with all this emotion as she attempted to leave. Or if there was a greater conflict going on, fighting the beliefs she was raised on, though beginning to doubt them must have been a scary thought when surrounded by those who so outwardly display their beliefs on sinners. As a whole, this experience must be extremely difficult to bypass, so I wonder if she has gotten any closure on the aggression and trauma this may have caused, and she likely still thinks about it.
