- In Chen’s piece about Megan Phelps-Roper, the quote that stood out to me as a starting point for Phelps-Roper’s journey towards change was “She had a well-sharpened tongue”(Chen, 2015). This explains to me that Phelps-Roper knew what she was saying, and knew how to make it appealing to others outside of the Westboro Baptist Church. Her tweets elicited reactions, good and bad, from thousands of people. People were listening. She placed the church on the map. Her journey with David Abitbol started to make Megan question “the double standard, and, as she did whenever she had a question about doctrine, she brought up the issue with her mother”(Chen, 2015). The questioning made Megan more humanized instead of the blunt personality she was so used to. One final moment made Megan realize her place in the world, “Wherever Megan and Grace went, they met people who wanted to help them, despite all the hurt they had caused”(Chen, 2015). Overall, Megan’s journey is one to look at and realize change can always happen, even if you feel like you’re in too deep.
- I think social media enhanced Phelps-Roper’s personality and agenda. She already was a powerful speaker, but with such a large platform, she became even more noticeable. Chen states, “Phelps-Roper was exhilarated by the response”, she started to know her power through social media. Her journey then helped her change in ideology because she could talk with and see real people. The church wasn’t her only source of information anymore. According to Chen, “Phelps-Roper no longer believes that the Bible is the word of God”, which is a drastic change from her earlier thoughts (only using the Bible to justify her actions).
- I think the communication that influenced Phelps-Roper the most was the art of arguing. Her Twitter fights seemed to be where she got most of her “action”. Towards the end of her arc of change, questions made her rethink her whole upbringing and life choices. Her story will teach us about taking everything with a grain of salt, and realizing people can change, no matter how “far gone” they seem.
- I would like to ask her if her upbringing and traumatic life still has effects on her now. Being in a cult like “community” must have been very difficult for her (especially for it being such a long time (26 years), does the outside world make sense to her now? Will she ever go back? Lots of unanswered questions…
