kimmy Posted September 18, 2011 Report Share Posted September 18, 2011 A while back, the kooks of the Westboro Baptist Church set out to bring their message of hate to Long Beach California, and the result was exactly what you'd expect... ...a big gay dance party broke out. And just today, at a Westboro Baptist Church protest, the Foo Fighters, dressed in cornball disguises, arrived and performed, completely disrupting everything as both WBC members and counter-protesters alike stopped to enjoy the show. Looking at these videos, it occurred to me that the Phelps family are bringing people together and creating a sense of unity wherever they go. I'm not religious, but if I were, I would think that maybe the Westboro Baptist Church is doing god's work after all. -k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Weber Posted September 18, 2011 Report Share Posted September 18, 2011 Love the Foo's... I think Dave Grohl is one of music's underrated songwriting and instrumental talents...Kooks be damned!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty AC Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 (edited) Sam Harris has an interesting chat with Megan Phelps-Roper, granddaughter of Fred Phelps, the infamous founder of the Westboro Baptist church. Megan is well spoken and open about belief, her family, the church, ISIS, idiots like Reza Aslan, etc. It's worth a listen. Edited July 6, 2015 by Mighty AC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmy Posted July 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 I haven't listened to the interview yet, but to me Megan's story is one of the most inspiring religion stories in recent years. I was quite overjoyed when I read that she (along with her younger sister Grace) had left the WBC. They are still religious, but now belong to a mainstream church. Megan was the one who ran the WBC's social media presence, as well as performing their parody music videos. But behind the scenes, she had been engaging in a long-running theological debate with a Christian blogger about her family's brand of belief. She was an A+ student at college, and she went back to the library and delved into books trying to settle her growing unease with her family's theology. And she couldn't do it... she couldn't reconcile her family's views with her understanding of Gospel. And she, along with her little sister, left. Not just the church, but her family as well. They're not just excommunicated from a church, they're excommunicated from their whole family. She posted a statement that read, in part... We know that we’ve done and said things that hurt people. Inflicting pain on others wasn’t the goal, but it was one of the outcomes. We wish it weren’t so, and regret that hurt. We know that we dearly love our family. They now consider us betrayers, and we are cut off from their lives, but we know they are well-intentioned. We will never not love them. We know that we can’t undo our whole lives. We can’t even say we’d want to if we could; we are who we are because of all the experiences that brought us to this point. What we can do is try to find a better way to live from here on. That’s our focus. And she changed her Twitter from this... to this... Since then, the two have traveled and tried to connect with people. They attended a Jewish festival that their family picketed just a couple of years earlier. Grace went to Jamaica and worked with a humanitarian group. I guess what I found so heartwarming about their story is that it shows that hate can be overcome. These two women were indoctrinated in WBC's ideology from their infancy, and they eventually saw through it. Perhaps others can too. To me, that's an inspiring thought. -k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 It's interesting too that she deleted so many tweets as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmy Posted July 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Sam Harris has an interesting chat with Megan Phelps-Roper, granddaughter of Fred Phelps, the infamous founder of the Westboro Baptist church. Megan is well spoken and open about belief, her family, the church, ISIS, idiots like Reza Aslan, etc. It's worth a listen. I did just finish listening to it, and really enjoyed it. She's extremely articulate and bright, and seems very well-read too. Thanks for recommending it. -k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty AC Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 I did just finish listening to it, and really enjoyed it. She's extremely articulate and bright, and seems very well-read too. Thanks for recommending it. Thanks for the background information on Megan, she is a very interesting person. She is definitely articulate and bright but also came across as very self assured, comfortable and aware. That combination makes her a surprisingly charismatic speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmy Posted July 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Several years back, when she was still very much into WBC, I saw a couple of videos where a flamboyantly gay Kansas City DJ came to the Phelps home to visit with Megan and her mom Shirley (who is probably the most visible of the WBC protestors, more or less the leader.) And it was completely the opposite of what you'd expect. The three of them chat and joke around like old friends. Like, there was palpable warmth and kindness, and you'd have never guessed that the two women were leaders of a notorious hate group. And at one point the DJ remarked on this, and Shirley says "Shawn, we don't hate you. We love you. It's God that hates you." I think she at some point said something along the lines of "if it was up to us, everybody would go to heaven." It was completely surreal, and seeing those videos changed how I see them. It became difficult to see them as simple bigots who use the Bible to justify their hate, because watching them interact with the extremely gay DJ, there just wasn't any hate, or even uncomfortableness. It jived with what she said in the interview when she disagreed with the claim that people bring their own prejudices to the scripture. Similarly what she said in the interview about having friends outside the church and the awkwardness of having the "but you think I'm going to hell" and "well, yes, but I still like you..." moment with them. -k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Squid Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 This sort of indoctrination is child abuse. It messes people up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty AC Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 It really does. I've had the opportunity to talk with people who have broken free of religion despite a very fundamentalist upbringing. Like Megan, one man I spoke to lost his family, friends, job and everything when he admitted he could no longer by into Christian mythology any longer. I'm a fairly emotionless person but I teared up at times listening to grown people talk of missing their families. One guy said he just wished he could go fishing with his dad again. Anyway, indoctrination of this sort leads to serious mental issues and has been dubbed 'Religious Trauma Syndrome'. Organized Religion To Blame For Rise In Mental Health Problems: ‘Religious Trauma Syndrome’ “Religious indoctrination can be hugely damaging, and making the break from an authoritarian kind of religion can definitely be traumatic. It involves a complete upheaval of a person’s construction of reality, including the self, other people, life, the future, everything. People unfamiliar with it, including therapists, have trouble appreciating the sheer terror it can create and the recovery needed.” I hope Megan keeps talking about her experiences, I would love to see her speak at conference one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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