https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/westboro-baptist-church-megan-phelps-roper-israel-palestine-b1877441.html

Megan Phelps-Roper has an interesting past. Granddaughter of the notorious Westboro Baptist Church preacher Fred Phelps and former spokesperson for the organization, she is now a political activist who works to promote understanding between extremists. The Westboro Baptist Church are best known for standing on public sidewalks holding protest signs saying that “God Hates F**s” and celebrating the tragedies of others as righteous judgments of an angry God. Phelps-Roper grew up on their compound in Kansas and was pictured as a child wearing offensive T-shirts and standing proudly alongside placards that also included the statements “God Hates Jews” and “America is Doomed”.

When Phelps-Roper turned to Twitter to preach on the platform, people listened, and challenged her way of thinking. It was the beginning of an unraveling that she details in her book “Unfollow: A Journey From Hatred to Hope”.

“The interesting thing is that I didn’t view our worldview or our actions [in the Westboro Baptist Church] as hateful; I believed it was the opposite, and didn’t feel motivated by hate,” she told me. “Over time, it became clear to me that the doctrines I had been taught were wrong, that the arguments were circular, and that we were unnecessarily hurting people.”

It also became clear to Phelps-Roper that the problems within her church were common in American society: “I used to think most people weren’t like Westboro, but it’s become more and more apparent to me that these problems — tribalism, confirmation bias, scapegoating, the flattening of complex situations into black-and-white moral pronouncements — are not Westboro problems.”

Because that kind of thinking has become the norm, she continued, staying silent is now its own form of violence: “Looking away or staying silent — particularly when so many people are doing so — gives the illusion that we approve of that violence, and that the people engaging in crime and slandering innocent people are free to continue their activities without obstacle.”

Much of America is Westboroian. They just have graduated to the internet or run for Congress. Standing on the sidewalk with a sign is so Yesterday.


I appreciate especially her listing of, "flattening of complex situations into black-and-white moral pronouncements". That is what is driving me crazy and appears to be what is driving the Cancellation Bus. That is also the core of Mormonism or at least a big chunk of their M.O. as the gray areas continue to be their biggest enemy.

The last line of your post bothers me no end. Silence is not violence. Period. Another clever catch phrase devised by the Cancellation Culture to get you to do their bidding.

"Silence is Violence" is assigning the victims the title of perpetrator. That is black and white thinking. That is scapegoating, and has a hint of confirmation bias on the side and some tribalism.

What is the value of life iF all you do is battle those who would be pompously arrogantly religiously hateful? Their actions force you to become the "resistance." Your time is spent and your midnight hours unsettled doing that? When do you get to just have peace and hone your talents and feel a bit of elan?

Carving out a place for yourself in this world, trying somehow to raft the rapids of the flow of 328 million people is not violence. What is life worth if standing up to the bullies is a 24/7 job? Perhaps that is necessary. I know from my childhood you've gotta punch back and I did. But I am still angry that I had to. But for me, hitting was worse than getting hit.


I am so done with all the cute catch phrases these days and that one is nothing short of arrogantly judgemental.

How about . . .

Not getting vaccinated is violence?

Done & Done Wrote:
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> The last line of your post bothers me no end.
> Silence is not violence. Period. Another clever
> catch phrase devised by the Cancellation Culture
> to get you to do their bidding.
===============================

Yeah, that's a Megan quote -- not OP (at least it appears as her speaking in the article)
Megan can say whatever she wants, whatever - not threatened, got my own mind

Ye do too

"Ninety percent of everything is crap"
- Theodore Sturgeon