A biography for Megan Phelps-Roperhasn’t been written yet.
“Take heart, and be patient; change takes time but it is possible, and it's way more likely if we can reach out and disagree without demonizing.”
“What's important to me is how the Lord looks at me, more than anything else.”
“Whatever state you find yourself in, you're supposed to be content there.”
“Since leaving the church, I've been working with law enforcement involved in counterterrorism and deradicalization. I hoped that illuminating Westboro's ideology - and especially the unraveling of that ideology - would be useful to the people doing that work.”
“There's so much power in seeing the possibility of change.”
“As happy as we were in our backyard jumping on trampolines, it was the same general feeling, often euphoria, on the picket line, because we felt like the way our lives were falling on to us contorted with the people of God and the scriptures. It all felt very normal.”
“We held signs that said 'Thank God For Dead Soldiers,' 'Thank God For IEDs.'”
“I definitely regret hurting people.”
“When we lose hope that there is a possibility of reaching the other side - I don't even like to say the 'other side' because there are so many sides, and breaking it down into us/them is oversimplifying - it allows us to treat people in a way that's incredibly destructive.”
“Arguing is fun when you think you have all the answers.”
“I don't believe in God anymore.”
“We did lots of fun normal-kids stuff.”
“I don't think that, if you do everything else in your life right and you happen to be gay, you're automatically going to hell.”
“As a member of Westboro Baptist Church, I became a fixture on picket lines across the country.”
“Assuming ill motives almost instantly cuts us off from truly understanding why someone does and believes as they do.”
“All I could do was try to build a new life and find a way somehow to repair some of the damage. People had every reason to doubt my sincerity, but most of them didn't. And - given my history, it was more than I could've hoped for - forgiveness and the benefit of the doubt. It still amazes me.”
“The things I believe in now are grace and the power of human connection to change hearts and minds and the importance of civil dialogue.”
“I miss my family every single day.”
“Loving someone whose ideas we find detestable can seem impossible, and empathizing with them isn't much easier - but it's so important to remember that listening is not agreeing.”
“When we engage people across ideological divides, asking questions helps us map the disconnect between our differing points of view.”