Now on bbc news, hardtalk. Holding up placards outside the funerals of dead american soldiers. Celebrating schoolroom massacres. Westboro Baptist Church has been described as the most obnoxious, hate filled group in america. Megan phelps roper was part of that group. She was born into the church. She carried those hate filled placards from the age of five years old. But as an adult, firing off tweets against online critics, megan began to doubt. Eventually, she left the church altogether, but she paid a high price. The church was founded by her grandfather. She was shunned by those she loved the most. Can she still really regard the people who taught her to hate, to desire more death, that the world was going to hell, as her beloved, wonderful mum and dad . Megan phelps roper, welcome to hardtalk. From the age of five, in 1991, you were involved in your familys demonstrations, later taking part in pickets of the funerals of dead soldiers in the united states. Can you just give us a sen
With stephen sackur. Holding up placards outside the funerals of dead american soldiers. Celebrating schoolroom massacres. Westboro Baptist Church has been described as the most obnoxious, hate filled group in america. Megan phelps roper was part of that group. She was born into the church, she carried those hate filled cards from the age of five years old. But as an adult, firing off tweets against online critics, megan began to doubt. Eventually, she left the church altogether but she paid a high price the church was founded by her grandfather, she was shunned by those she loved the most. Can she still really regard the people who taught her to hate, to desire more debt, that the world was going to hell, as her beloved, wonderful mum and dad . Megan phelps roper, welcome to hardtalk. From the age of five and 1991, you were involved in your familys demonstrations, later taking part in pickets of the funerals of dead soldiers in the united states. Can you give us a sense of what these
Holding up placards outside the funerals of dead american soldiers. Celebrating schoolroom massacres. Westboro Baptist Church has been described as the most obnoxious, hate filled group in america. Megan phelps roper was part of that group. She was born into the church. She carried those hate filled placards from the age of five years old. But as an adult, firing off tweets against online critics, megan began to doubt. Eventually, she left the church altogether, but she paid a high price. The church was founded by her grandfather. She was shunned by those she loved the most. Can she still really regard the people who taught her to hate, to desire more death, that the world was going to hell, as her beloved, wonderful mum and dad . Megan phelps roper, welcome to hardtalk. From the age of five, in 1991, you were involved in your familys demonstrations, later taking part in pickets of the funerals of dead soldiers in the united states. Can you just give us a sense of what these events mea
Shine for the rest of your life tamron we are back now at megan phelpsroper whose family started the Westboro Baptist church, known as a hate group that is protested samesex marriagewhich included a protesting at funerals for fallen soldiers. So you are telling audiences at home and hear how you are now on twitter, 2009, you are running into people who are challenging what you have been told your entire life and some of it is starting to click to you. Exactly. The fineness internal inconsistency. Westboro ideology is a very closed system so any arguments that would cause you to doubt the primary things we believe which was that the bible was the literal and infallible word of god and westboro has the only true interpretation of it and anything else was wrong. And egg argument that came from the outside of it we couldnt hear it. We had all these bible verses to dismiss those things but the fact that it was an internal can inconsistency that was a thread that began to unravel the rest of
We weree just talking in the back, her discussion of life in a religious community, doubt, how you decide to leave or stay and how you defend yourself in those contexts is one of those conversations that we need to be having so much more as a culture. I think the it opens up so many doors for people. Megan is herself a writer and an activist. She leftp the Westboro Baptist church in november 2012 and is now an educator on topics relating to extremism and communication across ideological lines. At the age of 53, megan at the age of 5, peg began began protesting homosexuality. This church was founded by her grandfather and consisted almost entirely of her extended family. Picketing at military funerals and celebrations of death and tragedy. As the churchs twitter spokesman, megan was one of the few that interacted with the outside world, and twitter actually did something maybe we can applaud it for, it caused her to begin doubting the Strict Church members and its message. After digital