10:04 am - 02/07/2013
“There's no fresh start in today's world. Any twelve-year-old with a cell phone could find out what you did. Everything we do is collated and quantified. Everything sticks.”
Don’t act surprised that I’m quoting Batman. At WBC, reciting lines from pop culture is par for the course. And why not? The sentiments they express are readily identifiable by the masses – and shifting their meaning is as easy as giving them new context. So put Selina Kyle’s words in a different framework:
In a city in a state in the center of a country lives a group of people who believe they are the center of the universe; they know Right and Wrong, and they are Right. They work hard and go to school and get married and have kids who they take to church and teach that continually protesting the lives, deaths, and daily activities of The World is the only genuine statement of compassion that a God-loving human can sincerely make. As parents, they are attentive and engaged, and the children learn their lessons well.
This is my framework.
Until very recently, this is what I lived, breathed, studied, believed, preached – loudly, daily, and for nearly 27 years.
I never thought it would change. I never wanted it to.
Then suddenly: it did.
And I left.
Where do you go from there?
I don't know, exactly. My sister Grace is with me, though. We’re trying to figure it out together.
There are some things we do know.
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.
Up until now, our names have been synonymous with “God Hates Fags.” Any twelve-year-old with a cell phone could find out what we did. We hope Ms. Kyle was right about the other part, too, though – that everything sticks – and that the changes we make in our lives will speak for themselves.
Megan and Grace
source: https://medium.com/turning-points/83d2e
good for her, hopefully this is a sign of the end.
megan phelps has left the westboro batshit "church"
“There's no fresh start in today's world. Any twelve-year-old with a cell phone could find out what you did. Everything we do is collated and quantified. Everything sticks.”
Don’t act surprised that I’m quoting Batman. At WBC, reciting lines from pop culture is par for the course. And why not? The sentiments they express are readily identifiable by the masses – and shifting their meaning is as easy as giving them new context. So put Selina Kyle’s words in a different framework:
In a city in a state in the center of a country lives a group of people who believe they are the center of the universe; they know Right and Wrong, and they are Right. They work hard and go to school and get married and have kids who they take to church and teach that continually protesting the lives, deaths, and daily activities of The World is the only genuine statement of compassion that a God-loving human can sincerely make. As parents, they are attentive and engaged, and the children learn their lessons well.
This is my framework.
Until very recently, this is what I lived, breathed, studied, believed, preached – loudly, daily, and for nearly 27 years.
I never thought it would change. I never wanted it to.
Then suddenly: it did.
And I left.
Where do you go from there?
I don't know, exactly. My sister Grace is with me, though. We’re trying to figure it out together.
There are some things we do know.
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.
Up until now, our names have been synonymous with “God Hates Fags.” Any twelve-year-old with a cell phone could find out what we did. We hope Ms. Kyle was right about the other part, too, though – that everything sticks – and that the changes we make in our lives will speak for themselves.
Megan and Grace
source: https://medium.com/turning-points/83d2e
good for her, hopefully this is a sign of the end.
good for her and her sis. must be hard to leave your family.
Go libraries!
Edited at 2013-02-07 12:17 am (UTC)
I mean, the WBC actually teaches the children that if they go out into the world they will get physically sick. That as punishment for leaving the only true church they will become deathly ill, covered in boils and possibly die from being poisoned by the impure world. That every single person outside of the church is completely heartsick and depressed and aimless and never knows a minute of happiness.
It doesn't matter how bad a place is when you're taught, as bad as it is, everywhere else is much worse.
these sisters will need extensive therapy with someone who focuses on cults.
how do they survive in school?
Part of me is like, "Good for you," while the other part of me is like, "WTF" at the part where she tries to justify her family's actions. Maybe as time passes and she comes to her senses, she'll realize how wrong they are and that they do in fact have "bad intentions".
Edit: I didn't really take into account that the WBC is a cult, so her justifying her family makes sense. Still hope she comes to her senses. It would be great for her to speak out against them.
Edited at 2013-02-07 12:27 am (UTC)
The fact that a simple trip to the library/a conversation could change her whole world view shows how ignorant she was.
Apparently a couple years before I transferred to my University, the WBC came and picketed our Theatre department [which I am a theatre major] for a show we were doing. Listening to my teach talk about it, he thought it was totally hilarious and awesome.
I also hope that this will help to show the kids still trapped there that they may be able to escape too.
I wonder what prompted the final break, though.
i hope she gets therapy and starts fresh and moves on with her life. i can't imagine what she's gone through. :/