I am very excited to be given such an incredible opportunity to be amongst and interview members of the Westboro Baptist Church. Although they have been known to have controversial attitudes and values by outsiders from their group, I believe that I will be able to maintain a critical distance when having discussions with people of the WBC congregation. I intend to give members of the WBC my full and undivided attention during the interviews and when they tell their stories. I will aim to control my facial expressions (considering they may be too expressive at times), however my curiosity in what members of the church have to say will be displayed by my body language, eye contact, and through constant engagement. I am going into this trip wanting to have a better understanding of a group that I know little about, and I hope to share my knowledge in the future with others about what I will learn when meeting and having conversations with the WBC.

I am not concerned about how I could possibly react when confronted with disputable topics of discussion. Knowing that I may not agree with majority of the beliefs that members of the WBC have, I will have a constant mindset throughout the trip that different groups will have different beliefs everywhere I go in life. Some values may differ slightly from my own, and others may contradict my beliefs greatly. However, Dr. Gray’s Religion 101 class has prepared me to maintain a critical distance when interviewing the WBC. If, however, there comes to be a discussion where I do not agree with what a member might say, I will restrain my emotions and continue throughout the interview. Additionally, I could politely excuse myself from the interview where I can compose myself privately. Nevertheless, I do not feel that my emotions will overcome me and I will be able to interview members of the church without making normative judgments.