A few days after this trip, as I’ve finally had time to reflect, I’m mentally going back to a paper that I wrote for Dr. Gray’s religion 101 course. Without posting the entire paper, my thesis was that the WBC’s marginalization isn’t only due to the way that they practice their religion, but also strongly due to how they react to others when confronted. In the paper, I cover many topics, including totalism, social exclusion, and reactions to social exclusion (prosocial and antisocial).

Previously, I made assumptions that they are constantly practicing totalism. It seems to me, that it is something they do struggle within day to day life. Jonathan mentioned that he enjoyed running but there were times that he felt he had to pull away because he was devoting so much of his life to it. Maybe totalism isn’t something they are doing, but rather something the WBC members aspire to do.

So, what about my assertion that a reason they are so marginalized is that the group reacts in an antisocial way when confronted? This would be like when in past interviews, a member of the church would yell at someone who is confronting their values and beliefs.

When discussing outsiders counter-protesting, it seems that they feel like it’s almost laughable. At the same time, though, they mentioned that they really respect the first amendment and therefore also respect these people sharing their opinions and using their freedom of speech. So, I wouldn’t say that they respond in an antisocial way, as I had previously assumed. Their response to this social exclusion is not antisocial or prosocial but maybe, nonsocial. A nonsocial response can be characterized as pulling back into your “comfort zone” when faced with exclusion. Usually associated with cowardice, this might just be a result of exhaustion. The church members seem to just be tired of fighting back. They don’t engage in the discourse as much anymore, possibly.

I was also curious why they believed that they are so marginalized. In an interview with Abby, she mentioned that she believes that one of the strongest reasons why the Westboro Baptist Church is so strongly marginalized can be attributed to the media. A term the media uses a lot when describing the WBC is “hate group”. She mentioned that this tends to then cause people to shift to the word terrorism. It was shocking to her that a term such as terrorist could be attributed to this group, considering they don’t partake in any physical aggression.

But does the group even care that they are incredibly marginalized? And are they really? In an interview with around 6 girls ranging from their teen years to their 30s, I found some answers to this question. While it can be seen from previous interviews with older adults that they were incredibly bullied for being in the church when younger, these girls say that usually, people let them keep their church life and home life separate. They also mentioned that they don’t care much to hang out with people their own age outside of the church. So, they do seem to be socially excluded or marginalized but that seems to be due to their own preferences, like a separation strategy. I don’t think this means that they want to be separate in all situations or seen as bad people, but it’s almost what comes with their choice to stay separate in most ways from the general population.

Overall, I feel that my previous assessment of the church doesn’t represent who they are as a group. It might have in the past, but it seems that the church has changed in their mannerisms. Many people have tried to explain this to us, but can’t exactly find the right words. I don’t know if this change will help or hurt how marginalized the group is, but I do know that it is happening, and it is noticeable.

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is a group that I really didn’t know anything about until I took Dr. Gray’s Religion 101 class this past Spring 2018. Since then, it has become a very interesting topic to me. As a psychology major, I am more often interested in the whys and hows of life than the whats. Due to this, for my final paper in the class, I decided to evaluate possible reasons for why I believe the group continues to be so marginalized aside from the obvious, polar views. This will be a part of my focus during interviews.

I find it interesting that the group holds such strong values, even while enduring all the backlash it causes. Honestly, I tend to scoff at strong values and beliefs. I do not understand the reason for a screaming battle of opinions when most people will not change their minds. I’ve grown up in an area where many of the political views are the opposite of mine. Due to this, I tend to keep quiet when politics, religion, or other “touchy” subjects are discussed. I’m certain this quality that I have consequently adapted will be beneficial for this trip, as it will be crucial to keep a critical distance from the situation and keep myself within a scholarly viewpoint.

Despite my tendency to keep quiet when faced with people whose values are starkly different from mine, I have a lot of empathy for people that I am close to. While I have never approached religious protestors, I can’t say I’ve had many critically distant thoughts towards the ones I’ve encountered at Miami University. This will likely be one of the challenges I will face in interviews. Rather than being empathetic with those in my personal life, I will need to work to ignore or put aside that empathy for my family and friends in order to understand the views of the members of the WBC, all while keeping that crucial critical distance.

I also think it might be a challenge for me not to be in complete awe of the members. As mentioned, I am incredibly curious about the whys and hows of this group. Why do they choose to follow the beliefs they are handed after they are born? Why do they feel so strongly about their message that they are willing to endure all the hatred towards them? How has being so marginalized affected their quality of life? How has it affected their mental state or capacity? While these might not be questions I can answer, this is what will be swirling my mind. I will need to work to focus and stay engaged within the conversation while also thinking about the whys and hows, within reason.

Overall, I’m excited to do this research and most importantly, learn something new about this group of people. While we are both from the same country, that does not mean we have the same culture. It will be interesting for me to learn about this new culture that I have never experienced before. I am eager to begin interviews and hopefully uncover something that hasn’t been thought about yet.