Chen Reading Response

Published September 16, 2024 by cmoore29

1. Adrien Chen is a blogger and journalist. He writes mostly about technology and digital culture. Chens expertise on this topic allow him to deeper understand technology in todays world and how it affects our culture. Chens expertise also allows him to analyze how people fall into digital trends portrayed by our society. as a reader, we need to realize Chen isn’t pushing anything on us, but rather opening up our minds to understand the benefits and harm technology can do.

2. At the beginning of Chens reading, Phelps-Roper appears to be some radical antisemitist and spreads hate throughout the church. Known for its anti-gay and anti-semitic ways, Westboro Baptist Church was where Phelps was a member of. Although she began off as this radical, she goes through a huge change to better her ways throughout the story. Many Americans assume that people can’t change and better themselves, but Phelps-Roper did. it wasn’t easy at first but the first sign of her change was when she “questioned the churches ideologies and its harsh confrontational methods”. After finally moving on from the church she “recognized the emotional toll and harm” she left behind on many innocent people. 

3. Phelps role in the church was to help spread and extend the church’s extreme views. Through social media, Phelps was able to say and do certain things through a screen without feeling guilty. Eventually, people began reaching out and replying to Phelps with calm and friendly responses rather than hostile like the church was. Chen explained that Phelps experienced a “steady stream of people who engaged her with curiosity and kindness, rather than hostility”. This reaction from people created a huge turned in Phelps ways of thinking and even made her “question the core tenets of her upbringing”.

4. I strongly believe that compassion over confrontation worked the best on Phelps-Roper. I believe in this because although she was spreading hateful messages over the internet, people still showed her care and curiosity in their responses. Due to their reactions, Phelps felt a certain way about the things she was saying. Because people continued to be so nice she thought twice about her choices. In the end, Phelps stopped committing to that church and changed for the better good. 

5. If I were to meet Phelps-Roper today I would ask her “what made you think supporting that church was okay?”. I would ask her this because I’m curious to know if she understood that what she was doing was so wrong. I feel like she could’ve been blind to the fact that she was spreading hate but at the same time I feel as though its obvious when she says/posts certain things.