Westboro Baptist Church Case Study

To build his argument, he ties in similar examples from history that involve either social or political activism. Not only does he connect these examples to the “weak ties” that the platforms of social media are built upon, but he also offers insight to his readers, the general public, and social-networking gurus (Gladwell 551). In his essay, “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, Gladwell creates a rhetorically effective argument that illustrates why social networking is not an adequate way to conduct social or political activism.

Nowadays, social media is practically a staple in everyone’s lives. While some use it solely to stay in touch with friends or family, others wouldn’t even know the latest of current events if they didn’t have their phone notifying them that their friends are talking about it. The Internet and social media have bred a new generation of socially-aware people which has given them a platform to learn and share on. Because this generation’s growth is largely-based online and through technology, it has formed a new brand of social activism. While some feel social media has made it too easy to claim a movement or position, others believe that it is what we need to spread a message

In his article “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, published in the New York Times on October 2010, Malcolm Gladwell looks closely into the notion of social change and the different means to achieve it. He makes a clear distinction between traditional activism, which implies sacrifices and physical devotion, and current activism, based on social networks. The writer considers that “social media can’t provide what social change has always required” (Gladwell, paragraph 1).

Not affiliated with any southern baptist or general baptist churches, the thirty-nine member (The Journal) Westboro Baptist Church is primarily known for its continued protest against the LGBT community, the Catholic Church, and the military (Wikipedia). The westboro Baptist Church’s first public service was held on November 27, 1955(Wikipedia). This was the first time the church publicly condemned the world. Most recently the Westboro Baptist Church have agreed with the shooting at the Pulse Night Club in Orlando, Florida stating that God sent Omar Mateen to kill the gays because “God hates fags.” While other churches preach about loving one another as god has loved them, the westboro

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is known for their obscene protests where they display signs that discriminate towards homosexuals. Although the members of the WBC considered themselves a part of an actual church, the church mainly consists of the family members of its founder, Fred Phelps (Clay, 2016). The church holds beliefs that are similar to Calvinism, a denomination of Christianity. Similar to the Calvinists, the members of the church believe that they are a part of an elect group of people that God has chosen to be his own (Clay, 2016). Because they are a part of God’s elect, they feel they must speak against the homosexuality that is present in America and in other places of the world. They travel around the world protesting and shouting hurtful phrases that cause people to

Facts: Westboro Baptist Church, led by Fred Phelps organized a protest on public property to make their beliefs known to others, which is protected by the first Amendment. They do not believe in homosexuality and wars they feel like support homosexuality. They have protest numerus military funerals. Their Protest of Matthew Snyder’s Funeral was on public property and they notified the authorities before picketing the funeral.

Westboro Baptist Church is a Church full of many people who protest at many military funerals. There are many people like the people in Westboro Baptist Church, those are the type of people who hate America. In the year 2013, Westboro Baptist Church was counter-protested at a military funeral. People who hate America and the people who fought for them, should be removed from this country. Westboro Baptist Church is one of the many people who protest at military funerals, there are many more who hate America even though we send people out to fight for them, if those people think that America is not worth their love, then they should be removed and sent to the nearest country, People should be able to understand, that America is a country that fights for everyone’s freedom, and their rights.

Facts: Fred Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church which is considered to be extremist. Phelps and his followers believe that God punishes those who are tolerant of homosexuality. Since, the United States has a high tolerance of homosexuality, they believe that the United States is damned. The military also has recently become more accepting of homosexuals in their ranks, thus the Westboro Baptist Church pickets many military funerals.

(Westboro Baptist Church homepage) The members of the WBC, which consists of a small and close-knit group of people, believe that homosexuality is wrong, that anyone who is not an“old-school’’ (Westboro Baptist Church About Us page) baptist like them, (such as the Amish and Jews), are wrong, that God will punish everyone who doesn’t have their views. These people believe all these groups will burn in Hell. They protest funerals and take to the streets with their vile posters to scream their ideas to others. They persecute others because they trust genuinely in the righteousness of God.

The Westboro Baptist Church goes out its way to spread its toxic messages about veterans, LGBT Community. The Unitarian Universalism, advocates liberal, community actions.

There are many protests, sit ins, marches, that are organized or spread through media more than of word of mouth. There are underground social media groups where some of these things happen, even one for campuses across the nation to speak about social justice. It is true that people have to know someone to get “invited” in or to “join” but it is not as easy for someone to sabotage it as Gladwell stated when writing about if Dr. King had tried this. Whereas Dr. King may have had people at church all in one place, that may not be as easy now to catch people at the same time. I could even argue that people would use social media to coordinate a meeting place and a time so they could organize in

In order to have an even stronger system we need our supporters to understand and believe in the action that is being protested. Social media is capable with not only getting in contact with other people but it allows you to grab those people’s attentions in many different ways. These followers need to be convinced and taught about the different options that they can be given. Many people follow trends, and with social media being a big part of the trend it makes it easier to have an audience. It is easy for people to invite people to a group, or event on Facebook or even having a following of tweeters on Twitter because people are able to add descriptions. In this descriptions majority of people who are protesting are able to write who they are, what the problem is, give ideas of solutions to the problem and overall a way to convince their readers to press ‘Like’, ‘re-tweet’, ‘Follow’ or ‘Attend’. With their explanation they can create a bandwagon of supporters and build a strong willed support system. Gladwell used the example of the Bhatia needing a bone-marrow transplant. Even though people helped by signing up for a donor registry and sending in a

I believe with the court's decision that Westboro Church won. Because they peacefully protested on public land and addressed that they were planning to protest to the police. They used public views by a large society, that had no threatful words used towards Snyder’s family. Westboro peacefully addressed matters of public concern on public land. Because the First Amendment protects the freedom of speech I have to agree with the court's decision. On the Oyez website Robert mentions, “ As a nation, we have chosen a different course to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.” I have to agree to what Robert said because even though someone disagrees with someone's speech doesn’t mean they have

Throughout history, people have expressed their thoughts, ideas, convictions and emotions through their rhetoric, with the intent to persuade or motivate their audience. The public forum has always been a successful avenue by which religious leaders, political figures, social activists could reach millions of listeners with their messages. Lord Jesus Christ captivated countless followers, both then and now, with his message in His Sermon on the Mount, instructing us to obey God’s Word and to conduct ourselves in every aspect of our lives as God loving Christians. Unfortunately, there are also many individuals that use the public forum to project messages of hate and attempt to persuade masses to inflict harm against others. Former Iranian

Martin has also promoted transgenderism in children and the lack of chastity in same-sex relationships (The Vortex). These four Catholics have used social media as an outlet to oppose the Catholic Church and through undermining them, they have been viewed as heretics by many. Their use of social media has made it even more dangerous to the souls of others because their heresy is quickly spread and