Dissecting Cultures Of Hate

What's it like to grow up within a group of people who exult in demonizing ... everyone else? Megan Phelps-Roper shares details of life inside America's most controversial church and describes how conversations on Twitter were key to her decision to leave it. In this extraordinary talk, she shares her personal experience of extreme polarization, along with some sharp ways we can learn to successfully engage across ideological lines. This talk was presented at an official TED conference, and was featured by our editors on the home page. 

About the speaker Megan Phelps-Roper · Writer, activist A former member of Westboro Baptist Church, Megan Phelps-Roper is now a writer and educator on topics related to extremism, bullying and empathy in dialogue.

The Distructive Effect Of Hatred

Is Hatred An Illness?

Here is food for thought!


 No community or nation should be considered healthy if hatred is pervasive.

 What may seem like a radical idea at first glance actually falls in line with medicine’s broadening scope. When Brook got his start in the medical field in the 1960s, most people viewed doctors as fixers of broken bones and nemeses of pneumonia. Fast-forward half a century and doctors ask patients about loneliness as routinely as they take temperatures. In a relatively brief span of time, medicine has evolved to encompass preventative care, while also recognizing the complex factors that can influence an individual’s health.