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945 reviews for:
Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church
Megan Phelps-Roper
4.15 AVERAGE
945 reviews for:
Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church
Megan Phelps-Roper
4.15 AVERAGE
I found this a really interesting and completely harrowing read.
It is a very timely read in this political climate, and I think the author is incredibly brave for coming forward with her story in this way.
I didn’t agree with the very end of this book, where the author talks about how all viewpoints need to heard. Some opinions are completely backwards and actively harmful, and I don’t think that people, especially from marginalised groups, should have to debate their human rights with people who hate them.
A really interesting and thought provoking read, that was well written and very insightful.
It is a very timely read in this political climate, and I think the author is incredibly brave for coming forward with her story in this way.
I didn’t agree with the very end of this book, where the author talks about how all viewpoints need to heard. Some opinions are completely backwards and actively harmful, and I don’t think that people, especially from marginalised groups, should have to debate their human rights with people who hate them.
A really interesting and thought provoking read, that was well written and very insightful.
A memoir by Fred Phelps' granddaughter about growing up in the Westboro Baptist Church culture (cult?) and then realizing everything that it stood for was wrong. The author was very transparent about her struggles in coming out of an environment of authoritarianism and group-think. Even though she doesn't use these words, my guess is that there was a great deal of spiritual and emotional abuse going on from the top down. I'm very glad Megan is free, but sadly she has embraced doubt rather than rethinking all she was taught within Christianity.
This is also a warning to beware of religious pride and treating the other as less than the image of God. WBC adhered to the 5 points but were hyper-Calvinists IMO. They only preached condemnation with no gospel. Fred Phelps ended up being removed from the church near the end of his life by another set of authoritarian men. So environments like this will draw people who want power and those who are willing to be manipulated by them.
This is also a warning to beware of religious pride and treating the other as less than the image of God. WBC adhered to the 5 points but were hyper-Calvinists IMO. They only preached condemnation with no gospel. Fred Phelps ended up being removed from the church near the end of his life by another set of authoritarian men. So environments like this will draw people who want power and those who are willing to be manipulated by them.
An incredible, important read. It really opened my eyes and my heart to learn more of the humanity and the pathology behind the Westboro church's actions. I deeply admire Megan and her journey. I am so grateful she shared it with the rest of us.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I really didn't want to like this. I didn't want to like Megan Phelps-Roper. The Westboro Baptist Church and their beliefs are so far from my own that I didn't even want to try to understand what drives them. But I'm also absolutely fascinated by cults and organised religion as a whole and here was a book that would help provide me with clarity surrounding 'America's most hated family'.
The only thing I knew about WBC is that they were awful people who used religion as an excuse to be terrible human beings. I still think, to a certain degree, that's still true but it's also so much more complex and more than a little sad. To spend so much of your life surrounded in hate and readily turning your back on the people you are supposed unconditionally love seems so very sad and so very exhausting.
Megan's writing is powerful and direct. She does not offer excuses for her own personal behavior but shares the facts about WBC as she knows them and the revelations she had surrounding her part in it. She and her sister Grace are, in my opinion, incredibly brave. I'm a former catholic and lucky that my family, who are still very religious, respect that decision and still love me. If I had decided to no longer be a part of the church and openly question it's teachings knowing that my family would no longer accept me I'm honestly not sure I'd have been brave enough.
WBC have caused countless people unnecessary pain and there is no reasoning that away but Megan's story is fascinating and insightful and highly recommended.
She narrates the audio and she is so lovely to listen to. I do think that I'll eventually get the physical book though as the bible verse quotes were a little jarring at times and I think reading along while listening would help to untangle some of them.
Really really really well written but fuckin hell, her family and that church.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
As someone who has always been fascinated by westboro Baptist church, this was one of the most interesting books i have read in a while. I had no idea some of the history of it, with Fred Phelps being a lawyer advocating for civil rights & all of the family being very educated. It was such a great insight, and definitely struck a chord with Megan’s questioning of her highly performative and demanding religion. Would recommend to anyone interested in religion (who can also keep an open mind) and anyone deconstructing
https://literallaura.home.blog/2020/01/13/question-everything/
This is an extremely intense book but well worth the read. It was very educational and thought-provoking.
There's may never be a better time than now for a the thoughtfulness this book applies to the way we engage on controversial ideas. Part autobiography and part rhetorical study, Phelps-Roper explores how exploring scripture she loved led her to challenge the people who taught her how to interpret these passages and build new understandings without losing her identity or her past. As someone who grew up in the same area, the beautifully descriptive writing evoked childhood memories of my own while the story lent context to things I witnessed living in the area while Westboro Church was growing more active. I highly recommend this book to people wanting to understand Westboro and to explore how to build dialogue across what seem like unbreakable lines, to people who enjoy good autobiographies and stories of self discovery, and finally simply to people who enjoy a good read and a good story as even knowing where Phelps-Roper is in her life today, I found myself on the edge of my seat more than once wondering if, and how, she would get there.