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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
Megan Phelps-Roper's upbringing was normal in many ways. She had a loving home, with devoted parents and the normal rough and tumble that comes from having lots of siblings.
But there was something very different about the way Megan was raised that thrust her and her family into the media spotlight - she was born into the infamous Westboro
Baptist Church.
The Westboro Baptist Church is not your normal run of the
mill Baptist Church - instead this is an ultra-religious sect, espousing aggressive homophobic and anti-Semitic views and it is well-known for picketing the funerals of American soldiers and celebrating natural disasters as the will of God.
Megan was brought up to see public protest as a normal way of life - even to the point of protesting outside her own high school graduation - and the only way to spread the one true gospel. She was helping to preach God's truth to the non-believers on their way to Hell.
But in November 2012, at the age of twenty-six, Megan left her church, family and everything she had been raised to believe behind. This is her own, very personal story of how she came to realise that the truth she had been taught since infancy was false, and how she was able to find compassion for others, as well as herself.
*********************************************************************************
This book was totally fascinating. Having heard quite a lot about the Westboro Baptist Church - after all they are not shy of publicity and have even been the subject of two documentaries by Louis Theroux - I was prepared to thoroughly dislike Megan Phelps-Roper. After all, how can you find common ground with someone who was brought up to hold beliefs that are abhorrent to you?
But Megan's memoir is so utterly honest and compelling that it is impossible to hate her, even though she has done some pretty unpleasant things as part of the Westboro family. Once you understand about Megan's upbringing, it is easy to see how she considered the sect like views of her church and family to be completely normal. Her extended family was a loving one and her whole life revolved around the church that had been started by her own charismatic grandfather. As far as she was concerned, her beliefs and those of her family were correct in every way and even though their actions were reviled by outsiders, they were following the word of God and had a duty to act as they did.
I still cannot condone the actions that Megan describes being part of in any way, but I now understand the whys and where-fors and this helped me to develop sympathy with Megan. In fact, I found myself taking Megan's side so much that I got quite indignant on her behalf when she could see how the doctrines of the Church were being subverted by the new council of elders!
What I was not prepared for, is the fact that the members of the Westboro Church are all highly educated, and not the ignorant religious fanatics I assumed them to be. It seems incredible to me that anyone who has read and studied as freely as Megan and her family, can still hold the beliefs they do. How they could not appreciate the irony of some of their actions is baffling - protesting outside your win high school graduation and then going in to accept your diploma? Strange indeed!
Megan herself began to question what she had been taught as she got older, and to see that things can be seen in a different light. I am thankful that she did, as it has allowed her to find the compassion and understanding that was missing from her time as a Church member. She has been able to grow in a way that would not have been possible if she had not torn herself away from everything she knew - and I now know how hard she has found this, as she does not shy away from describing how she has struggled. It has been wonderful to share Megan's journey and I am grateful to her for sharing her experiences in this book.
Unfollow is the kind of memoir that I enjoy best - raw and uncompromising, it makes you confront your own truths and reassess how you look at someone who has been raised with such utterly different beliefs to your own. It shows you that the human spirit can redeem itself, no matter how impossible this appears. This is a story about hope and I wish Megan everything good in the future - may you find happiness, Megan.
But there was something very different about the way Megan was raised that thrust her and her family into the media spotlight - she was born into the infamous Westboro
Baptist Church.
The Westboro Baptist Church is not your normal run of the
mill Baptist Church - instead this is an ultra-religious sect, espousing aggressive homophobic and anti-Semitic views and it is well-known for picketing the funerals of American soldiers and celebrating natural disasters as the will of God.
Megan was brought up to see public protest as a normal way of life - even to the point of protesting outside her own high school graduation - and the only way to spread the one true gospel. She was helping to preach God's truth to the non-believers on their way to Hell.
But in November 2012, at the age of twenty-six, Megan left her church, family and everything she had been raised to believe behind. This is her own, very personal story of how she came to realise that the truth she had been taught since infancy was false, and how she was able to find compassion for others, as well as herself.
*********************************************************************************
This book was totally fascinating. Having heard quite a lot about the Westboro Baptist Church - after all they are not shy of publicity and have even been the subject of two documentaries by Louis Theroux - I was prepared to thoroughly dislike Megan Phelps-Roper. After all, how can you find common ground with someone who was brought up to hold beliefs that are abhorrent to you?
But Megan's memoir is so utterly honest and compelling that it is impossible to hate her, even though she has done some pretty unpleasant things as part of the Westboro family. Once you understand about Megan's upbringing, it is easy to see how she considered the sect like views of her church and family to be completely normal. Her extended family was a loving one and her whole life revolved around the church that had been started by her own charismatic grandfather. As far as she was concerned, her beliefs and those of her family were correct in every way and even though their actions were reviled by outsiders, they were following the word of God and had a duty to act as they did.
I still cannot condone the actions that Megan describes being part of in any way, but I now understand the whys and where-fors and this helped me to develop sympathy with Megan. In fact, I found myself taking Megan's side so much that I got quite indignant on her behalf when she could see how the doctrines of the Church were being subverted by the new council of elders!
What I was not prepared for, is the fact that the members of the Westboro Church are all highly educated, and not the ignorant religious fanatics I assumed them to be. It seems incredible to me that anyone who has read and studied as freely as Megan and her family, can still hold the beliefs they do. How they could not appreciate the irony of some of their actions is baffling - protesting outside your win high school graduation and then going in to accept your diploma? Strange indeed!
Megan herself began to question what she had been taught as she got older, and to see that things can be seen in a different light. I am thankful that she did, as it has allowed her to find the compassion and understanding that was missing from her time as a Church member. She has been able to grow in a way that would not have been possible if she had not torn herself away from everything she knew - and I now know how hard she has found this, as she does not shy away from describing how she has struggled. It has been wonderful to share Megan's journey and I am grateful to her for sharing her experiences in this book.
Unfollow is the kind of memoir that I enjoy best - raw and uncompromising, it makes you confront your own truths and reassess how you look at someone who has been raised with such utterly different beliefs to your own. It shows you that the human spirit can redeem itself, no matter how impossible this appears. This is a story about hope and I wish Megan everything good in the future - may you find happiness, Megan.
Megan Phelps-Roper's upbringing was normal in many ways. She had a loving home, with devoted parents and the normal rough and tumble that comes from having lots of siblings.
But there was something very different about the way Megan was raised that thrust her and her family into the media spotlight - she was born into the infamous Westboro
Baptist Church.
The Westboro Baptist Church is not your normal run of the
mill Baptist Church - instead this is an ultra-religious sect, espousing aggressive homophobic and anti-Semitic views and it is well-known for picketing the funerals of American soldiers and celebrating natural disasters as the will of God.
Megan was brought up to see public protest as a normal way of life - even to the point of protesting outside her own high school graduation - and the only way to spread the one true gospel. She was helping to preach God's truth to the non-believers on their way to Hell.
But in November 2012, at the age of twenty-six, Megan left her church, family and everything she had been raised to believe behind. This is her own, very personal story of how she came to realise that the truth she had been taught since infancy was false, and how she was able to find compassion for others, as well as herself.
*********************************************************************************
This book was totally fascinating. Having heard quite a lot about the Westboro Baptist Church - after all they are not shy of publicity and have even been the subject of two documentaries by Louis Theroux - I was prepared to thoroughly dislike Megan Phelps-Roper. After all, how can you find common ground with someone who was brought up to hold beliefs that are abhorrent to you?
But Megan's memoir is so utterly honest and compelling that it is impossible to hate her, even though she has done some pretty unpleasant things as part of the Westboro family. Once you understand about Megan's upbringing, it is easy to see how she considered the sect like views of her church and family to be completely normal. Her extended family was a loving one and her whole life revolved around the church that had been started by her own charismatic grandfather. As far as she was concerned, her beliefs and those of her family were correct in every way and even though their actions were reviled by outsiders, they were following the word of God and had a duty to act as they did.
I still cannot condone the actions that Megan describes being part of in any way, but I now understand the whys and where-fors and this helped me to develop sympathy with Megan. In fact, I found myself taking Megan's side so much that I got quite indignant on her behalf when she could see how the doctrines of the Church were being subverted by the new council of elders!
What I was not prepared for, is the fact that the members of the Westboro Church are all highly educated, and not the ignorant religious fanatics I assumed them to be. It seems incredible to me that anyone who has read and studied as freely as Megan and her family, can still hold the beliefs they do. How they could not appreciate the irony of some of their actions is baffling - protesting outside your win high school graduation and then going in to accept your diploma? Strange indeed!
Megan herself began to question what she had been taught as she got older, and to see that things can be seen in a different light. I am thankful that she did, as it has allowed her to find the compassion and understanding that was missing from her time as a Church member. She has been able to grow in a way that would not have been possible if she had not torn herself away from everything she knew - and I now know how hard she has found this, as she does not shy away from describing how she has struggled. It has been wonderful to share Megan's journey and I am grateful to her for sharing her experiences in this book.
Unfollow is the kind of memoir that I enjoy best - raw and uncompromising, it makes you confront your own truths and reassess how you look at someone who has been raised with such utterly different beliefs to your own. It shows you that the human spirit can redeem itself, no matter how impossible this appears. This is a story about hope and I wish Megan everything good in the future - may you find happiness, Megan.
But there was something very different about the way Megan was raised that thrust her and her family into the media spotlight - she was born into the infamous Westboro
Baptist Church.
The Westboro Baptist Church is not your normal run of the
mill Baptist Church - instead this is an ultra-religious sect, espousing aggressive homophobic and anti-Semitic views and it is well-known for picketing the funerals of American soldiers and celebrating natural disasters as the will of God.
Megan was brought up to see public protest as a normal way of life - even to the point of protesting outside her own high school graduation - and the only way to spread the one true gospel. She was helping to preach God's truth to the non-believers on their way to Hell.
But in November 2012, at the age of twenty-six, Megan left her church, family and everything she had been raised to believe behind. This is her own, very personal story of how she came to realise that the truth she had been taught since infancy was false, and how she was able to find compassion for others, as well as herself.
*********************************************************************************
This book was totally fascinating. Having heard quite a lot about the Westboro Baptist Church - after all they are not shy of publicity and have even been the subject of two documentaries by Louis Theroux - I was prepared to thoroughly dislike Megan Phelps-Roper. After all, how can you find common ground with someone who was brought up to hold beliefs that are abhorrent to you?
But Megan's memoir is so utterly honest and compelling that it is impossible to hate her, even though she has done some pretty unpleasant things as part of the Westboro family. Once you understand about Megan's upbringing, it is easy to see how she considered the sect like views of her church and family to be completely normal. Her extended family was a loving one and her whole life revolved around the church that had been started by her own charismatic grandfather. As far as she was concerned, her beliefs and those of her family were correct in every way and even though their actions were reviled by outsiders, they were following the word of God and had a duty to act as they did.
I still cannot condone the actions that Megan describes being part of in any way, but I now understand the whys and where-fors and this helped me to develop sympathy with Megan. In fact, I found myself taking Megan's side so much that I got quite indignant on her behalf when she could see how the doctrines of the Church were being subverted by the new council of elders!
What I was not prepared for, is the fact that the members of the Westboro Church are all highly educated, and not the ignorant religious fanatics I assumed them to be. It seems incredible to me that anyone who has read and studied as freely as Megan and her family, can still hold the beliefs they do. How they could not appreciate the irony of some of their actions is baffling - protesting outside your win high school graduation and then going in to accept your diploma? Strange indeed!
Megan herself began to question what she had been taught as she got older, and to see that things can be seen in a different light. I am thankful that she did, as it has allowed her to find the compassion and understanding that was missing from her time as a Church member. She has been able to grow in a way that would not have been possible if she had not torn herself away from everything she knew - and I now know how hard she has found this, as she does not shy away from describing how she has struggled. It has been wonderful to share Megan's journey and I am grateful to her for sharing her experiences in this book.
Unfollow is the kind of memoir that I enjoy best - raw and uncompromising, it makes you confront your own truths and reassess how you look at someone who has been raised with such utterly different beliefs to your own. It shows you that the human spirit can redeem itself, no matter how impossible this appears. This is a story about hope and I wish Megan everything good in the future - may you find happiness, Megan.
[audiobook]. This book challenged me. I wished the author started with an apology, an acknowledgment of the pain she and her family inflicted, but the story was probably more powerful told in the way it was, from the perspective of a child born into the Westboro Baptist Church. It was painful and aggravating to see that the family only acknowledged suffering and injustice when it happened to them and were blind to the harm they so aggressively and intentionally caused to others. Overall, thought provoking and well written. There’s a lot to grapple with here.
Really enjoyed reading this book. It was interesting to learn a lot of things I didn't know about the Westboro baptist church and also thinking about different ways verses in the bible can be translated.
Incredibly interesting and moving story.
Incredibly interesting and moving story.
Westboro Baptist Church. Probably you’ve heard of them before too, like I had. What does it bring to mind? Hatred. Bigotry. Protests. For Megan Roper-Phelps, though, it was HOME. Family. Godly solidarity. A sanctuary away from the wicked and sinful world. This is Megan’s story of her life in WBP, her deconstruction and what comes after.
Not only is this a really well written and captivating story, it is deeply informative and thought provoking. I hadn’t even read much about the church, so much of this was new to me, but Megan’s processing of her theology and subsequent detangling was what I was most intrigued by. There is a LOT of scripture quoting here that I sometimes skimmed a bit but this one gets five stars for how it captivated me and how proud I am of how she figured things out.
Not only is this a really well written and captivating story, it is deeply informative and thought provoking. I hadn’t even read much about the church, so much of this was new to me, but Megan’s processing of her theology and subsequent detangling was what I was most intrigued by. There is a LOT of scripture quoting here that I sometimes skimmed a bit but this one gets five stars for how it captivated me and how proud I am of how she figured things out.
3.5 stars
This was a book for one of my book clubs and aside from being non-fiction, it's also religious based so I was not looking forward to even attempting this. As soon as I started it, I realized it wasn't going to be much of a problem because she is a great writer and this was formed and told very well.
I didn't know anything about this group going into it, but it was interesting to learn what it was about and to see her journey to the other side of it.
This was a book for one of my book clubs and aside from being non-fiction, it's also religious based so I was not looking forward to even attempting this. As soon as I started it, I realized it wasn't going to be much of a problem because she is a great writer and this was formed and told very well.
I didn't know anything about this group going into it, but it was interesting to learn what it was about and to see her journey to the other side of it.
Kismet
When I was in college, the religious organization that my dad had helped to found, cast out my family. It was a difficult time for me, as a young adult newly out in the world and it rocked my entire family in ways we’re still dealing with over 20 years later. Thank you for sharing your truth and your vulnerability. It is a difficult thing to explain how an ideology introduced at birth can affect you all the days of your life, even when you know better, have learned better and do better. From one outcast to another, I hear you and I see you.
When I was in college, the religious organization that my dad had helped to found, cast out my family. It was a difficult time for me, as a young adult newly out in the world and it rocked my entire family in ways we’re still dealing with over 20 years later. Thank you for sharing your truth and your vulnerability. It is a difficult thing to explain how an ideology introduced at birth can affect you all the days of your life, even when you know better, have learned better and do better. From one outcast to another, I hear you and I see you.
I won’t rate a memoir as it is a persons own story, but this was an interesting read.
DNF After about 20%
I want to learn about people who hate me and those I love to try to understand why. But not these people. Not right now.
I want to learn about people who hate me and those I love to try to understand why. But not these people. Not right now.