The activist and TED speaker Megan Phelps-Roper reveals her life growing up in the most hated family in America
At
the age of five, Megan Phelps-Roper began protesting homosexuality and
other alleged vices alongside fellow members of the Westboro Baptist
Church in Topeka, Kansas. Founded by her grandfather and consisting
almost entirely of her extended family, the tiny group would gain
worldwide notoriety for its pickets at military funerals and
celebrations of death and tragedy. As Phelps-Roper grew up, she saw that
church members were close companions and accomplished debaters,
applying the logic of predestination and the language of the King James
Bible to everyday life with aplomb—which, as the church’s Twitter
spokeswoman, she learned to do with great skill. Soon, however, dialogue
on Twitter caused her to begin doubting the church’s leaders and
message: If humans were sinful and fallible, how could the church itself
be so confident about its beliefs? As she digitally jousted with
critics, she started to wonder if sometimes they had a point—and then
she began exchanging messages with a man who would help change her life.
A gripping memoir of escaping extremism and falling in love, Unfollow
relates Phelps-Roper’s moral awakening, her departure from the church,
and how she exchanged the absolutes she grew up with for new forms of
warmth and community. Rich with suspense and thoughtful reflection,
Phelps-Roper’s life story exposes the dangers of black-and-white
thinking and the need for true humility in a time of angry polarization.
