Westboro Baptist Church Leader quits

No, kids who are brought up in cult environments

reply to post by nottelling


Interesting. I wonder if any research has been done on how people fare after a childhood of severe brainwashing?

A quick search found this. It doesn't sound good for someone who spent 27 years in a cult, and was exposed to it by her grandfather when she was a child. It's going to be a really tough road ahead for her. I'd say almost impossible.

Cults in Our Midst

reply to post by jiggerj


It would seem impossible but really, she and her sister are free now and have more avenues for outlet, thought, and exploration than they have ever had in their lives. That can be immensely empowering to be able to identify and claim what is your own and what is not yours. That's how I see it. Yes, it's a big, scary world and that, in itself, can be terribly daunting. Megan and Grace's worlds just were turned utterly upside down and that website pretty much sums up the troubles that they are going to be facing. However, I know that the upheaval can be survived and I think they'll make it.

Originally posted by OmegaLogos
reply to post by Byrd

 

Explanation: S&F!

Good for her!

Speculating wildly I just wonder if that 'Jewish man' who quoted the New Testamament to her ... was he... could he have been Jesus?

No, he is a well-known blogger who happens to be Jewish and doesn't believe in Jesus.

I agree, her leaving the church is a cause to celebrate. She wants to make amends -- it'll be hard, but my heart really does go out to her. It was a very brave thing to do.

As I type Louis Theroux is buying his plane ticket to the US!

It will certainly be interesting to see how this effects the WBC. They are always banging on about the 'end times,' looks like theirs could be just around the corner.

Originally posted by jiggerj
reply to post by Byrd

 

You don't quit 'crazy'. It follows you wherever you go and whatever you do. I see really bad things happening with this one.

Good point Jigger
The Amish if I remember correctly, are obliged to take a year off before deciding if they wish to continue to live in the community, now that's confidence in your beliefs.
I'll bet the WBC wouldn't condone such thinking.

As a Patriot Guard Rider, who has stood in front if these nut cases many times...I can not help but smile a little on the inside....but not sure I am man enough to ever forgive any of them

reply to post by Byrd


At least they were honest to what the bible says.

The bible tells you to do all sorts of horrible things to people. Im not supprised a christian nation would side against the same passages that contain their ten commandments. Its not like they read it or anything.

Religion breeds psychopathy.

Makes you wonder if she realized she was gay? Wouldn't that be something kinda like an ultimate failure to her family. And and ultimate failure to their wacky religion and beliefs. Either way good on her hope she does well away from those psychos.

Heck there is nothing wrong with any Baptist Church, they preach the Word of God.
What you term as dogma, can never be understood by any1, who is not truly Born Again.
The ladies in question should seek to be Saved, thru His infinite Grace.
Praise The Lord.

Originally posted by dc4lifeskater
lol morons.. so you finally figured out that your "god" doesn't want you to hate people... wake up and smell the coffee already. You should hate yourself for being such an ignorant human.

God hates morons.

Thats bad luck for you isn't it?

Originally posted by Badgered1
So a holy roller actually questions what they've been told to believe and quits....Hmmm.....

Properly read, the Bible is the quickest route to atheism...

Let me fix that for you.

Properly read, the Bible is the quickest way to the truth. Sometimes this means standing up to your peers despite the pressure. A real christian will love all people regardless of their sins.

This is FANTASTIC news to wake up to. The main thing now, is for those who come into contact with these two recently liberated individuals give them the chance, that they have earned by leaving Westboro, to be forgiven for the damage they have contributed to, during thier time there.

The WBC has been responsible for many moral outrages, this we know. But we have to understand that this near cult, and even worse, the family that runs the church there, use all the psychological tools in the bag, to ensure that thier members remain part of its cancerous body. By constant concentration on the negative effects of life outside thier circle, and by treating those outside it with scorn and hate, the church makes plain to those within what treatment they can expect from its members should they leave. Furthermore, because there are families in this church, one part of a given family is unlikely to leave, lest they risk thier relationship with thier nearest and dearest, and I have no doubt that family is taken VERY seriously by church leadership, because it makes it easier to control large numbers of people.

I have enormous respect for those who have pulled themselves from the pit that the WBC represents, and I hope and pray that those who come into contact with those who have escaped, treat the liberated with dignity and love. Finding love and support outside of the WBC will be important for thier mental and spiritual health, but also it will embolden those still within that horrid organisation, to leave in the knowledge that they will find people prepared to help them. Members within the church should remember the story of the good Samaritan, and not fear to leave purely on the basis that they will be alone.

Love being central to the belief of any genuine believer in Christ, it is the only tool by which people in the WBC might be levered from that spiritual cleft in the rock. My prayers are with the liberated, and for the souls of those who remain ensnared.

It's so easy to get lost in the distractions and miss the underlying truths in any given subject. In this case the hatred of Westboro, or the love of ( or hatred of ) religion tends to drown out the actual event... that a young woman who spent her entire life being indoctrinated finally managed to shake free of those who sought to control her. Chances are, IMO, that she's probably been engaging in an internal war for a very long time - one that, in the end, needed only a bit of external support for her to win.

Ultimately it doesn't matter if God is real, or he isn't. It doesn't even matter if Fred Phelps is a bad person or not. What matters, regarding this particular story, is that now a young woman can walk out into the world and speak with her own voice, using her own words... and not those forced into her and upon her by others. She has fought and gained her freedom. So good for her.

~Heff

reply to post by Byrd
It's good to see something positive hitting the news-cycle of ATS.

It's also reassuring to see that even the most woefully-informed and hateful members of general society can be big enough to change. They shouldn't be condemned for changing their minds - they should be applauded. For those members criticising the way these ex- WBC misrepresented Christian ideals, isn't it worth being more charitable and forgiving? Isn't that the 'Christian way?'

It must be a heck of an epiphany to realise that you've spent the past few years being wrong and offensive. I mean think about it...it must be a nauseating, remorseful feeling to recollect abusing the bereaved at funerals with venomous hatred. Tough to make amends for that and doubly tough for people to forgive.

Still, it's right to forgive and to invite the hope that WBC will change their ways.

Originally posted by Angelic Resurrection
Heck there is nothing wrong with any Baptist Church, they preach the Word of God.
What you term as dogma, can never be understood by any1, who is not truly Born Again.
The ladies in question should seek to be Saved, thru His infinite Grace.
Praise The Lord.

There is much of John Stuart Mills I disagree with save his opinions on opinions:

We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still.

--- and ---

If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.

To each their own on how they view the world, manners of God, and manners of the paths we choose; accept that others will always think differently than you and even if you are right, it gives you no right; from God or Nature; to think for themselves and accept that others, by very nature of the free will of Man should think differently than you.

These women are doing such. They are developing their own free will and if it brings them back to the Church they grew up in, then so be it; if not, so be it too. Why do the "devout" feel the need to place their burden of Faith upon others is beyond me.

Originally posted by Hefficide

that a young woman who spent her entire life being indoctrinated finally managed to shake free of those who sought to control her.

What matters, regarding this particular story, is that now a young woman can walk out into the world and speak with her own voice, using her own words... and not those forced into her and upon her by others. She has fought and gained her freedom. So good for her.

~Heff

I'm not a 'close' follower of the WBC, but Megan was the leader of this group. People didn't control her - she controlled others. She was using her own voice when protesting at funerals

I smell a book and movie deal with all the money in HER pocket not the cults. Anybody wanna bet???

Originally posted by Angelic Resurrection
Heck there is nothing wrong with any Baptist Church, they preach the Word of God.
What you term as dogma, can never be understood by any1, who is not truly Born Again.
The ladies in question should seek to be Saved, thru His infinite Grace.
Praise The Lord.

This woman was the leader of a baptist church. Are you saying that what she preached as the word of a god wasn't wrong?

Originally posted by mikell
I smell a book and movie deal with all the money in HER pocket not the cults. Anybody wanna bet???

I've been fighting not to say this, but I see a suicide in the not too distant future. I hope for the best, but I just don't see it.

You know, I just wonder how long before Grandpa Fred decides to picket her or do maybe something worse. I could see a zealot like him calling upon his followers to do bodily harm to the poor girl, just because she shunned the family zeal.

That would be a real tragedy, and for all of the vile and rotten stuff Fred spouts, it's not really Fred that's the biggest problem, he is, as all "cult" heads, the Dear Leader, the threat, comes from the throngs of followers, that would do maybe anything to get into Dear Leaders good graces.