Welcome to Litsy!

The first encounter I had with the Phelps family was through Louis Theroux's documentaries. I was intrigued to learn that Megan had written a book. This book tells her story through childhood to when she left the family religion. I enjoyed to learn about her thought process and reasons to leave and the insights to the family dynamic entwined with the religion. It was a fascinating read!

Finally warm enough to read in the garden! Finished the tagged this weekend. Really dragged my heels on this one as the first 100pages were pretty hard going. However you needed to understand exactly what growing up in this family was to understand that to walk away from it took incredible strength. I was surprised how tearful I felt at multiple points during the last 80 pages. A difficult but interesting read.

I genuinely have no clue what I feel about this book or Megan.
Brain washing, grooming and abusive relationships happen in every walk of life. It‘s just here it‘s based on religion, a very extreme interpretation of scripture.
This Church is abhorrent and probably goes against every mainstream tenet of religions.
I didn‘t get Megan after she left the church, I‘m conflicted totally on her musings and think it totally demonstrates 👇🏻

My daughter checked this out but is letting me read it first. I‘m having some real issues with the book. Roper-Phelps dedicated the book to her parents, says she is humbled to be their daughter, and talks about their analytical minds. I find it difficult to reconcile that picture with people who would raise children in that hateful church and teach them to call people “fags” and “whores” (which are some of the milder words the children learned.)

#12Booksof2020

(I originally posted the words above last January, but they still apply.

An unsettling look at the deeply loving, deeply dysfunctional upbringing of former Westboro Baptist Church member Megan Phelps-Roper. As a member of the LGBT community, I didn‘t expect to feel so much empathy or grief for Megan and her family— but I did.

I‘ve only heard about this specific church in passing, so this was interesting. I also recommend checking out the documentary “Most Hated Family in America” and then the author‘s twitter feed, just to understand how far this woman has come since leaving her hateful church.

#nonfiction #unfollow #kindle

New to my tbr: I share a kindle account with Little Sis and this is the latest she requested. She‘s read it already and says I have to read it.

It‘s hard to imagine what it‘s like to grow up in a hateful, deluded & arrogant religion that was invented by your Grandfather but then also be part of a loving, intelligent and well educated family?! This memoir is written with gut clenching honesty, I felt physically sick & so angry at times. A great memoir of someone over coming their twisted upbringing although it is so frustrating that it took her so long!!

As a counsellor I am forever fascinated by just how multifaceted, complicated and resilient us human beings are. This book is an excellent example of that. Megan does a fantastic job of showing all sides of her family, her childhood, her church. The good and the very very ugly. I found the first couple of chapters less engrossing but once it hooked me I wizzed through this book which at its core is a book about love, loss and revelations.

Up next!

#99ponkindle today in U.K.
Not a big NF fan, but this sounds interesting 😁

The finished soup from earlier: Ellie Krieger‘s Red Bean Tortilla Soup from Whole in One. A very easy, satisfying & good vegan soup. I added the 🥑 on the top & their creaminess is a nice contrast to the crushed tortilla chips. Lunch & my #soupersundays blog post. 🍲Recipe link👇🏻
With one of my current reads. I‘m not too far in but it is interesting & ire-raising too.

The WBC has always fascinated me. How could a family of educated people be brainwashed into such hateful beliefs? Phelps-Roper explains her perspective in her memoir. She‘s a talented writer & really made me think about some of my opinions on social media and the belief systems we‘re born into. She left the church in 2012 and tries to atone for how she treated “outsiders” in speaking appearances. It‘s worth seeking those out on YouTube.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have a visceral reaction of anger at this family, yet so much love for Megan for having the strength to question and leave.

Some people believe Twitter should be depopulated of people spouting hate. I thought so, too, but Megan‘s interactions with gay and Jewish people there are what made her begin to question Westboro‘s beliefs. Sometimes it seems there are so many hateful people, though. 4⭐️

This weeks smallish #libraryhaul was 3 NF books. I‘m especially interested in the tagged book since 2 members (the author‘s parents I believe) of the Westboro Baptist Church were on Maui being their usual hateful selves & protesting a transgender high school athlete. There were counter-protesters at 2 different schools that overshadowed them but they say they‘ll be back.🙄 I had the book on hold before the protest but it brings it closer to home.

Bravo, Megan Phelps-Roper! She bravely questioned authority and learned that life doesn‘t have to be ‘us vs. them‘. She does an amazing job of explaining the mindset of the Westboro Baptist Church and why it‘s not easy to just walk away. If only we all had the strength to question our beliefs and seek truth. All 18 members who attended my book club loved this too.

#BookReport

I feel pretty good about my progress this week! Finished one and started another for #AuthorAMonth, finished one #NewYearWhoDis with two others in progress, and started the tagged book, which is fascinating so far! I should be all ready for #ATreeGrowsInBrooklynBuddyRead tomorrow 👍🏻

Starting this for my book club that happens next week. And there‘s Abby. Some of her stitches burst open, so she‘s going to the vet in the morning. Her biopsy showed atypical squamous cell growth, so cross your fingers for her.
#catsoflitsy

Starting off 2020 in my little reading nook. I‘ve always heard that anything you do on New Year‘s Day, you‘ll do all year long. So I‘m reading and ignoring my other household duties today 🥳

Excited to start my new year with this book!

This was a fitting final read of 2019. Not only was it compelling and beautifully written, but its focus on issues like extremism, black-and-white thinking, and group identity fueled by constant othering feels so relevant to our current moment. Thankfully, so does its overall message of hope for an ever more open, thoughtful, and compassionate world. Here‘s to many more books in 2020 that confront hard truths and present pathways for change.

Very moving and thought provoking book and I‘m so glad it exists. Megan‘s journey to leaving the westboro Baptist church is difficult to read at times but always fascinating, and inspiring to read about someone so willing to question their worldview and learn new ways of thinking and showing compassion. It gives me hope to think that a book like this can exist.

#wintergames #merryreaders #impulseread @Clwojick @StayCurious

Phelps-Roper tells how she left the fanatical Westboro Baptist Church, which she was born into, and found a new life. It‘s a hard read. Phelps-Roper has a heart full of kindness and empathy.

Placement essays are done. Students are working on the final project. A weekend with no grading.

Very interesting and tough to read at times. I was not raised any kind of religious and consider myself an atheist but I am always fascinated at how religion — especially extremism — even happens or how people stick with it. This is thoughtfully written and sad and brave and lots of other things.

This extraordinary memoir gave me hope in a way that little has lately. The author was born and raised in the Westboro Baptist Church, a group known for picketing soldiers' funerals and spewing hate, especially toward the LGBTQ community. Leaving the church meant literally leaving her family; the story of how she made the journey from toxic certainty to doubt, from vitriolic hate speech to compassion and outreach is a gripping and necessary read.

I watched Megan give a TED talk about her journey of leaving her family and the Westboro Baptist Church (her grandfather was the infamous Pastor Fred Phelps), and I was completely blown away by her insight and her compassion. This book was difficult to listen to at times, the things WBC have done are just horrible, but Megan gives me hope that change is real and everyone deserves a second chance.

I like to read books that challenge my thinking.. this one is doing that for sure and testing my ability to not try and actually yell out loud at it.😖 #currentlyreading #angermanagement

Megan grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church and took part in all of those awful funeral protests until she left the church - and most of her family - in her mid-twenties. This was a fascinating look inside a cultish religion. It humanizes some people who many of us see as monsters, which is tough to digest when they've been so terrible. Very worth reading.