“Doubt wasn’t the sin, I came to believe. It was the arrogance of certainty that poisoned Westboro at its foundations.”
The opposite of faith is not doubt, it’s certainty. Faith can handle doubt, certainty can’t. Megan Phelps-Roper grew up in an environment full of extremes that she just considered normal, until she had an awakening and left her home and family. It’s a heartbreaking story because the small community of Westboro Baptist did terrible things in the name of religion, but they were also all of the people she had ever known and loved.
We seem to be in an age of polarisation. My brother calls it “bumper sticker politics.” People are pitted against one another in extreme polar opposite ways that does not encourage compromise or listening. There is rampant demonisation of “the other” and terrible things are said and done. It’s a problem in our world today, especially when it comes to religion and politics. It seems worse after the pandemic somehow, as if people are fighting for some kind of control and security and have forgotten how to “agree to disagree.” It is so sad.
Someone once said, “Your beliefs don’t make you a better person, your behaviour does.”
This book was a book club assignment so I finished it. The author writes well, but I found it a hard book to read. This is actually one of three books written by former members of the Westboro Baptist Church (Girl on a Wire by Libby Phelps and Banished by Lauren Drain). Megan’s journey from hatred to hope is compelling because it was engaging with others (on twitter) that made all the difference.
There is a 15 minute TED Talk of Megan telling her story, click here. It’s worth a listen. She does articulate well the problems with polarisation and offers some helpful strategies on how to engage with people who think very differently or have other beliefs.
This story reminded me of other memoirs I’ve read: Educated by Tara Westover and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls that focus on what it means to love and lose and how that took remarkable realisation, resilience, and courage.
Note: This book has a different title with another publisher: Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope.
Joanne's Reading Blog 
Thanks Joanne, for yet another good review. I just opened this and quickly realized the timing was exquisite. Tonight at our Book Club our discussion will focus on polarisation, and what we as individuals can do to model a different way. I just listened to Megan’s podcast. Using different words, and coming from a different approach, she underscores so many of the things that our other sources are saying. The next step…is to live it. 🙂
Divine timing–I love it when things like this happen. Thanks for letting me know. I hope you have a really good discussion with your group tonight! I know, easier said than done. But if we go in with good intention and awareness of the pitfalls, there is hope!