
Unfollow
A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church
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Narrated by:
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Megan Phelps-Roper
About this listen
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.
©2019 Megan Phelps-Roper (P)2019 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Where the Light Fell is a gripping family narrative set against a turbulent time in post-World War II America, shaped by the collision of Southern fundamentalism with the mounting pressures of the civil rights movement and '60s-era forces of social change. In piecing together his fragmented personal history and his search for redemption, Yancey gives testament to the enduring power of our hunger for truth and the possibility of faith rooted in grace instead of fear.
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The full sweep
- By Amazon Customer on 10-12-21
By: Philip Yancey
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A Well-Trained Wife
- My Escape from Christian Patriarchy
- By: Tia Levings
- Narrated by: Tia Levings
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Recruited into the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement as a young wife, Tia Levings learned that being a good Christian meant following a list of additional life principles—a series of secret, special rules to obey. Being a godly and submissive wife in Christian Patriarchy included strict discipline, isolation, and an alternative lifestyle that appeared wholesome to outsiders. Women were to be silent, “keepers of the home.” A Well-Trained Wife is an unforgettable memoir about a woman's race to save herself and her family and details the ways that extreme views can manifest in a marriage.
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A review from a chronic non-reviewer
- By T. L. P. on 08-11-24
By: Tia Levings
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The Sound of Gravel
- A Memoir
- By: Ruth Wariner
- Narrated by: Ruth Wariner
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Ruth Wariner was the 39th of her father's 42 children. Growing up on a farm in rural Mexico, where authorities turned a blind eye to the practices of her community, Ruth lives in a ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity. At church, preachers teach that God will punish the wicked by destroying the world and that women can ascend to heaven only by entering into polygamous marriages and giving birth to as many children as possible.
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Unputdownable
- By Lesley A. on 01-16-16
By: Ruth Wariner
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Unspeakable
- Surviving My Childhood and Finding My Voice
- By: Jessica Willis Fisher
- Narrated by: Jessica Fisher
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Using the written word as her witness statement, Jessica Willis Fisher tells a lacerating story of finding her voice after two decades of silence and an unforgettable story of risk and faith.
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"Don't tell" culture exposed
- By Angela on 11-03-22
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Educated
- A Memoir
- By: Tara Westover
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University.
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The Other Side of Idaho's Mountains
- By Darwin8u on 03-28-18
By: Tara Westover
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The Island of Missing Trees
- A Novel
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Daphne Kouma, Amira Ghazalla
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish.
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WOW! What a great story and narration!
- By Marcy on 12-02-21
By: Elif Shafak
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Where Was God?
- By: Jennifer Dawn Turpin
- Narrated by: Tonia Rich
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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As far as Jennifer can remember, her father was abusive but her mother wasn’t always. She remembers a time when she felt loved by her mother. All that changed when Jennifer was 11. Her mother snapped and became a monster like her father was. Then they turned on her. Jennifer fought to become who she wanted to be, and not who her parents were trying to make her be. She refused to allow the torture change her, like it changed her mother. This is the story of Jennifer’s past, how she got through it, and how she survived it all.
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my best friend jennifer turpin
- By J.R. Taylor on 08-10-24
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When the World Didn't End
- A Memoir
- By: Guinevere Turner
- Narrated by: Guinevere Turner
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In this immersive, spell-binding memoir, an acclaimed screenwriter tells the story of her childhood growing up with the infamous Lyman Family cult—and the complicated and unexpected pain of leaving the only home she’d ever known.
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Boring
- By Jes on 06-15-23
By: Guinevere Turner
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Counting the Cost
- By: Jill Duggar, Derick Dillard - contributor, Craig Borlase - contributor
- Narrated by: Jill Duggar
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Jill and Derick knew a normal life wasn’t possible for them. As a star on the popular TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, Jill grew up in front of viewers who were fascinated by her family’s way of life. She was the responsible, second daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle’s nineteen kids; always with a baby on her hip and happy to wear the modest ankle-length dresses with throat-high necklines.
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A Naive Account from a Reality TV Personality
- By Lora Kyle on 09-12-23
By: Jill Duggar, and others
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Uncultured
- A Memoir
- By: Daniella Mestyanek Young
- Narrated by: Daniella Mestyanek Young
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Behind the tall, foreboding gates of a commune in Brazil, Daniella Mestyanek Young was raised in the religious cult The Children of God, also known as The Family, as the daughter of high-ranking members. Her great-grandmother donated land for one of The Family’s first communes in Texas. Her mother, at thirteen, was forced to marry the leader and served as his secretary for many years. Beholden to The Family’s strict rules, Daniella suffers physical, emotional, and sexual abuse—masked as godly discipline and divine love—and is forbidden from getting a traditional education.
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Do not recommend the second half
- By Anonymous Reader on 10-02-22
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The Glass Castle
- A Memoir
- By: Jeannette Walls
- Narrated by: Jeannette Walls
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination. Rose Mary painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family; she called herself an "excitement addict."
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What's normal?
- By Kmrsy on 11-30-13
By: Jeannette Walls
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East of Eden
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 25 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
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Why have I avoided this Beautiful Book???
- By Kelly on 03-25-17
By: John Steinbeck
What listeners say about Unfollow
Highly rated for:
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- Elizabeth's Country
- 11-13-19
Perhaps the most important book I have read.
I don’t think I would have chosen to read this book on my own, but thankfully our book club selected it. I was supposed to read the first chapters, but I couldn’t stop listening, re-listening and then placing bookmarks with notes. Now, I want to buy truckloads of Unfollow and give it everyone, absolutely everyone. I resonant greatly with Megan’s story because of my own religious trauma, but I truly believe all humans can learn a ton about philosophical/theological certainty, tribalism, empathy, group think and so much more. Please listen to this book.
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- Alyssa
- 10-29-19
Beautifully written, beautifully spoken.
It will be difficult to emphasize the importance of this book. Highly recommend far and wide no matter your taste in books and/or reading. Hearing this spoken in the author's voice is an important piece of the experience.
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- Lisa Yost
- 10-16-19
Great listen
I very much enjoyed this listen. The compassion with which Megan tells her story is compelling and the details enjoyable.
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- Penn7
- 07-01-20
Sweet are the uses of adversity
“Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the
running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.”
-from Shakespeare’s As you like it
Duke Senior’s transformation is much more benign, however, MPR’s change had much to do with words, sermons, books.
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- J. Wells
- 01-13-20
Bringing humanity to religion
A bit hard to follow at times but many times bringing tears to me. A heartfelt memoir of the heart ache of following ones conscience and reason. Thanks Meagan!
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- Julio Medina
- 02-13-21
Raw and honest
A raw, honest and riveting story of Megan’s life. I grew up in a Baptist church, too. It wasn’t exactly like Megan’s. We didn’t picket and the torture wasn’t geared towards anyone outside of the church. But the members, we were tortured most definitely. From age 13-18 was the worst. I was tortured, shunned, forced to dye my hair dark brown to match my eyebrows (despite God creating me with blonde hair). I was homeschooled. I wore skirts and tops two sizes too big in efforts to hide body parts that showed I was a girl. I ended up going to a Bible college with those same beliefs. I could go on an on. My story is so much different than Megan’s life, yet so similar. I loved reading her story.
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- DoctorG
- 02-03-20
Wow! I couldn't stop listening.
I'll be thinking and talking about this one for a long time. Thank you Megan for your courage and vulnerability. At this time of such extreme polarization, I wish all of us could learn the value of doubt and the destructive power of intellectual and spiritual certainty.
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- Elizabeth Irvin
- 05-06-21
Was not prepared to cry for Fred Phelps
I’ve read and listened to interviews of Megan Phelps-Roper before, and really appreciated getting to hear her in her own words. She is a compelling writer and her ability to capture the humanity of people who have caused so much pain and harm in the world is truly remarkable to experience (I was not prepared to see so much of my own loving father in Fred Phelps on his hospice bed). I have mixed feelings about the relative effort we all should be putting into reaching harmful extremists vs changing systems that give them outsized power, but there’s certainly some role for both and I’d guess there are few people more qualified to do the former than Megan.
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- Emily
- 07-06-21
Truth and Love, nuanced and gentle
The story of an illusioned past told truthfully as Megan knew it. She does not paint villians but humans under the influence of a powerfully drilled order. She speaks about the beauty of her family without ignoring the ugliness. As she is confronted by more and more evidence of a flawed system, she does not continue sweeping it under the rug as other church members do ("they know best"/"my depraved heart must be ignored"), but struggles to find truth above comfort. According to their own measure, any flaw in a church signals it is not led by God. Yet the church begins to enforce its law above scripture (pushed to tweet direct lies), and obedience to the church must come above your own conscious (which is not to be trusted). Even knowing this, Megan is afraid to leave because of her strong connected and love for her family. Megan demonstrates through the book that truth and love are her highest standards. She is free to tell the good and the bad with nuance because of her commitment to the truth, and though she is deeply wounded by her family's coldness, she loves them strongly, no matter what evils they have done, she will love them and believe in their ability to change. This is the same reason she left: Westboro's corrupt idea of love cannot match her instinctual love, and their suppression of logic and the truth cannot match her instinctual need to know and find truth.
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- harrshan2
- 10-19-19
Stunning
A stunning book of hatred, love, certainty, blindness, redemption, rebirth, compassion and transformation.
Highly recommend!
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