# Granddaughter of Westboro Baptist Church's founder escapes \[and others\]. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 28, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634 "2013-01-28T18:35:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/21 "2013-01-29T00:45:27Z")
There are several in the linked articles. None of them are SI poses, but there are pictures of her in a bikini. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/22 "2013-01-29T01:13:38Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > Exactly. Emotional bondage can be way harder to overcome or escape than physical bondage. I knew from a very young age that the beatings I endured were wrong. But I didn’t know till I was well into my 20’s that maybe what I had been taught my whole life was also wrong. I still struggle with and question what I was taught. Straight on. At almost 45, I am still dealing with issues stemming from hard-line religious indoctrination and my world was nothing like the insanity of the WBC. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to change your subconscious thinking and to cut all ties with your family forever. She may not have had to sneak out in the middle of the night, but she did escape a prison. Massive balls on that one. Good on her. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/23 "2013-01-29T05:42:00Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > The use of the term “escape” set me off I suppose. Maybe I’m naturally cynical and suspicious of people’s motivations for getting into the paper, but the whole thing sounds like an attempt to sex up a humdrum story. An adult with a crazy family moved out. Big deal. The only remarkable thing here is that the woman in question was a part of a family/church/business that is notable only for it’s media stunts. > > There are shit tons of people who leave much worse family environments, sometimes by literally escaping, and their stories are not generally considered worthy of a write-up. > > My guess is that this is the confluence of a media outlet seeing an opportunity to get some clicks by splashing a “love to hate” cartoon evil group in the headline and a woman with little in the way of marketable skills seeing an opportunity to start the clock ticking on her 15 minutes. In other words a mutual cash-in. How do you suppose the writer found out about the story to begin with? Was he beating the bushes looking for a high profile cult escape story? My guess (again, unsubstantiated) is the subject has shopped her story around, perhaps with professional help. > > More power to her. If I had an opportunity to capitalize on my estranged, crazy family’s name, I’d do it in an instant. Did you read the link I posted? I’d say most of his family has a massive case of Stockholm Syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/24 "2013-01-31T02:47:53Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Does anyone have a link to a photo of her in the bikini? Word. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/25 "2013-01-31T18:39:28Z")
Goddammit. I came in hoping this would be about Grace Phelps-Roper. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/26 "2013-01-31T18:51:29Z")
Furious Marmot, I just wanted to be another who added to the chorus of how hard it is to get out from an emotionally abusive situation. I always say of course your parents know how to push your buttons; they installed all of them. I had an incredibly hard time not just getting out of my home but also leaving it behind…it took years. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/27 "2013-01-31T19:41:14Z")
If half their family dies in a natural disaster, would the rest picket the funeral? ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/28 "2013-01-31T19:52:41Z")
I’m not questioning the sincerity of her moral conversion, I’m not saying the Phelps’s are good folks, I’m not saying it was easy to reject her family. Plenty of people on our humble message board have told stories of their entanglement with ugly, manipulative families. Shit, I know people who were not allowed to socialize outside of their crazy religious homeschooled community. On further reading this story appears to be cobbled together out of quotes from old local radio and newspaper interviews, plus Facebook posts and a couple of direct quotes at the end. Really shoddy journalism, but also reminiscent of a press packet. I’ll stand by these admittedly purely opinion-based assertions: 1. The article is trying to put a sensationalistic spin on a not very compelling event. Escape is ludicrously strong language for what is described. This rises to the level of a worse than normal family falling-out. The world is full of stories that could make good use of this emotionally freighted wording. But they don’t appear in the paper because they didn’t happen to nearly famous people. 2. When a nobody seeks out media attention like newspaper and radio interviews for a nothing story, they are most likely IMHO engaging in fame-seeking behavior. 3. She’s an essentially anonymous person raised by a barely famous group which makes a living by manipulating and providing easy recreational outrage material for the media. It is not unreasonable to think she’s now attempting to carry on in the same business she was born into by becoming a very minor celebrity in her own right. I’m an unwelcome minority of one here. It is more likely that I’m a jaded, small-minded alien who doesn’t understand celebrity-driven press coverage, than the lone voice exposing the emperor’s nudity. So I’ll do what the “it’s all bullshit” guys should do in the non-representational art threads and bow out now to avoid further derailing things. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/29 "2013-01-31T20:30:54Z")
As mangetout noted about louis theroux… this one escaped a couple of years ago, she’s actually in both Phelps Louis Theroux progams but in the second she has escaped already, it’s very good. Actually her younger sister is very hot. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/30 "2013-02-02T00:07:05Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > I’m not questioning the sincerity of her moral conversion, I’m not saying the Phelps’s are good folks, I’m not saying it was easy to reject her family. Plenty of people on our humble message board have told stories of their entanglement with ugly, manipulative families. Shit, I know people who were not allowed to socialize outside of their crazy religious homeschooled community. > > On further reading this story appears to be cobbled together out of quotes from old local radio and newspaper interviews, plus Facebook posts and a couple of direct quotes at the end. Really shoddy journalism, but also reminiscent of a press packet. I’ll stand by these admittedly purely opinion-based assertions: > > 1. The article is trying to put a sensationalistic spin on a not very compelling event. Escape is ludicrously strong language for what is described. This rises to the level of a worse than normal family falling-out. The world is full of stories that could make good use of this emotionally freighted wording. But they don’t appear in the paper because they didn’t happen to nearly famous people. > > 2. When a nobody seeks out media attention like newspaper and radio interviews for a nothing story, they are most likely IMHO engaging in fame-seeking behavior. > > 3. She’s an essentially anonymous person raised by a barely famous group which makes a living by manipulating and providing easy recreational outrage material for the media. It is not unreasonable to think she’s now attempting to carry on in the same business she was born into by becoming a very minor celebrity in her own right. > > I’m an unwelcome minority of one here. It is more likely that I’m a jaded, small-minded alien who doesn’t understand celebrity-driven press coverage, than the lone voice exposing the emperor’s nudity. So I’ll do what the “it’s all bullshit” guys should do in the non-representational art threads and bow out now to avoid further derailing things. It has nothing to do with celebrity culture. It has to do with you being fundamentally unaware of what the WBC is. You call it just a bad family and act like it’s barely famous, when it’s a cult, and a group of people who is so famous that some otherwise moral people would kill them without a second thought. It’s not someone’s abusive uncle. No one thinks that people who think non-representational art is about the art is evil, just deluded. The problem is that you are downplaying something that most of us consider a moral outrage so that you can justify your cynicism. That’s not how skepticism works. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/31 "2013-02-02T18:07:18Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > I’m not questioning the sincerity of her moral conversion, I’m not saying the Phelps’s are good folks, I’m not saying it was easy to reject her family. Plenty of people on our humble message board have told stories of their entanglement with ugly, manipulative families. Shit, I know people who were not allowed to socialize outside of their crazy religious homeschooled community. > > On further reading this story appears to be cobbled together out of quotes from old local radio and newspaper interviews, plus Facebook posts and a couple of direct quotes at the end. Really shoddy journalism, but also reminiscent of a press packet. I’ll stand by these admittedly purely opinion-based assertions: > > 1. The article is trying to put a sensationalistic spin on a not very compelling event. Escape is ludicrously strong language for what is described. This rises to the level of a worse than normal family falling-out. The world is full of stories that could make good use of this emotionally freighted wording. But they don’t appear in the paper because they didn’t happen to nearly famous people. > > 2. When a nobody seeks out media attention like newspaper and radio interviews for a nothing story, they are most likely IMHO engaging in fame-seeking behavior. > > 3. She’s an essentially anonymous person raised by a barely famous group which makes a living by manipulating and providing easy recreational outrage material for the media. It is not unreasonable to think she’s now attempting to carry on in the same business she was born into by becoming a very minor celebrity in her own right. > > I’m an unwelcome minority of one here. It is more likely that I’m a jaded, small-minded alien who doesn’t understand celebrity-driven press coverage, than the lone voice exposing the emperor’s nudity. So I’ll do what the “it’s all bullshit” guys should do in the non-representational art threads and bow out now to avoid further derailing things. [Here is an AMA](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/v99eg/iaman_exmember_of_the_westboro_baptist_church/) done by Nate Phelps over at Reddit, about his experiences leaving the church. It may put some of it in context for you. At the very least, it makes me believe that _escape_ isn’t that far-fetched a word to use. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/32 "2013-02-02T20:18:29Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > [Here is an AMA](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/v99eg/iaman_exmember_of_the_westboro_baptist_church/) done by Nate Phelps over at Reddit, about his experiences leaving the church. It may put some of it in context for you. At the very least, it makes me believe that _escape_ isn’t that far-fetched a word to use. I already linked to a similiar article above. I don’t think he wants to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/33 "2013-02-02T20:31:48Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I already linked to a similiar article above. I don’t think he wants to hear it. Yeah, I guess I figured it was worth a shot, seeing as what I linked to wasn’t an article, per se—no confusing it with a desperate bid for media attention, IOW. Still makes interesting reading for others who might be open to it. ---
**Author:** ![Cell\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Cell\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cell_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/34 "2013-02-07T02:27:56Z")
And it appears Megan and Grace have followed suit. > **[Two of 'God Hates Fags' Preacher's Granddaughters Have Left the Westboro...](https://www.gawker.com/5982310/two-of-god-hates-fags-preachers-granddaughters-have-left-the-westboro-baptist-church)** > > Twenty-seven-year-old Megan Phelps-Roper and her younger sister Grace have left the infamous Westboro Baptist Church after spending their lives there, the former announced today on Medium in a post called "Head Full of Doubt / Road Full of Promise."... ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/35 "2013-02-07T14:42:12Z")
Two more links about the latest defections, Megan and Grace. [http://www.kansascity.com/2013/02/06/4052727/two-members-leave-westboro-church.html#storylink=cpy](http://www.kansascity.com/2013/02/06/4052727/two-members-leave-westboro-church.html#storylink=cpy) > **[Westboro Baptist church key member Megan Phelps-Roper leaves](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/07/westboro-baptist-megan-phelps-leaves)** > > 'We've done things that hurt people' says 27-year-old, who is leaving anti-gay organisation with her sister Grace They certainly will have some issues to work through and will need some time to do so. I wish them the best. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/36 "2013-02-07T17:03:04Z")
😃 😃 That is great news. Megan has been a really big part of that group for years. She was handling a lot of the media contacts for the church. I know it must be so hard leaving their families and their church. It’s a difficult choice. But with more people leaving that mean there’s a small family group outside the church that can help. We may see more defections from Westboro. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/37 "2013-02-07T17:18:09Z")
I’m going to have to take a step back on this one. Reading one of the latest things, the woman comes off as “I was a great person before and I’m a great person now!” There is not a hint of humility or true repentance. Just “I don’t believe that anymore” and “I didn’t know I was hurting people” - \*\*NOT \*\*“Oh holy crap, I am _soo_ sorry for hurting people, I was wrong!”. I didn’t see a single word of that. So all I see is a woman who got off on the attention before and has found a new way get even more attention along with a little more personal freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/38 "2013-02-07T18:18:06Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I’m going to have to take a step back on this one. > > Reading one of the latest things, the woman comes off as “I was a great person before and I’m a great person now!” There is not a hint of humility or true repentance. Just “I don’t believe that anymore” and “I didn’t know I was hurting people” - \*\*NOT \*\*“Oh holy crap, I am _soo_ sorry for hurting people, I was wrong!”. I didn’t see a single word of that. > > So all I see is a woman who got off on the attention before and has found a new way get even more attention along with a little more personal freedom. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt. Her upbringing was a very strange mix of public and private. Even though she got to travel and go to school, they also live under some very strange, confined conditions- in a compound with a heavy church presence. She may not really know what she thinks or how she feels quite yet. It’s enough that she realized something was wrong and took some steps to distance herself. Now she can start to sort it all out. The other defector, Roper-Alvarez, took three or four years to begin to really speak up. ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/39 "2013-02-07T18:36:50Z")
Eh, can’t work up much enthusiasm for her. She managed to complete college, etc. but didn’t realize that picketing soldiers’ funerals with God hates fags signs might be hurtful? Nah. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634/40 "2013-02-07T22:19:58Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=680517&highlight=Westboro](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=680517&highlight=Westboro) The above link is to a thread started by **aceplace57** , of how a Phelps granddaughter got out of the hate group her grandfather started. The first link in the OP is to an article from the Kansas City Star, an interview of Megan Phelps-Roper and how she, at the time of the interview, was an avid WBC supporter. Now Megan herself, and her younger sister, have bolted from the compound. > **[Two WBC members leave the church](https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/local/2013/02/06/two-wbc-members-leave-church/16407534007/)** > > A high-profile member of the Westboro Baptist Church and her sister have left the church, a spokesman for the church confirmed on Wednesday. > The church doesn't know the exact whereabouts of Megan P… The link is to an article from today’s Topeka-Capital Journal. The rock the WBC is under is located in Topeka. The cracks are getting wider. I wonder if the founder is really near death this time, and some think there’s no better time to get away. The older Phelps kids, in their upper fifties, are in my age bracket, and I’ve heard about them ever since I was in junior high school here in Topeka. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/granddaughter-of-westboro-baptist-churchs-founder-escapes-and-others/648634.md?page=3)