I have huge respect for her, because she's publicly admiting her past mistakes and trying to learn new things. Leading by example is the best way, in my opinion.
Megan seems like a truly lovely person who just wants to repair some of the damage caused by the church. I hope that she doesn't beat herself up over her past. You're a good person Megan and you're very brave!
I think it’s important to remember that she didn’t choose to join as an adult; she was a child raised in a brainwashing cult. I hope she can forgive herself x
She’s looks a lot like her mother but a bright, happy and kind version !! I’m so glad she saw the light and left the church. This was a great interview 👍🏼.
It must have taken Megan an awful lot of courage and mental strength to distance herself from her previous life. A very strong woman and I hope her future is a happy one.
@Maria Martinez are you crazy or something? She admitted that she no longer believes in god. She had already doubts since 2010 and challenged her beliefs with her younger sister. They both left in 2012. She wrote a book about it. She really hopes that everyone would leave WBC. She's married to atheist guy who used to be opponent of her. They both have children together.
I bought Megan’s book because I’ve always been interested in the different interpretations, and beliefs, people glean from the bible. I guess it’s because I question what I’ve been taught. The book was well written and a joy to read. In trying to explain to her siblings and other family members why she decided to leave, she wrote them love letters - beautiful - that caused a lump in my throat. Megan has a loving heart and I look forward to reading anything else she writes.
As a gay guy myself, I just rolled my eyes when his example that he used for changing habits was putting on a condom for sex. Also when he was like "moving on from this bullshit"- like yeah it's BS but you also need to be respectful to her, it was her past life that she's moved on from and she's just trying to explain it to you. Typical gay queen.
Of course Fred was gay!!! When he was suffering dementia he told the rainbow house across the street from WB “you’re good people”. His family disowned him basically in hospice. So amazing the depth of human confusion in this the darkest of ages that has ever been.
Megan, so proud of you!!! From the time you were born you were brainwashed. And yet, here you are, questioning what you've been indoctrinated with, and showing absolute honesty and compassion, which is the true nature of God, and love!!! Bless you and your family, I pray your family still with the church will have an awakening from the Lord too! Love from Australia xx❤❤
Megan and I have very similar stories... I applaud her every chance I get! Religion can cause so much psychological damage. Took me maybe two years to process my anger, recover and finally come to a place where I'm learning to love myself. Found a super-cute pic of me as a baby - giggling. The face of a SINNER? Seriously? Nope. But that's when the abuse started. So - if you're feeling 'stuck' in religion, just... leave. That's it. Get back to yourself. You were NOT born a sinner. You were born INNOCENT. Like the rest of us! Megan: YOU GO GIRL. And THANK YOU.
@@X12-g4j Well, if you consider strict, fundamentalist BAPTIST a "cult" then, YES! Tempted to define a cult as "you don't have a choice". Right? This is what we DO. PERIOD. I learned MUCH later (unfortunately) no, this doesn't make SENSE, and NO, I DON'T have to do it! So - I'm sooo much happier now...! But - all those wasted years with guilt, shame, etc. still makes me a little angry. Right?? You too??
What a beautiful interview. Thank you so much. As you guys pointed out, she has all these incredible characteristics that her family would take pride in, albeit with a completely different belief system. What a tragedy that the family are so entrenched in where they are that they won't get to appreciate that.
What an amazing woman. To leave behind her family and her previous beliefs and to then confront and try to make amends (not that she needs to) quite emotional to listen to her. Much respect
I found this after writing a short paper about WBC. My paper topic was a counterculture that teaches children hate. I'm so relieved that many of those children have left.
this was such a powerful and moving interview, I hope more people can use her as a role model and follow in her footsteps. Ignorance is the most dangerous thing on the planet
You can’t blame her for being conditioned through her childhood. Someone as clearly intelligent as her, it’s a matter of time before the real world shows itself.
Can we just talk about these voices? Those two guys and their accents and her very endearing voice. Okay, I'll stop. Are they going to make a movie of her story? It would be so timely with all the stuff going on today.
Her family recently picketed the Grammys in Los Angeles. I mentioned Megan's name to Jael, and Jael just gave me a bold stare. Wow, I was waiting for Jael to say something.
damien Smith I really liked jael I’m the Netflix episode and I had a feeling she would leave and I’m disappointed to see she didnt. I think there’s more to her...... 🥺
Does anyone know if there’s a meaning or significance to her necklace? I’ve noticed she wears it to every interview. I’m assuming she wears it every day.
This could be wrong, but when she was still in the church her sister (maybe? Could be cousin or something) was wearing it, so I’m assuming she gave it to her when she left.
I remember in the 90s sitting in a shop out of town with my family eating lunch. And a pride parade/protest came down the road blaring horns and music and just being merry. And my father sneered at it and sad they were bad people. I was like 8? And I couldn’t understand why it was bad because they were covered in rainbows and I loved rainbows and colors. Figured out I was pansexual out of highschool but honestly that was my introduction to lgbtq.
Maria Martinez Her mother is a victim, just as she was. Imagine being taught what she has been taught, as a child, and clinging on to that as you grow. Is it really your fault? Or is it simply the way things are?
@@zain4019 the whole family was abused. Shirley's brother Nate has some horrific stories from his childhood. Megan and her sister were so lucky to get out.
@@leofricgreen4376 the whole time, he seemed offended by her, he saw her as still part of the church, he tried to get her to say that she still believes those things, even when she was just quoting the former stuff she would say as an example he still got all offended.
Leviticus 18:22 states: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." Leviticus 20:13 states: "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them."
So grateful for Megan. Jewliscious, however, as the one who introduced her to Tikkun Olam is disturbing as he is an unapologetic supporter for Israel’s genocide of Palestinians as well as their awful war crimes as well as support of US and Saudi war crimes. He needs to take his own lesson. I bought Unfollow and an a third way through. Thank you Megan for spreading light in a dark world.
i've seen a couple of her interviews, and i appreciate what she is trying to do. i do disagree when she says that some person on twitter first pointed out that her ideology has flaws, many people had been doing it for many years, she (and they) were simply too ignorant to listen
theycallmejpj I think her point (which she has made more clear in some interviews) is that through Twitter she was given a community, she created relationships over years of conversations which then made her able to respect and listen to the input of the people on Twitter which she wasn’t able to do with people at picket events. She was able to see the flaws in her ideology from these people as she already respected them.
@@rosemarystone4741 she went to a mainstream high school and a mainstream college. a better way to phrase it would be that it took her until age 27 to actually be able to listen and respect other people's opinions
Rosemary Stone at 37:37 she says “bc they were outsiders trying to shame me, it proved that I was doing the right thing” so bc she built friendships on twitter, she was more willing to listen and understand those flaws. It’s easier to listen when you respect someone as opposed to a stranger coming up to you telling you what you’re doing wrong. In one of her old videos with Louis Theroux, she brings him to her college and says she doesn’t have any friends, hence why it took her until 27 yrs old. Also, yes it may have taken her 27 years but doesn’t take away the fact that she was able to leave her church. I don’t understand the point of you trying to belittle her brave decision of leaving??? Her family had control of her whole life so obv she’s not gonna be out here trying to convert or leave her church.
@@thedarkness111 i'm too smart to be in a cult, but there were other members of the phelps family who left at 18 years of age (ie the earliest point it was physically viable to do so). my point is megan is conflating her previous inability to listen with sage wisdom of twittersphere. megan was absolutely repugnant as a young person, that's why she didn't have friends, there were other younger members of her family who had far more sense.
Great interview. I just can't believe the contradictions that have been lived and are still lived, obviously, within Westboro. Megan is confirming that there is no such thing as a free will; and that has so many consequences: god leading Moses and his people out of Egypt but at the same time hardening the pharaoh's heart to make it interesting, Adam and Eve who probably didn't choose to taste from the tree. Hence, nobody could possibly sin because god is pulling each and every string. It seems so obvious to me, how can people believe that!
Such an amazing discussion...you are an incredible way forward...and bty...where does anyone have the right to have any input into sexual orientation...How and why did that get started....and further more...you are so intelligent...maybe you should consider a career in nuclear physics
One of the problems with Christianity is that most sermons are either solely about the New Testament or are Joel Osteen style sermons that have very little to do with either the New or Old Testament. Most of Joel Osteen type sermons resemble improved Tony Robbins motivational type lectures on how to be successful in life or resemble get rich quick schemes. Deuteronomy 4:2 basically says not to substitute Joel Osteen type material for the Old Testament as Joel Osteen type sermons support Christianity’s adulterous & idolatrous worship of idols, money & financial success. The reason the Old Testament or Tanakh is so important is that the Old Testament is more or less a history book of the human race. And if you don’t learn from history, you are doomed to repeat the same mistakes you have made in the past. The main problem with the New Testament is that in terms of a history book, it only goes back to the time of JC. The New Testament just doesn’t cover a very long time period. The Old Testament goes back to creation of the universe and covers a much larger time frame. The big question is about whether or not Christians should be worried in the least. The answer is found in Isaiah 27:1 with the Leviathan representing Christianity. G - - always lives up to His promises. Of course, you would only know this fact if you have read the Old Testament. Another thing to consider if you are well read in the Tanakh is that the Levites lived on tithes in exchange for teaching G - -‘s word to the populace. Not long after the prophet Joshua died, the Levi group of priests much like Joel Osteen began teaching the populace more about what they felt the populace wanted to hear with the motivation largely being to get the biggest donations. Once Jews re-instituted idol worship & turned away from worshipping G - -, G - - had approximately 95% of the Jewish population massacred first by the Assyrian army and then by the Babylonian army. Only a small remnant of Jews survived. G - -‘s punishment for the Jews was considerably worse than what happened to Jews in World War II in terms of percentage of the population massacred. And G - - considered Jews His children. So if you think Christians will somehow escape G - -‘s wrath from idolatrous Joel Osteen type preaching, then think again as G - - doesn’t have the same type of relationship with Christians due to Christian worship of JC as their savior. Isaiah 27:1 will eventually prevail, and G - - will very likely not spare even a single Christian artery or vein. In fact Obadiah 18 basically states that there will be no survivors from the house of Esau. Are there any other unforeseen problems created by Joel Osteen type preaching whereby very little Tanakh based scripture is taught during sermons? Yes. First Christians suffer immensely financially & socially from this type of Tanakh-free preaching. Just look at how many radio talk shows have popped up in major cities across the USA with the theme of “catching cheaters” in regards to adultery. Cheater themed talk shows are incredibly popular and are now major advertising revenue creators for radio talk shows as radio listeners love to hear about other peoples’ misery. Adultery, and divorce caused by adultery is absolutely rampant throughout America. The social costs are in the multiple billions in terms of children who now live with one parent or who now have to move back and forth between parents during the holidays. Poor quality, low Tanakh content Joel Osteen type Christian preaching also invariably leads to rampant antisemitism when divorced broken family angry Christians look at their happily married Jewish neighbors who tend to not only be happy in life but who tend to have multiple happy and well adjusted children. And all this Christian divorce, misery & unhappiness could be so easily avoided if only Christians would realize that the only person cashing in on Tanakh-free sermons is possibly Joel Osteen and his family. Tanakh-free sermons create a situation much like the mega state lottery where there is only one 400 million dollar winner and everyone besides the winner loses the $3 they paid for the tickets. With Tanakh-free sermons, Joel Osteen is the main lottery winner. Additionally, the Christian version of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible has been so severely altered to support Christianity’s love for idolatry and adultery, that the Christian version of the Old Testament is no longer even remotely usable. Go to Sefaria.org or Chabad.org to get an unaltered free online version. If you don’t believe adultery is a problem in the USA just contemplate the proliferation of morning radio show programs about catching cheaters. Additionally, what does the Tanakh or history of the human race say about false prophets/ preachers who lead their sheep-like followers astray for massive financial gain? Well, it never, ever ends well. For example, mega-preacher Gwen Shamblin Lara who instead of teaching Tanakh based scripture, tried to get Christians to lose weight through nutrition. Gwen Shamblin Lara perished at a very young age in a plane crash along with her husband and 5 other church leaders. And the list of Christian-type total disasters goes on. The reason Gwen Lara Shamblin perished is that historically one of G - -‘s main weapons of destruction for His enemies is disease / pestilence. Obesity is a disease, and if G - - had allowed Gwen Lara Shamblin to continue living, she would have been in direct conflict with G - - in preventing Isaiah 27:1 from coming to fruition. Read last 3 paragraphs below to learn about G - -‘s other preferred weapons He sometimes uses on His enemies. I know many people feel “saved” by JC, but there is a big difference between “feeling saved” and actually being “saved.” For example, you might feel totally saved & safe jumping off a plane 30,000 miles up because you “feel” you have the best parachute money can buy. However, if you forget to read and apply Tanakh to your life and cheat on your spouse, you won’t actually be safe if the parachute cord was cut by your spouse after discovering the affair. But, then it is too late once you’re headed downward at 110 miles per hour. You see, you don’t want to end up fulfilling Isaiah 27:1 with your own life. If you’re interested in current events about the talk about the Gog Magog war starting, read Ezekiel 38:18-23. Isaiah 27:1 basically continues with Ezekiel 38:18-23 if you want to learn what happens when G-‘s anger flares up over army invasion of Israel’s soil. G - -‘s weapons of choice will be pestilence, bloodshed, torrential rain, hailstones & sulfurous fire, so that the world will know that G - - is both Lord and savior. Judging from past holy wars, bloodshed is typically referring to as some type of psychological warfare on enemy army where enemy soldiers standing next to each other begin fighting each other in confusion. You see that if you are well read in Tanakh, you see the world through a very different lens, and you immediately see and understand that the current war Russia is unleashing on the world is nothing more than G - -‘s very creative way of using a number of countries to fulfill Isaiah 27:1 as G - - once unleashed the Babylonians & Assyrians on Israel as a very creative form of punishment for the Jews. Ukrainian Jews were less than 1/2 of 1% of the Ukrainian population, and post World War II Jews are incredibly well versed at exiting war torn countries well before situations worsen. The main concept from the scriptures that directly relates to current events is the concept of “bloodguilt“ and the book of Samuel I. Vladimir Putin will very likely end up exactly like King Saul due to excessive bloodguilt - premature death - but not before first being used by G - - to bring Isaiah 27:1 to fruition. 356
I mean, God absolutely does view homosexuality as an abomination. But he doesn't set it apart from other sin and in no way are we called to hate homosexuals or treat them poorly. It's His kindness that draws people to repentance. I've had a couple friends who the Lord has delivered from lesbianism.
Wasn't a fan of the interviewer in the white shirt. Was subtly accusatory the entire time asking strange questions. He's like "a lot of gay people listen to the show what do you want to say to them", like what do you expect Megan to say? Why put her in such a bad spot like that, like she's not in the church anymore, she doesn't have to apologize to anyone, she grew up in that family, it's not her fault. And the guy has that dumb stare the whole time asking ridiculous questions and making unnecessary statements.
he would also get offended when she would quote the stuff she used to do and say as examples to explain herself. he still saw her as part of the church from the looks of it. he was super annoying.
@@vicj9256 I typically say that you can scientifically provide a proof that the god does exist in imagination of a human being. The proof being activity in EKG when said human being strongly believes in activity by said god. This far nobody has been successful to demonstrate anything god-like outside human imagination (including indirect action by humans "guided by god") and I'm not expecting that to ever happen. However, you cannot prove that a god couldn't exist any more than you can prove that a black ceramic teapot doesn't orbit the Alpha Centauri.
Inaccurate biblical interpretation leads to poor life application. Humanity’s consistent misuse of scripture does not support abandonment of biblical based life application. Christianity does not allow space for choosing to follow the principles that come easy and not allow Christ’s love to purge our hearts of all unrighteousness. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered. Just as God is love and loved us first we too are responsible to spread the good news of the gospel with love. It is thru the love we have for our Brothers and Sisters in Christ that the world will know us and our Father in Heaven be glorified. I’m blessed to hear Megan and I pray she allows God to lead her thru grace and truth of the gospel without condemnation and guilt.
She should never be sorry. She did not know anything other than that fucked up church. It must have been so hard for her to left the church when it was her everything. She should make a movie about her life. It could give people hope in humanity.
Honey what you are experiencing is called Awakening. No one has the absolute truth when it comes to theology and the true nature of God. But I know that God is moved by our focus and intent. The stuff of God is on the inside of us all. We call it intuition, higher self, Holy Spirit, etc... When I decided to walk away from traditional church doctrine, it scared the shit outta me because I was so programmed I thought "The Devil" would kill me. The God part of you is not only what caused you to question the teachings of Westboro but what organically moved you to the position you occupy today! BE of courage and good cheer because NOW you are truly doing the work of God.
@@theamishgamer3169 Sure. First of all, I said no one has absolute truth in theology, NOT in the existence of God. Second, I hope you are an adult cause I'm not here to present an argument on proof that God exists. If you believe that God does not exist, no worries. Good luck with that.
miskel products Well you did say you know god is moved by our focused and intent. And yeah I know your not here to present proof that god exists because there is none. I just find it interesting when people comment saying they know things about god when he hasn’t been shown to exist.
miskel products If you watch when she was on the joe rogan podcast it sounded like she did not believe in a god. But I’m not here to start an argument, people can believe whatever they want I don’t have any issue with that. I just wish people wouldn’t claim to know things about god when they dont.
Your solution in regard to Westboro is not going to help. You say talk with them, however earlier you stated that Westboro members as taught not to listen only to preach to others. If they are taught not to listen to outsiders, how are you going to get any form of dialogue ???
I don't agree with wbc and they abuse God's Word. It's so sad that because of people like that other people stop believing in God's Word at all! I mean it's great Megan left westboro but it's so sad that she said she's not religious anymore at all. I pray for her to get Jesus Christ, Who is love, in her life!
You know who else wasn't/isn't religious? Yeshua (Jesus) Himself. In fact, it was His opposition to the religious leadership of the time that made SOME of the Sanhedrin want Him dead.
The WBC will be here in Los Angeles the end of January. I will do usual high five to them at their pickets especially Shirley. Many know me by face and our shared opinions. Shirley, Bekka and sometimes Jael.
Leaving the WBC was the easy thing to do. And look at the tremendous economic opportunities that came as a result. But to be clear - leaving pales in comparison to what we shall surely see next for the WBC. I'm taking about righting whatever is wrong with it. That's the higher ground. Certainly Margie Phelps has the ability to do it - but there's that same old problem in the way of that. The prohibition of Church leadership by a woman. Megan's mother Shirley is obviously very distraught as a result of the loss of three of her children. Shirley was Megan's best friend and she couldn't deny that in a million years! There's plenty of evidence in the public domain clearly demonstrating that Megan's departure is killing Shirley Phelps Roper. So I say to Megan - run, don't walk, and save your mother. You may not be able to save the WBC, leave that to others. But you can save your mother. If you don't do that - you'll surely suffer deep regret and take that to your own grave.
