Two granddaughters of Fred Phelps, the pastor who runs the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, have abandoned the church, saying they can no longer support the church's extreme teachings.
The Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church has become notorious for its extreme ideologies and methods, notably its members' open hatred of gay people, non-Christians, and many other groups. The church, which has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is also known for picketing funerals with signs reading "God Hates Fags" and "God Hates Your Prayers."
Megan Phelps-Roper, 27, had been a prominent member of the church for many years, and spearheaded the group's social media outreach. A local newspaper even speculated she could one day lead the congregation.
But in 2012, she began to question the beliefs she had always accepted blindly, and late last year, she and her younger sister Grace decided they could no longer stay with the church.
In a fascinating profile for Medium.com, journalist and editor Jeff Chu revealed how Phelps-Roger came to question her faith, and how life has been since she asserted her independence from the church's teachings---which also meant leaving her family and the only home she had ever known.
Last year, she started to question one of the church's popular sayings, "Fags can't repent," says Chu. "It seemed misleading and honest," Phelps-Roger said. "Anybody can repent if God gives them repentance, according to the church. But this one thing---it gives the impression that homosexuality is an unforgivable sin.
"It doesn't make sense," she added. It seemed a wrong message for us to be sending. It's like saying 'You're doomed! Bye!' and gives no hope for salvation."
Megan and her sister, says Chu, are now living in Brooklyn and trying to reconcile their past lives with their future plans.
"I definitely regret hurting people," Megan told him. "That was never our intention. We thought we were doing good. We thought it was the only way to do good. And that's what I've always wanted."
She added that she is not sure what she will do next, but that she knows she wants to "do good for people. And I want to treat people well."
Read a statement from Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper about their change of faith here.