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Banished

Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church

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Banished

Written by: Lauren Drain, Lisa Pulitzer
Narrated by: Lauren Drain
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About this listen

 Banished is an eye-opening, deeply personal account of life inside the cult known as the Westboro Baptist Church, as well as a fascinating story of adaptation and perseverance.

You've likely heard of the Westboro Baptist Church. Perhaps you've seen their pickets on the news, the members holding signs with messages that are too offensive to copy here, protesting at events such as the funerals of soldiers, the 9-year old victim of the recent Tucson shooting, and Elizabeth Edwards, all in front of their grieving families. The WBC is fervently anti-gay, anti-Semitic, and anti- practically everything and everyone. And they aren't going anywhere: in March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the WBC's right to picket funerals.

Since no organized religion will claim affiliation with the WBC, it's perhaps more accurate to think of them as a cult. Lauren Drain was thrust into that cult at the age of 15, and then spat back out again seven years later.

Lauren spent her early years enjoying a normal life with her family in Florida. But when her formerly liberal and secular father set out to produce a documentary about the WBC, his detached interest gradually evolved into fascination, and he moved the entire family to Kansas to join the church and live on their compound. Over the next seven years, Lauren fully assimilated their extreme beliefs, and became a member of the church and an active and vocal picketer. But as she matured and began to challenge some of the church's tenets, she was unceremoniously cast out from the church and permanently cut off from her family and from everyone else she knew and loved.

Banished is the story of Lauren's fight to find herself amidst dramatic changes in a world of extremists and a life in exile. Religious Religious Studies

What the critics say

"In gripping detail, [Drain] reflects on her fall from grace, how it opened her eyes and how she's built a new life filled with love, not hate. Three out of four stars."
—People
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Fascinating story-- like reading a journal. So personal and detailed, and really gave an understanding of the complex dynamics of both family and cult/church. I found the parts about Shirley and her public vs. private persona, as well as her power, workload, and godly "intuitions" incredibly interesting. Some parts seemed glossed over to make Lauren seem more sympathetic, but that's just my perception-- I would be team Lauren regardless. Her voicing was steady, even, and mostly clear, but at times seemed robotic. A few jarring slurs or mispronunciations, but mostly her voice let me get lost in the story.

Great story, decent performance.

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Really interesting story, well written and fascinating. I need 6 more words three, two, one

Great story

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