Banished

Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church

By: Lauren Drain

Narrated by: Lauren Drain

Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

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 US 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.

©2013 Lauren Drain (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Sick story

I know she escaped but man it's too much to get through. WBC is irrational and useless.

Great, but hard to listen to

Great story, but it's read with the cadence of a third grader reading a book report.

Wondered what that church was about! Now I know..

If you ever wondered about the Westboro church and why they spew so much hate, this is a good book to read. Laren Drain was banished, basically for talking to a boy out of their faith that she had been warned about.. The church members are mostly from one family, with a few others who have joined.. I'm not sure how, or why, people allow themselves to be pulled in to a cult like this one, but wowsers.. They are really out there.
Lauren has a very good way of describing the good and the bad, and how it all made her feel, and why she was so afraid to step away from this community. But good for her that she was forced out, and now has a much better life..
This church seems to have parts of Scientology and the FDLS mixed in, with some crazy ideas of their own...

An inquisitive conscience prevails!

Any additional comments?

This book brought me to tears at the end to know of all the brutality in the world wrought by people who are supposed to be known to be full of love and care. I can only think of two words for Steve Drain (I'm sorry Lauren, I am sure you still love him) but they are fool and idiot. What I see is perhaps Steve loved the fact that he could finally feel purpose and importance in his life, even if it was all negative, that he could be in front of cameras and feel he had some purpose now, instead of his aimless wondering when Lauren was child. I thought at the end of the book he would have left with her. But to now understand that he totally cut her out of his life and his family is simply sad. This girl is still your daughter, yet she is treated as if she murdered someone or worse.

These WBC members truly are just a blimp. There would never have been any news about them if they did not cultivate it with ridiculous protests. Their form of religion appeals to just a handful of people and yet we are making such a big deal out of it. At times I wanted to stop reading the book since the story seemed so small and inconsequential, like making a mountain out of a mole hill. But I stuck with it, and now I see the book more a work for everyone who faces a deep and horrible sadness because of people they love, tearing themselves away because of a misunderstanding of faith. But even more than a misunderstanding, WBC members just use others: when Lauren's mom called to tell her they were claiming her as a dependent on their taxes, wow, what a joke, this family has grown used to using people, even in their own home.

Last night I went online and found Louis Theroux's documentary The Most Hated Family in America and watched Part II, a great documentary. This Steve Drain was a total disgusting individual in the film. I hope he reads Lauren's book and this review and begins to feel his ridiculous red hot lunacy, it can be the first step to true repentance and change to a pure love of God. Also in that documentary I was very moved by Grace Phelps. I thought her photography was wonderful and loved her explanation for shooting the beautiful young Muslim during a protest against Muslims. When I saw her I just knew in my heart she would one day leave that church. So I started googling and sure enough, she left last month with her sister Megan. I know she and Megan are young, but I only hope that they can be strong. I saw the pictures of Grace, Lauren and Megan united recently, and felt much happiness to know they have each other, as it must be horrible to lose one's parents.

I enjoyed the Epilogue when Lauren apologized to homosexuals, AIDs patients, the families of fallen soldiers and others for the pain she has caused at taunting them. And it was fascinating to hear of her reaction at the Vatican. I loved her book and am happy she took the time to write it. I related most especially to the part where 6 months in her apartment in Topeka she finally realized she had nothing, all her friends hated her and her family too, and she just had to move on. Something similar happened to me and it brings me much joy to know I am not alone.

On a personal note, I am a devout catholic (but also a very flawed one). I came to the faith on my own at 21 years old after doing drugs, hitchhiking all over the US and Europe and being in jail. I did not know WBC hated us so much but I totally understand it now. Yes, satan and individual evil has entered the catholic church and is trying to destroy it with abusive priests preying on little children. WBC had it right! It is awful and disgusting. But for me, faith is so much more pure then the evil of the day, it is first and foremost an authentic love of God in spite of all contemporary evil. I desire to do the right thing in life. It stems, for me, from understanding that there is a first mover, a first creator of all things. Knowing this, I know this first creator has a plan for me, as he does for every living thing in creation. So I try to determine, the best I can (as this first creator does not speak to me), what that role is. So I seek to find the best understanding I can of his way. For me it was the catholic church, with the 2000 years of history and unbroken petrine tradition, as well as the authority on the canon of scripture that even WBC hold today to be the only word of God. I fully accept and understand that others do not see it. But to me the final authority of all is conscience. You have to obey your conscience, no matter what. Once you turn away from it, your eyes go red and you begin to enter yourself into hell. But if we obey those little voices that tell us what is truth, we will be fine when we die, whatever our faith. But we have to obey it no matter what: the loss of family, the loss of what we thought was our faith, the loss of friends, the loss of home, the loss of all. But we all have the duty to inform our conscience with reading and thinking.

I think it was wonderful that Lauren kept asking questions as she read the bible in spite of being shut down by other members of the WBC. Her inquisitive mind was that small voice of conscience telling her to dig a little deeper until she finally began to see the light of truth. I wish her strength and success!

Very powerful and moving!

What made the experience of listening to Banished the most enjoyable?

The overall story of which I had no idea of...

What did you like best about this story?

The ending...made me cry and happy that Lauren came through it all with her faith and belief in God and
people in tact!

Have you listened to any of Lauren Drain’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No this was the first I had heard of her...will look up other now!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Almost!! finished it in less than 4 days...which is great for me...I usually take a month to finish a book!

Any additional comments?

I love reading about real life success stories...very inspirational so glad Lauren wrote and read this book!!

I WISH I UNDERSTAND WHAT MADE THIS FAMILY GO EXTRE

What did you love best about Banished?

THE STORY WAS TOLD WELL. YOU UNDERSTOOD WHAT LAUREN WAS GOING THRU AND THE DYNAMICS WERE UNBELIEVABLE.

Who was your favorite character and why?

NO FAVORITE CHARACTER BUT MY LEAST FAVORITE CHARACER IS STEVE DRAIN.

Which scene was your favorite?

WHEN LAUREN FINALLY BROKE AWAY AND STARTED LIVING NORMALLY.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

NO BUT I READ IT WITHIN A WEEK.

Any additional comments?

I WISH THAT IT WAS EXPLAINED WHAT MADE STEVE DRAIN DO AN ABOUT FACE FROM ATHEIST TO EXTREME RELIGIOUS FANATIC. IT BOTHERED ME THRU OUT THE BOOK THAT NO EXPLANATION WAS GIVEN THO I GUESS THE DAUGHTER DID NOT EVEN KNOW HERSELF.

Good story

While I enjoyed the story the reading was very bland. I caught my mind wandering or even falling asleep and figured out it was the lack of any emotion in the reading. It's a great story if you want to understand the "why" of the WBC though.

Amen

great story! I'm glad she is free from WBC! May God bless her in all of her endeavors

Wishing you the best!

I listened to this book in one day. Although Lauren’s experience has been extreme, it’s not much different than most of us raised in small “right” churches. Can’t wait to see your next book of growth❤️

Hopefully the first of many more to come!

What made the experience of listening to Banished the most enjoyable?

The fact that Lauren Drain herself reads the material gives it a poignancy that 3rd party narrators can't provide. Less expressive, perhaps, but more authentic.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The Phelps girls (particularly Jael and Megan) are always interesting, because they've never known a life outside of the cult-like family environment. Their sense of superiority is consistently undercut by having to keep themselves in check. I feel legitimate sympathy for them, as for any abuse victim, because they have no conventional "normal" to gauge their own conduct by.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Salvation from salvation.

Any additional comments?

The story is fascinating, particularly for its insights regarding Steve Drain, a clearly sick individual - in the sense that his behavior seems to be in real need of psychiatric intervention. After seeing Louis Theroux's two excellent documentaries on the WBC (the second of which interviewed Lauren post-departure), Steve comes off as quite the self-righteous narcissist, while his wife exists as the doormat of the family. Shame on her, in particular, for not advocating more for a normal life for her children - especially since she clearly knew life before the WBC and had insight to Steve Drain's behavioral inconsistencies for quite some time.

The first reviewer of this audiobook is clearly either a current church member or a sympathizer, but that's the price of truly free speech - hatred and ignorance continue to be well protected. Jack, your review was worth everything I paid to read it.

At this point, I'll wait patiently in the hope that Megan and Grace Phelps will also break silence on their experience inside this horrible organization. As far as Libby Phelps goes (another departee interviewed by Theroux), she seems paralyzed by the fear of a fiery hellish damnation - a mindset that I think sadly probably afflicts most of the clan. Call me crazy, but I can't visualize a God who creates humankind to deny its enjoyment and revels in its suffering and torture. And if that's the case, I'd want even less to do with him.

In the meantime, I will proceed with a beautiful quotation: "Live your life in such a way that the Westboro Baptist Church would want to picket your funeral". I certainly plan to.

Fantastic book, Lauren. Thank you for sharing a painful journey with us.