I was listening to a talk by Matt Dillahunty last night and he mentioned his friend Nate Phelps. Yes, Nate is the son of Fred Phelps, the religious whack job who indoctrinated his family and convinced them God wanted them to hold signs saying things like “God Hates Fags”, “Thank God for Dead Soldiers”, etc… to win over the damned. Sadly, these incendiary things are actually biblical. Fred (Nate’s father) was a deeply devout Christian who took the words of the bible literally. How Nate was able to leave and why is a fascinating story, and his strength and use of logic over his indoctrinated Gateway Beliefs is powerful.
Here’s Nate’s TedTalk >> HERE <<
Megan Phelps-Roper was raised in the same family as Nate Phelps. She says in here talk, there was “good” which was her church and their beliefs, and there was “evil” which was other faiths and the world outside their small congregation. Her ability to leave the cult of her upbringing and jettison her Gateway Beliefs shows the power of social media and the use of SE type reasoning.
Here is her TedTalk >> HERE <<
Dawn Smith was raised in California by parents involved in the “Jesus Movement”. Her father was an ex hippy who started a cult called the “Assembly”. From birth, she was indoctrinated by her father to preach the reality of Hell Fire and salvation by accepting Jesus. When she was little, a older woman knelt in front of her and said, one day you will grow up and you will realize you can leave all this. As she says in her talk, “Leaving a Cult can be incredibly difficult. It can also be completely life changing. College changed here life and helped her begin the path to Critical Thinking.
Here is her TedTalk >> HERE <<
