KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For years she lived under the teaching of Westboro Baptist Church, the Topeka-based religious group known for its cult-like extremism and its hatred of homosexuals, government and modern culture. Eventually, Lauren Drain was forced out and cast off by her family whom she regretfully hasn’t spoken to in six years.
Inspired to help her younger siblings who refuse to speak with her, Drain wrote a book to help them see Westboro in a different light. Drain’s book, Banished: Surviving my years in the Westboro Baptist Church, details the hierarchy and haphazard system of rules and punishment in the church — rules she says were constantly changing depending on the “personal whims” of its leaders.
On Thursday, Drain spoke with FOX 4 News about her life before and after her time inside the church and shared how she has built a new life in exile and hopes to one day be reunited with her family.
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