- .27-year-old has not heard from parents since leaving in 2008
- .Husband's family have welcomed and accepted former hate picketer
For years she had been taught to hate by the Westboro Baptist Church, but 27-year-old Lauren Drain has now found love - and security - away from the cult that had dominated her life for so long.
Ms Drain, a cardiac nurse, was walked down the aisle at her wedding to David Kagan by two other former members of the anti-gay and anti-Semitic cult after her family refused to attend the ceremony.
Megan and Grace Phelps-Rope, the granddaughters of the church's founding pastor Fred Phelps, left the cult earlier this year and were able to fill part of the hole left by Ms Drain's family.
Support: Lauren walks up the aisle with Grace and Megan, who have also left the controversial church
Newly weds: Lauren with her husband David Kagan
'It was amazing having them by my side. Just a year ago I never thought i would see them again and here they were, during one of the most impotent days of my life,' she told Mail Online.
'They stepped in to make it even more special for me. We are extremely close now, and see each other as often as we can.'
The former member of the church, which is known for picketing the funerals of U.S. servicemen, has also been supported during her marriage and wedding preparations by her husband's family.
'They have accepted me as one of their own,' she said. 'At our wedding they presented me with a "Welcome to the Family certificate" signed by all 31 members of the family, including the two pets.'
She added: 'David's sister, mother and father treat me amazingly and were there for me during every part of the wedding planning process.'
'They have read my book and know all the details and have never judged me for my past.'
Part of the family: Lauren was presented with a certificate welcoming her to the Kagans at the wedding
Heartfelt: A locket filled with pictures of Lauren's siblings was presented to her so she could keep them close
Celebration: Lauren has found love and acceptance with her husband and their friends
At a surprise bridal shower, her future mother-in-law also gave her a locket containing pictures of the three siblings she was forced to leave behind when she left the cult in 2008.
Ms Drain posted a picture of the locket on her Facebook page, and said: 'I realized that even if my family does not attend, I will still have these three close to my heart on my wedding day.'
The cult forces those who leave to sever all contact with their family. Ms Drain hasn't seen or heard from her parents and siblings since the day she left.
'They were invited [to the wedding], they did not respond or attend,' she said, adding that while she is positive her parents are aware she married, it could have been hidden from her two younger siblings by her father.
After the church forced her out for questioning its teachings, it was her own father who drove her to a motel and left her there, alone.
'I was given a few hours to pack my life into a few suitcases, dropped off by my father at a motel and told to never return, never contact my siblings and that I was now disowned,' she said on GoFundMe, the web page she set up to help other cult members who want to leave.
Happy ending: Lauren and David at the wedding last month. The couple met three years ago
Like family: Megan and Grace joined Lauren's other friends for the celebration
'Anyone that leaves or is kicked out is banished for life and all ties to your family, friends, community, life are severed and you are truly on your own,' she said.
Fortunately, Ms Drain has managed to adapt to life on the outside. After leaving the church she moved to Connecticut and wrote a book, BANISHED: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church, about her experiences.
Although she rejected the Westboro teachings, Ms Drain has kept her Christian faith.
She met her future husband about three years ago, and said while 'David is not religious [he] is extremely supportive and accepting of all faiths, including my own.'
The couple were married on August 4, in a beautiful ceremony captured by Annandale Photography.
About 19 people have managed to leave the church in the past ten years. Many struggle to adjust to life on the outside after years of brainwashing, Ms Drain added.
She explained the powerful hold the church has other its members and said she joined the controversial picketing to try to make her parents, and the church, happy.
'I was trying to be a good Christian, and make my family proud and other church members proud' she said at a Chicago Ideas Week appearance.
Ms Drain hadn't come from a religious background. Her family first became involved with the church when her father was filming a documentary to expose them - and ended up joining, with his family, in 2001.
For years Ms Drain went along with the cult's teachings but as she got older and started noticing the impact her church was having on the people they targeted, she started to question the hate agenda.
'It was pretty much after we started picketing after 9/11 ... that's not who I wanted to be,' she said at the Chicago appearance last year.
New beginning: Since leaving the church, Lauren has found a better life - and love
Since her own escape, she has started a safety net fund to provide financial and emotional support to those wanting to leave and hopes that one day her family will also have the courage to move away from the church.
'I'm now doing all that I can to reconnect with my 3 trapped siblings. They are forbidden from speaking to me and all my efforts thus far have been shut down,' she said on Reddit.
'However, I hope they too escape by any means one day.'
No comments:
Post a Comment