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A review by originaljbone
Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman
1.0
The word cloying kept popping into my head. Chris' youth shows in his self absorption. His descriptive phrases feel artificial. He tells us up front that he has a terrible memory and yet knows when a gust of wind brought the scent of lilacs into a room. Or when his shirt was soaked with sweat from exertion. I found the flowery descriptive bits distracting and a little self-indulgent.
His journey feels very passive. He doesn't seem aware that the church lured him in with smiles and pizza. He just knows he has a boner for one of the welcomers (who it turns out was simply using his good looks and charm to lure in new recruits. The revelation of the ploy doesn't lead Chris to any deeper thought than "where'd the cute guy go?")
He goes along with the church until switching to another church. Continues at a religious school even though he doesn't believe in god. Did he get a scholarship? Is this the only school that had an interfaith program? Does Chris ever make a decision for himself?
His stories seem apocryphal -- In that they work out perfectly for him. His standing ovation for his courageous high school speech and hug from the guy he was most scared of. The broken glass reflecting the brokenness of his spirit. Both are as believable as any after-school special.
By page 101 I was pretty tired of his uninteresting journey. Chris is really interested in how everything revolves around Chris. There's no sense of anything else going on.
The atheist party - taking his shoes off and being underdressed. He paints himself always as the underdog. The one just trying to do right but snobby atheists call him names and ignore him.
The title itself suggests Chris sees himself as the lone outsider. He was the only gay kid at his school so he took himself out of the system to learn on his own because no one understands him. He's the only one going to the "crack stack" and establishing real relationships because his friends don't understand these people the way Chris does...although he won't engage them fully because how could they understand his lack of faith?
Pious? Is that a word to use?
From page 160 "The activism of my adolescence was defined by self-righteousness..." I would say it's still a large part of Stedman's writing/activism. In every anecdote he sets himself up as the lone understanding hero. The underestimated champion of equal time for all parts of the conversation.
Cloying is the right word.
From Patel's introduction. He finds it hard to picture Hitchens or Dawkins doing something nice for someone. This sort of self congratulatory, patting on the back is again more about being self-righteously smug than about genuine understanding.
In the end I didn't finish the book. I just couldn't take it any more.
His journey feels very passive. He doesn't seem aware that the church lured him in with smiles and pizza. He just knows he has a boner for one of the welcomers (who it turns out was simply using his good looks and charm to lure in new recruits. The revelation of the ploy doesn't lead Chris to any deeper thought than "where'd the cute guy go?")
He goes along with the church until switching to another church. Continues at a religious school even though he doesn't believe in god. Did he get a scholarship? Is this the only school that had an interfaith program? Does Chris ever make a decision for himself?
His stories seem apocryphal -- In that they work out perfectly for him. His standing ovation for his courageous high school speech and hug from the guy he was most scared of. The broken glass reflecting the brokenness of his spirit. Both are as believable as any after-school special.
By page 101 I was pretty tired of his uninteresting journey. Chris is really interested in how everything revolves around Chris. There's no sense of anything else going on.
The atheist party - taking his shoes off and being underdressed. He paints himself always as the underdog. The one just trying to do right but snobby atheists call him names and ignore him.
The title itself suggests Chris sees himself as the lone outsider. He was the only gay kid at his school so he took himself out of the system to learn on his own because no one understands him. He's the only one going to the "crack stack" and establishing real relationships because his friends don't understand these people the way Chris does...although he won't engage them fully because how could they understand his lack of faith?
Pious? Is that a word to use?
From page 160 "The activism of my adolescence was defined by self-righteousness..." I would say it's still a large part of Stedman's writing/activism. In every anecdote he sets himself up as the lone understanding hero. The underestimated champion of equal time for all parts of the conversation.
Cloying is the right word.
From Patel's introduction. He finds it hard to picture Hitchens or Dawkins doing something nice for someone. This sort of self congratulatory, patting on the back is again more about being self-righteously smug than about genuine understanding.
In the end I didn't finish the book. I just couldn't take it any more.