Scan barcode
A review by lory_enterenchanted
Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman
emotional
inspiring
reflective
3.0
Read for my Spiritual Memoir challenge, a book engaging with atheism or agnosticism.
Only a portion of this short book was a memoir, and I failed to gain much of a picture of the author's life. The anecdotes he shared were specifically in support of his current work as an interfaith activist, and the latter part focused on arguments for why atheists should be open to interfaith dialogue (while making clear that atheism is not itself a religion).
The memoir portion covers Stedman's religion-free (aside from a slight acquaintance with Unitarianism) childhood in a liberal family, then a period in adolescence when he joined a fundamentalist church, unfortunately closely followed by his growing realization that he was gay. The pages detailing his agony over his supposed sinfulness are absolutely heartbreaking. Eventually, his mother noticed his distress and brought him to a more tolerant Lutheran minister who put him on a better path, religion-wise, and he became involved in more liberal Christian circles to support his social idealism. While going to a Lutheran college and majoring in religion, though, he lost his faith, and although briefly angry at religion he soon rejected militant anti-theism and became an interfaith enthusiast. Since he wrote the book before turning 24, there may be even more changes in store, but that's the story so far.
It seemed to me that Stedman was never actually religious in any real sense at all; he was looking for human community in the church, probably out of loneliness as his parents divorced and his mother had no time for him (she was frantically working and going to school to support her family). Shedding this transient cloak of religiosity was the honest thing to do, but seemed to represent more a return to his roots than a real transformation. At least those roots meant
Stedman is brave in many ways, championing an ideal of love and human solidarity even in the face of great prejudice. I wish there had been more stories and less pontificating; the latter was not as powerful.
Only a portion of this short book was a memoir, and I failed to gain much of a picture of the author's life. The anecdotes he shared were specifically in support of his current work as an interfaith activist, and the latter part focused on arguments for why atheists should be open to interfaith dialogue (while making clear that atheism is not itself a religion).
The memoir portion covers Stedman's religion-free (aside from a slight acquaintance with Unitarianism) childhood in a liberal family, then a period in adolescence when he joined a fundamentalist church, unfortunately closely followed by his growing realization that he was gay. The pages detailing his agony over his supposed sinfulness are absolutely heartbreaking. Eventually, his mother noticed his distress and brought him to a more tolerant Lutheran minister who put him on a better path, religion-wise, and he became involved in more liberal Christian circles to support his social idealism. While going to a Lutheran college and majoring in religion, though, he lost his faith, and although briefly angry at religion he soon rejected militant anti-theism and became an interfaith enthusiast. Since he wrote the book before turning 24, there may be even more changes in store, but that's the story so far.
It seemed to me that Stedman was never actually religious in any real sense at all; he was looking for human community in the church, probably out of loneliness as his parents divorced and his mother had no time for him (she was frantically working and going to school to support her family). Shedding this transient cloak of religiosity was the honest thing to do, but seemed to represent more a return to his roots than a real transformation. At least those roots meant
Stedman is brave in many ways, championing an ideal of love and human solidarity even in the face of great prejudice. I wish there had been more stories and less pontificating; the latter was not as powerful.