As summer wrapped up, I realized that I did not do nearly as much reading as I intended. This is a yearly occurrence of guilt that is mostly caused by unrealistic expectations.
I finished Kevin Roose's The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University right before moving back east. Loved it. Absolutely loved it. Roose, a student at Brown University, spent a semester at Liberty University as a sophomore to discover the world of evangelicals. It wasn't "gotcha" journalism, or a scheme to prove a point of view that he already held. He just realized that there was a whole group inAmerican society that he had never interacted with and decided to try to learn more.
What I appreciated about the book was its fairness and willingness to handle complexity. Roose made friends with a number of Liberty students and grew in respect for them. Some of what would be considered crazy by his friends and family started to make more sense, or seem more rational when allowing for certain premises. At the same time, there were aspects of the Christian faith propagated at the school that made him angry. He was able to express both of those views, resisting the urge to tie the book up into too neat a package.
Personally, the topics covered in the book fascinate me: the intersection of faith and politics, the human side of oft-caricatured fundamentalists, and the perception by non-Christians of what's normal to many who grew up in the church. The book is also written incredibly well. Roose utilizes humor, suspense, and empathy in telling his story. It's one that's definitely worth reading.
What I appreciated about the book was its fairness and willingness to handle complexity. Roose made friends with a number of Liberty students and grew in respect for them. Some of what would be considered crazy by his friends and family started to make more sense, or seem more rational when allowing for certain premises. At the same time, there were aspects of the Christian faith propagated at the school that made him angry. He was able to express both of those views, resisting the urge to tie the book up into too neat a package.
Personally, the topics covered in the book fascinate me: the intersection of faith and politics, the human side of oft-caricatured fundamentalists, and the perception by non-Christians of what's normal to many who grew up in the church. The book is also written incredibly well. Roose utilizes humor, suspense, and empathy in telling his story. It's one that's definitely worth reading.
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