Faithiest: How An Atheist Found Common Ground With The Religious (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
Chris may be young and is still working out his writing voice, and may not have all the experience to write a memoir double the size of this one... but I still put an extremely high value on his thoughts. His words had my mind working at full speed, trying to process my own thoughts and opinions on interfaith work as a secular person, where my place in that work might be, and how I can achieve it. And more importantly, not to be afraid to attempt to put forth the energy to work with those of different faiths on shared social justice issues. This memoir/handbook describes 1)the hurt, hard feelings, and defensiveness that result from feeling like others are forcing you to change/convert/"see the light" and 2)the genuine growth that can develop from just living life together in a shared vision to better the world around you. Stedman previously came from a background of being defensive about and against religion. At the writing of this book, however, he is committed to learning from religious people whose faith results in good things in the world (although, as an atheist, he requests the same from those with faith). He says to deny or refuse cooperation with others whose faith is different than our own denies what could be learned from people and puts a block in the path toward united positive change. Good ideas, compelling arguments, interesting story, raw and honest emotion, contagious passion, somewhat braggy at times (not annoyingly so, but noticeable....)Stedmans' friend and coworker (at one time), Eboo Patel writes a good book with similar themes. Read both.
What do You think about Faithiest: How An Atheist Found Common Ground With The Religious (2013)?
Once I got over some of the annoying quirks, I appreciated the message he was trying to get across.
—Amy
Mildly interesting, but didn't grab me as much as other off-the-beaten-path spiritual books have.
—Janae
Won as part of the Goodreads first reads program. Review to come.
—regan
I highly recommend this, will forego minor critisisms.
—marisol
