Hope After Faith: An Ex-Pastor's Journey from Belief to Atheism (Unabridged)
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
Atheism's leading lights have long been intellectuals raised in the secular and academic worlds: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and the late Christopher Hitchens. By contrast, Jerry DeWitt was born and bred into the church and was in fact a Pentecostal preacher before arriving at atheism through an extraordinary dialogue with faith that spanned more than a quarter of a century. Hope After Faith is his account of that journey.
DeWitt was a pastor in the town of DeRidder, Louisiana, and was a fixture of the community. In private, however, he'd begun to question his faith. Late one night in May 2011, a member of his flock called seeking prayer for her brother who had been in a serious accident. As DeWitt searched for the right words to console her, speech failed him, and he found that the faith which once had formed the cornerstone of his life had finally crumbled to dust. When it became public knowledge that DeWitt was now an atheist, he found himself shunned by much of DeRidder's highly religious community, losing nearly everything he'd known.
DeWitt's struggle for identity and meaning mirrors the one currently facing millions of people around the world. With both agnosticism and atheism entering the mainstream one in five Americans now claim no religious affiliation, according to a recent study the moment has arrived for a new atheist voice, one that is respectful of faith and religious traditions yet warmly embraces a life free of religion, finding not skepticism and cold doubt but rather profound meaning and hope. Hope After Faith is the story of one man's evolution toward a committed and considered atheism, one driven by humanism, a profound moral dimension, and a happiness and self-confidence obtained through living free of fear.
Customer Reviews
A Heartbreaking, Fascinating, and Moving Piece
I think the main strength of the book comes from the startling preservation of his experiences. Jerry was able to present his past as though it was happening now, with minimal hindsight bias. That is an incredibly difficult thing to do, so well done Jerry! It's almost a psychological case study as to how one could become enveloped by religion based on experiences in one's childhood and infancy. Since many of his reasons for transitioning to atheism seem to be caused by his experiences as a preacher, it makes me wonder how many non-believing preachers exist in America. People who, for various reasons, cannot escape that community. This book also provided me with (what felt like) a personal and experiential understanding of Pentecostal culture, rural Louisiana culture and more.
On a more personal note: I found your first two chapters to be utterly heartbreaking. I work in Early Intervention, and all I could think - over and over in my head - was your family needed services. WHY didn't they get services? Were they even offered, since the community had such a meager medical community (one floor brick hospital)? The childhood abuse, witnessing multiple intimate partner violence, consistent attachment issues, the stress/multiple loss from the repeated transitions (moving from town to town), medical conditions (your heart murmurs and your sister's Down Syndrome), your obsession with death and constant fear/anxiety, and so much more. As you go on, the clinical side of my brain is ticking off symptoms, risk factors, tx plans, consequences of the untreated symptoms, and cycle again and again. He is only saying that because traumatic experiences, anxiety, and unhealthy environmental moldings have trained him to view the world as a threat. etc. And the laying on of hands instead visiting the doc again, or calling them with your questions, etc. We (Early Intervention) could have helped. I could have helped. Listening to those two chapters left me with a powerful urge to hug you, your mother, and your sister.
Well done, Jerry! This is an extraordinary book and an even better audiobook.
Hope After Faith
Interesting and easy read. Quite a journey for this man.