Every Christian Needs to Read This Book! (And Every Atheist Too!)
"The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University," by Kevin Roose
(No, I'm not talking about the Bible.) We're all on one side or the other of the "God Divide." As an atheist, do you ever wonder about believers? As a Christian, are you curious how the world views you?
A journalism student jumped the Divide in a study-abroad semester at home ... but a whole world away: an undercover secular liberal from Brown University masquerading for a semester as an evangelical at ultra-conservative Liberty University, the school founded by televangelist Jerry Falwell.
Whichever side of the God Divide you are on, get a little insight into the other ... and maybe into your own side as well.
What Prompted This Experiment?
Why did Kevin Roose decide to attend Falwell's Liberty University for a semester?
Kevin Roose was first taken to Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road church by his mentor, A.J. Jacobs, as research for Jacobs' book The Year of Living Biblically. While there, he encountered some Liberty U students with whom he signally failed to connect. Recalling it later, he found himself frustrated at the incident:
"I replayed those fifteen minutes over and over in my mind. Every time, I got more frustrated with myself. Why wasn't I able to hold down that conversation? I mean, I've heard of the God Divide before, in a thousand Newsweek articles and one-hour CNN specials. I'm aware that a tree-hugging Brown student isn't supposed to be able to talk to a Bible-thumping Liberty student. But why not? Aren't we all part of the Millennial generation? Don't we all carry the same iPhones and suffer from the same entitlement complex?
"I started reading up on Liberty and other evangelical colleges, and the more I read, the more I began to realize the importance of knowing about my Christian peers. This isn't a fringe culture, after all. According to the Barna Group, an evangelical polling firm, a full one-third of America's teenagers self-identify as born-again Christians....
"What exactly do they believe? And are we really that different? I also felt intuitively that there was something limiting about being an outsider in the evangelical world. When I told the Liberty students at Thomas Road that I hadn't accepted Christ as my savior, the entire dynamic of the conversation changed. It began to feel distant and rehearsed, like a pitch for Ginsu knives. So how could I, a curious non-evangelical, get the inside scoop?
"Several months after my Thomas Road visit, while browsing Liberty's website one morning, it clicked: What if I spent a semester at Liberty as a student? What if, instead of speculating about Christian college life from afar, I jumped over the God Divide and tried to experience it myself?"
"The Unlikely Disciple" - Kevin Roose spent a semester undercover as an evangelical Christian, to try to understand their culture from their point of view.
"Here, right in my time zone,
was a culture more foreign to me
than any European capital."
~ Kevin Roose ~
"The Unlikely Disciple" Book Trailer - Kevin Roose talks about his reasons for spending a semester at Falwell's Liberty University.
"A tree-hugging Brown student
isn't supposed to be able to talk to
a Bible-thumping Liberty student.
But why not?"
~ Kevin Roose ~
Why Should Everyone Read This Book? - Although there are very real differences, the people on both sides of the "God Divide" are still people, and it is possibl
"Is the God Divide really
as big as we say it is?
Well, no, it's not.
And I'm the proof."
~ Kevin Roose ~
Do you agree that it is important to humanize and empathize with the other side of the God Divide?
What Did the Author Discover About His Classmates?
Kevin Roose went to Liberty with an idea of the evangelicals he would meet.
"The thing that strikes me hardest:
this is not a group of angry zealots."
~ Kevin Roose ~
"They're not rabid, frothing fundamentalists
who spend their days sewing Hillary Clinton
voodoo dolls and penning angry missives
to the ACLU. Maybe I'm getting a skewed
sample, but the ones I've met have been
funny, articulate, and decidedly non-crazy.
~ Kevin Roose ~
The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at American's Holiest University
Will You Read This Book?
Going All the Way
Doing nothing by half, if an evangelical opportunity presented itself, Kevin Roose took it.
Kevin Roose joined the choir at Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road mega-church; took the typical freshman courseload (including a Christian ethics course, Old and New Testament classes, Evangelism 101, and creation studies); attended regular Bible studies, prayer groups, and one-on-one Christian counseling; and even signed on for a trip to evangelize college students visiting Daytona Beach for spring break.
"Evangelizing to secular spring breakers in Florida struck me
as an enormous waste of time.
Why not go somewhere Jesus
would be an easier sell?
Like Islamabad?"
~ Kevin Roose ~
Kevin found that, true to a prediction made by his only Christian friend from high school, the hardest part of blending in was making his language fit to be heard on a Christian campus.
"I want a refund for that 30 Days
to Taming Your Tongue book
that was supposed to teach me
how to speak to evangelicals in
their own language.
After reading it, I went around
for several days saying things
like 'Mercy me, that was a
doozy of a class, wasn't it?'
But instead of credibility,
I mostly got looks of pity."
~ Kevin Roose ~
What Do You Think About the Undercover Semester? - For a semester, Kevin Roose presented himself with a false identity.
"If I were a normal Liberty student,
I would have no qualms about
making friends, dating girls,
and following all my social impulses.
But I'm not a normal Liberty
student, and as I'm learning,
I'm not immune to guilt."
~ Kevin Roose ~
What did you think?
- Kevin Roose Interviews Jerry Falwell
Kevin Roose conducted the last in-print interview with Jerry Falwell before his death: "The average Liberty student does not know much more about Jerry Falwell's day-to-day life than a loyal viewer from Topeka. We set out to fix that, sitting down wi - The Lynchburg News & Advance Interviews Kevin Roose
"We tend to think of Liberty students as sitting around all day, and burning books and sewing Hillary Clinton voodoo dolls. This was not a culture that I was familiar with," said Roose. Instead of clinging to these prejudices, though, he decided to c - The Friendly Atheist Interviews Kevin Roose
This is an *incredible* book - I couldn't put it down. Every atheist should read this to find out what the Fundamentalist Christian world is really like. It's not always as awful as you might think and the students aren't all cookie-cutter Falwells-i - Christianity Today Reviews "The Unlikely Disciple"
A sometimes startling view of contemporary evangelicalism through an outsider's eyes is reason enough to read this book. But there's also Roose's humor, often at his own expense, to keep readers turning the pages. [read more] - Kevin Roose's Official Website
What would happen if a student at one of America's most secular colleges spent a semester at Reverend Jerry Falwell's "Bible Boot Camp" for young evangelicals? The Unlikely Disciple answers that question, following Brown University sophomore Kevin Ro
"When I wake up at 7:45 on Sunday morning,
I expect to feel much worse.
It's 7:45 on Sunday morning, after all."
~ Kevin Roose ~
"It's a novel idea - Bible study as singles
mixer. And since the alternative is to watch
my roommate play solitaire until he claws
his eyes out, I decide to go along."
~ Kevin Roose ~
"In nearly two months of booze-free
Christian living and twice-a-week jogging,
I've lost 15 pounds without trying, and
I forget what a hangover feels like.
All college students should do a semester
at Liberty for the health benefits alone."
~ Kevin Roose ~
"The Year of Living Biblically" - One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
Kevin Roose was first taken to Falwell's Thomas Road church by his mentor, A.J. Jacobs, as research for Jacobs' book The Year of Living Biblically.
Praise for "The Unlikely Disciple"
Secular and religious reviewers praise Kevin Roose
"Hallelujah for Kevin Roose. This is a remarkable book. He takes us on a fascinating, funny, nuanced journey that doesn't condescend or make glib judgments. It's just what the culture wars need. If I didn't already have kids, I'd adopt Kevin."
A.J. Jacobs, New York Times bestselling author of The Year Of Living Biblically"What happens when a Brown undergrad goes undercover at Liberty University? If he's a writer as insightful and open-minded as Kevin Roose, he ends up learning as much about himself as he does about the evangelical Christians he lives with. The Unlikely Disciple provides a funny, compassionate, and revealing look at Jerry Falwell's 'Bible Boot Camp,' and the surprisingly diverse band of true believers who make it their home."
Tom Perrotta, bestselling author of Little Children and The Abstinence Teacher"This is a brilliant book. Absolutely brilliant. Roose's wisdom, humanity, and love kept me going. And I laughed. A lot."
Rob Bell, founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, author of Velvet Elvis"Keenly observed, funny, and compassionate. Kevin Roose parachutes us into a seldom-glimpsed and little-understood pocket of America, then guides us through a story of religion and country more resonant than any of us could have imagined."
Robert Kurson, bestselling author of Shadow Divers and Crashing Through"Kevin Roose has produced a textured, intelligent, even sympathetic, account of his semester at Liberty University. He eschews caricature and the cheap shot in favor of keen observation and trenchant analysis. The Unlikely Disciple is a book of uncommon wisdom and insight. I recommend it with enthusiasm."
The Rev. Dr. Randall Balmer, Episcopal Priest and Professor of American Religious History at Barnard College, Columbia UniversityDid Crossing the "God Divide" Change His Attitudes?
Kevin Roose found real people with individual personalities, problems, and passions at Liberty.
"[My family] talked about how I
lived with 'brainwashed sheep.'...
It makes me uneasy when people paint
Liberty students with a broad brush,
just as it would make me uneasy if someone
said that all Brown students are
amoral, unpatriotic heathens."
~ Kevin Roose ~
"The Unlikely Disciple" Kindle Edition - Read Kevin Roose's book electronically now!
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Are the Cultural Differences Insurmountable?
"Bible Boot Camp is a surprisingly
messy place.... Liberty students
who struggle with lust.
Secular Quakers who enjoy prayer.
Evangelical feminists who [attend]
out of academic interest.
I used to think that my two worlds
were a million miles apart.
But tonight, the distance seems
more like a hundred thousand miles.
It's not a total improvement,
but it's not meaningless, either.
~ Kevin Roose ~
Crossing Another Cultural Divide - "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
Similar to Kevin Roose, journalist John Howard Griffith went undercover to cross a serious cultural divide.
