<p>Have any of you read this book by Kevin Roose, called The Unlikely Disciple? It’s a fascinating book written by a student at Brown University, who goes undercover for a semester to Liberty University. </p>
<p>I’m about 3/4 of the way through it and it is a really interesting read.</p>
<p>One of those silly exercises and ensuing reports classic in academe … the penultimate “wo cares” … especially noting “who says so.” A totally useless publication that sold 9 copies. Make it 10 if you bought it. The token “aha’s” simply illumine the ignorance of the author’s premise and cultural prejudices.</p>
<p>Have you read it, Whistle Pig?</p>
<p>I’m about 2/3 of the way through it myself, vandygrad87. My own spiritual orientation is “atheist who doesn’t hate religion.” I appreciate the lack of snark and the open-minded perspective Roose brings to the project. What Whistle Pig says about “token ‘aha’s’” seems a little uncharitable. Roose wrote the book when he was, what, 20? The “aha moments” that any 20-year-old experiences may not be that profound in the large scheme of things. But the book is well written and the style is engaging. I do not have the slightest idea what Whistle Pig means about how Roose’s aha moments “illumine the ignorance of the author’s premise and cultural prejudices”; I don’t get that at all, and the Christians who’ve recommended the book to me didn’t recommend it with any caveats. Roose did not ridicule, he sought to understand. That he did not come out of the project considering homosexuality shameful or creationism a reasonable explanation for life on earth is not surprising. That he developed a new appreciation for the role of faith in many people’s lives is a good thing. I’ll reserve final judgment on the book’s merits until I finish.</p>
<p>Wait a minute, Whistle Pig, I think you missed some good points from the book.</p>
<p>I’m a conservative Christian parent and I enjoyed the book very much. (I couldn’t quite hand it to my then 16 year old son because he used some graphic language for female body parts but now that my son is approaching 18, I might allow him to read it)</p>
<p>One of the important things that the book points out is that even at conservative Christian colleges, kids struggle with the same things as kids at secular colleges, things like sex, drugs, homosexuality, etc. I think it’s important for Christian kids to be prepared for struggles at Christian colleges and not to be lulled into thinking everyone will be living the holy life.</p>
<p>Some of the youth at our church are going through the Truth Project and in interviewing kids at Christian colleges, many of them say it’s almost more difficult attending a Christian college (and I don’t know which specific colleges they attended) because they really struggled as they saw kids around them doing things they never thought they’d see.</p>
<p>I didn’t like everything in the book but I thought it was worthwhile.</p>
<p>I liked the book a lot. He had a lot of important things to say about conservative Christian culture, and I thought he was very open and generous in his perspective.</p>