Cami Ostman,Susan Tive,Elise Glassman,Pamela Helberg,Stephanie Durden Edwards,Grace Peterson,Melanie Hoffert,Leila Khan,Nikki Smith,Colleen Haggerty,Erin Seaward-Hiatt,Naomi J. Williams,Huda Al-Marashi,Caitlin Constantine,Leah Lax,Joshunda Sanders,Elise Brianne Curtin,Yolande Brener,Lucia Greenhouse,Elizabeth Taylor-Mead,Kyria Abrahams,Carolyn S. Briggs,Julia Scheeres,Valerie Tarico,Mary  Johnson,Donna Johnson
Beyond Belief, addresses what happens when women of extreme religions decide to walk away. Editors Susan Tive (a former Orthodox Jew) and Cami Ostman (a de-converted fundamentalist born-again Christian) have compiled a collection of powerful personal stories written by women of varying ages, races, and religious backgrounds who share one commonality: theyâ€™ve all experienced and rejected extreme religions.,Covering a wide range of religious communitiesâ€”including Evangelical, Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, Muslim, Calvinist, Moonie, and Jehovahâ€™s Witnessâ€”and containing contributions from authors like Julia Scheeres (,Jesus Land,), the stories in ,Beyond Belief, reveal how these women became involved, what their lives were like, and why they came to the decision to eventually abandon their faiths. The authors shed a bright light on the rigid expectations and misogyny so often built into religious orthodoxy, yet they also explain the lureâ€”why so many women are attracted to these lifestyles, what they find thatâ€™s beautiful about living a religious life, and why leaving can be not only very difficult but also bittersweet.
Nonfiction,Religion,Autobiography,Memoir,Feminism,Womens Studies,Feminism,Writing,Essays,Womens,Spirituality,Biography,Religion,Atheism
Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religions