The Homemade Atheist: A Former Evangelical Woman's Freethought Journey to Happiness
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Like so many all-American girls, Betty Brogaard was raised to be a good Christian. By the time she was 20 years old, she had been indoctrinated into an extreme fundamentalist church. She even met and married a young man who became a minister in this cultlike congregation. The Homemade Atheist shares her step-by-step search for the honest answers that freed her from the mental slavery of extreme religion and allowed her to find a true happiness. Without malice, The Homemade Atheist invites readers to analyze why they believe what they believe (or don't believe) — exactly as the author did over a period of many years. It was no quick-and-easy step from faith to reason for the author, but her transformation provides a wealth of insights she now shares with readers. The book details why Betty and her husband left the fundamentalist congregation, and how she then belonged to an orthodox church for 15 years until her ongoing questioning and searching convinced her that religion holds no truth. Relating her years of research in an enjoyable-to-read manner better suited for kitchen table talk than academic publications, The Homemade Atheist offers readers a path to a satisfying nonreligious way of life.
Foreword 9Introduction 13Part 1 The Path to Unbelief1 The Unbeliever's Happiness 192 Can Adherence to the Bible Bring Real Happiness? 383 The Omni-God 624 This, Too, Shall Pass 725 Schizophrenic Religion 80Part 2 A House Divided6 The Religious War of Words 897 The Ten Commandments and the Sabbath Day 1078 Freewill, Open Theism, and Open View of God 115Part 3 Religious Experience in Perspective9 Who Can Know God? 12310 Morality, Ethics, and Atheism 12711 The Importance of Evidence 13412 The Logic of Unbelief 14213 How Tolerant Should We Be? 14914 What's It Going to Take? 155Epilogue 162Bibliography 165Index 169About the Author 176
