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Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America-and Found Unexpected Peace (2009)

por William Lobdell

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2841692,826 (3.79)9
William Lobdell's journey of faith--and doubt--may be the most compelling spiritual memoir of our time. Lobdell became a born-again Christian in his late 20s when personal problems--including a failed marriage--drove him to his knees in prayer. As a newly minted evangelical, Lobdell--a veteran journalist--noticed that religion wasn't covered well in the mainstream media, and he prayed for the Lord to put him on the religion beat at a major newspaper. In 1998, his prayers were answered when the Los Angeles Times asked him to write about faith. Yet what happened over the next eight years was a roller-coaster of inspiration, confusion, doubt, and soul-searching as his reporting and experiences slowly chipped away at his faith. While reporting on hundreds of stories, he witnessed a disturbing gap between the tenets of various religions and the behaviors of the faithful and their leaders. He investigated religious institutions that acted less ethically than corrupt Wall St. firms. He found few differences between the morals of Christians and atheists. As this evidence piled up, he started to fear that God didn't exist. He explored every doubt, every question--until, finally, his faith collapsed. After the paper agreed to reassign him, he wrote a personal essay in the summer of 2007 that became an international sensation for its honest exploration of doubt. Losing My Religion is a book about life's deepest questions that speaks to everyone: Lobdell understands the longings and satisfactions of the faithful, as well as the unrelenting power of doubt. How he faced that power, and wrestled with it, is must reading for people of faith and nonbelievers alike.… (mais)
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Mostrando 1-5 de 16 (seguinte | mostrar todos)
Lobdell's experience of losing his faith is something that many in the non-believer community can understand. He didn't decide to quit religion out of spite or because if his reporting on evil within the church (although this certainly was important). Instead, the faith that he felt as a young man slowly dissipated until he felt nothing. In the end, he comes to discover that religious faith is not something that can be faked, and that religious experience is so personal that the dogmas of major religions are irrelevant to the individual's spirituality. I agree with other reviewers that I wish he had discussed religious and secular thinkers whose writings could have shed light on the issues he was struggling with: writers like Hume, Russell or Augustine. But Lobdell's honesty and fearlessness saves the day - finally we have a secular tract on religion that treats both believers and non-believers with respect. ( )
  jonbrammer | Jul 1, 2023 |
An earnest and thorough account of a devoted believer thinking his way out of religious faith. As someone who has never had any religion to lose, I was disappointed at times that Lobdell still seems to view unconflicted atheists with more suspicion than holy rollers, but this memoir will likely be read by many more current believers than the more boisterously atheist works by Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, etc., and so may do a lot of good. ( )
  AlexThurman | Dec 26, 2021 |
A wonderful memoir on this person's spiritual journey. Originally raised as an Episcopalian, William Lobdell eventually stopped going to church at 17 but his life took a terrible turn after a failed marriage and other problems. Someone told him he needed God in his life, so he went to a Megachurch and joined as a Born-again Christian. So, since he was a reporter, he decided to cover religion and faith based topics. As time went on, he started to gravitate towards other sections of Christianity, the main thing being Catholicism.

As we go through this though you can see where this is going if you know recent history. The Catholic Priest Sex Scandals happened, and Mr. Lobdell began to doubt. It isn't hard to do with all of the terrible things that happen every day, all those unanswered prayers and whatnot. All of the famous priests and clerics that were terrible pedophiles and nothing was done. Many other people of faith lost their way too in the aftermath of that. The biggest problem is that if there is a God, he whispers, and nowadays that isn't good enough.

So all in all, this was a pretty good book. I can relate to what he is talking about, but it didn't take the Sex Scandals to make me doubt. That is the only difference in my case. ( )
  Floyd3345 | Jun 15, 2019 |
I expected this to be an in-depth meditation into losing one's faith, but it wasn't. It was even more interesting. Lobdell's journey into and out of the Christian faith is the weakest part of the book and is secondary to the insights he gained about the state of Christianity in America during his time as the LA Times religion reporter. (While he does discuss other faiths in passing, the vast majority of the discussion centers on Christianity.) In the midst of converting to Catholicism when the sex abuse scandal broke, Lobdell is plunged into a world of pedophiles, faith healers, and charlatans who rock his faith in God and ultimately drive him to atheism. The main problem, he discovers, isn't simply the fraudulent leadership. It's in the refusal of laypersons to question, condemn, or demand better from people who are openly defying the very tenets they are supposed to be promoting. Why aren't they defending the abused and disenfranchised? As he asks over and over again, "Why aren't Christians acting more Christian?"

This sounds depressing and it is. This is a very sad book to get through. He also faces some of the most horrible abuses of the Catholic Church straight on, so if child abuse disturbs you, you should be aware. He does not mince words. But unless you are extraordinarily sensitive, I think this book is worth reading. Lobdell doesn't have any answers, but he is absolutely asking the right questions. ( )
1 vote CherieDooryard | Jan 20, 2015 |
The author details his personal journey from non-faith to devout Christian and back to non-faith. He discusses how being on the religion beat for a major newspaper led him into a state of doubt as he began to witness the unfolding of the church sex scandals, and the responses of not only the church hierarchy but the members of the congregations. He lays out an honest assessment of the process by which he explored the various questions that had nagged at him even in childhood, and his attempts to recapture some of the faith he once felt, and the peace and serenity when he finally let go. The author writes in an accessible manner, without sparing himself, and avoids the use of lofty language. He is not writing a philosophical treatise but a personal story, and his questions and the answers he receives are couched in the ordinary language of everyday faith. An important book about how we can hide from ourselves, but eventually we might just be awakened by a dash of cold water. This is a major contributor to the spate of atheist literature, because it is honest and looks at religion where we live. ( )
2 vote Devil_llama | Aug 5, 2013 |
Mostrando 1-5 de 16 (seguinte | mostrar todos)
Lobdell is to be commended for his forthright account of a journey from faith to doubt to loss of faith, one that is surprisingly free of bitterness and cheap shots.
 
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William Lobdell's journey of faith--and doubt--may be the most compelling spiritual memoir of our time. Lobdell became a born-again Christian in his late 20s when personal problems--including a failed marriage--drove him to his knees in prayer. As a newly minted evangelical, Lobdell--a veteran journalist--noticed that religion wasn't covered well in the mainstream media, and he prayed for the Lord to put him on the religion beat at a major newspaper. In 1998, his prayers were answered when the Los Angeles Times asked him to write about faith. Yet what happened over the next eight years was a roller-coaster of inspiration, confusion, doubt, and soul-searching as his reporting and experiences slowly chipped away at his faith. While reporting on hundreds of stories, he witnessed a disturbing gap between the tenets of various religions and the behaviors of the faithful and their leaders. He investigated religious institutions that acted less ethically than corrupt Wall St. firms. He found few differences between the morals of Christians and atheists. As this evidence piled up, he started to fear that God didn't exist. He explored every doubt, every question--until, finally, his faith collapsed. After the paper agreed to reassign him, he wrote a personal essay in the summer of 2007 that became an international sensation for its honest exploration of doubt. Losing My Religion is a book about life's deepest questions that speaks to everyone: Lobdell understands the longings and satisfactions of the faithful, as well as the unrelenting power of doubt. How he faced that power, and wrestled with it, is must reading for people of faith and nonbelievers alike.

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