Sometimes it takes me awhile to get around to reading a book. That was the case with Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover. If you haven't read it in the four years since it was published, I really recommend it. What an amazing story! The author provides a note at the beginning of the book: "This story is not about Mormonism. Neither is it about any other form of religious belief. In it there are many types of people, some believers, some not; some kind, some not. The author disputes any correlation, positive or negative, between the two." That said, her upbringing in a survivalist family in Idaho, was permeated by her father's own radical, fiery version of Mormonism. As a child, and even as a teenager, she didn't question the family's religious or political beliefs. As you read Educated, her awakening to the realities of her situation, the changes in her perceptions, is slow and painful. At some point, she came to realize that "never again would I allow myself to be made a foot soldier in a conflict I did not understand".
The same year that Educated was published, my husband and I were traveling the North Cascade Loop and stopped to visit with an old friend of my husband's and his wife. Rick and Shelley live on a couple of acres in a beautiful area. They have two horses, a dream of Shelley's from childhood. It's an idyllic life compared to her earlier days. When Shelley heard that I am a church librarian, she asked about Plymouth. Then she said that it sounded like the kind of church where the members would appreciate a book she had just had published, and she gave me a copy. The book is Petting Tigers: My Life as a Witness of Jehovah by Shelley Smith Jones. It makes for compelling reading: a well-written, heart-breaking story of the damage that is sometimes done in the name of religion.
Some of you who are reading this may have your own stories of Churches that were authoritarian, racist, misogynistic, homophobic. When I was living in Southern California, I had a friend who was attending Biola University, a private, evangelical Christian university. Joni was actively involved with campus ministry. The young minister and his wife were like family to her and the other students, her brothers and sisters in Christ. She babysat their children, she had dinner with them every week. When she transferred to UCLA, she continued to be part of their community. I remember Joni joking about how she would probably end up with an atheist for a roommate and guess what? She did. She and her roommate had theological discussions, each one trying to persuade the other, and Joni began to question some of her beliefs. She brought her doubts to her evangelical minister. She was told that she was no longer welcome in their house, she was not to associate with the people she had thought were her friends, her brothers and sisters in Christ. She was shunned. She was devastated. She changed her license plate from ALL4HIM to HERETIC. I hope that she eventually found a Church where she could ask questions, where she would be welcome wherever she was on her spiritual path and for whomever she was.
Think of all the ways religion can go wrong. Sometimes it is a sect or denomination which is built on fear and exclusivity. Sometimes it is a cult about which you just can't find anything good. There are so many non-denominational churches popping up, mostly targeting young adults and built around the vision of a charismatic leader. What they all seem to have in common is a need to control their adherents through rewards, shaming. and shunning. The stories of Tara, Shelley, and Joni remind us of the dangers of drinking the kool aid. ….
Educated : a memoir / Westover, Tara, B WES One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University - from the publisher
Petting tigers: My life as a witness of Jehovah/ Jones, Shelley Smith. B JON: Finalist for High Plains Book Award 2019 in Creative Nonfiction. Petting Tigers is a story of what happens when a young girl is robbed of her childhood after a parent becomes one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a cultish religious organization that demands complete submission. It further describes how a beautiful mind can be washed away and instead filled with rote beliefs that make no sense in the real world. The airtight belief system, which is called The Truth by its devotees, turns self-destructive when the child grows into an adult who continuously fails to meet the expectations of the set mold. Petting Tigers takes the reader through the author’s painful self-realization and valiant journey to extricate herself and her three sons from the Organization. She knows full well that everyone they know will then shun them. Petting Tigers is about finding a way out and the slow, awkward steps taken after emerging like a newborn into a world she had not known or understood. - from the publisher