Friends,
I have just finished reading The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose and I recommend it quite highly. Roose, who grew up a not-so-religious Quaker family and went to Brown University, spends a semester abroad...at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. For those not familiar with Liberty, it was founded by Jerry Falwell the founder of the "Moral Majority" and prominent evangelical pastor who well...yeah...the book tells more about him.
Anyway, it is quite an interesting read as Roose enters into a culture that is completely unfamiliar to him, learns to get rid of the stereotypes that he had for the university and conservatives-at-large, and engages in every opportunity possible including joining the choir, going on a mission trip to Daytona Beach during Spring Break, and falls in love. To go from the liberal, hippie Brown to the fundamentalist, Sean Hannity loving Liberty was a huge stepping-out-of-comfort-zone and I admire that about him and his experience. Oddly enough, Roose had an interview with Jerry Falwell and that was the last printed interview of Falwell's life.
I think that's a lesson we can all take- The ability to step out of what is comfortable and easy for us and engage openly and genuinely with people. He sees the human behind the stereotype and realizes that they have the same struggles with faith, the other sex, life goals as he or any other secular college student has. Yes, he does meet the intolerant (in fact he rooms with one) but he meets people who wished for more academic freedom and watch R-rated movies (not allowed) in the dorms. Overall, it is a very compelling and honest read.
Borders Price: $24.99 hardcover
Look for my X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek reviews in May!
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