I found out how articulate and insightful Hemant was a little over a year ago, when I read the church reviews he wrote for Off The Map (the winning bidder in his ebay auction).
I’ve been looking forward to reading about Hemant’s ‘further adventures’ since I heard he was writing a book. I was pleased to find this book is every bit as insightful as I’ve come to expect from him. Hemant’s ability to notice what’s significant and describe it with an undercurrent of humor makes his book a very interesting and enjoyable read.
Hemant calls himself ‘the friendly atheist’ with good reason. I found his comments about Christians in the book to be friendly, respectful and fair. Is this important? To me it is, because I would love my Christian friends to ‘go to the source’ and learn about atheists by talking to them or reading their books. On the other hand, I don’t want to send them into a situation where they’re going to be continually mischaracterized and insulted – I value my friendships with them! I’m happy that I could recommend Hemant’s book to them without hesitation because it’s friendly and fair to generous.
I would like Christians to read I Sold My Soul on Ebay, because it gives an excellent window into how atheists think. (Or even, that atheists do think). A few weeks ago in TIME Magazine, Rick Warren claimed that many atheists reject God for emotional reasons and added that he’d never met an atheist who isn’t angry. Comments like that powerfully illustrate the need for books like Hemant’s. The word evidently still needs to get out that at least some atheists arrive at their nonbeliefs after careful analysis of the evidence, rather than being driven to reject God out of anger.
I was aware of Hemant’s upbringing as a Jain and deconversion to atheism as a teenager, but not the details. I enjoyed reading about those in the book. Hemant still chooses to live by the moral and food vows of Jainism because he sees them as beneficial to him, other people and animals. Many atheists, like Hemant, have high ethical standards for themselves and find it puzzling when Christians claim that it’s only their faith/the power of God in their lives which prevents them from living unprincipled, self-centered lives.
I enjoyed how Hemant used a word picture of a trivia tournament game to illustrate how Jainism led him to dead ends, but those went away when he used the reasoning of atheists.
In the middle chapters of the book Hemant takes us to church with him as he visits small and large churches across the US. We learn what intrigued, puzzled or irritated him. He shares what might bring him back for another visit and what turned him off.
Hemant would be the last person to claim he’s the authority on how atheists think, or what atheists like and dislike about churches. Nevertheless, his approach of asking curious questions and wanting to know the reasons why people do what they do is one I’ve found typical of thoughtful atheists. Hemant points out that he probably thought about the services he went to much more than many Christians do. I expect he’s right and I think this partly originates from the different ways Christians and atheists often approach life. Christians (in the Christian circles I moved in – I realize this might not apply to all Christians) are encouraged to have faith and accept things. To such Christians, questioning is something to be careful about – it’s ok if it leads you into a deeper knowledge of God or shows you where you’re ‘wrong’; otherwise it’s a dangerous practice that could hurt your faith. In my experience, this ambivalence about questioning is absent from the thinking of atheists (and, perhaps, Christian traditions other than the one I know best – conservative evangelical Christianity). Atheists strongly affirm the scientific method, which is all about asking questions.
Ironically (or maybe not) I think several of Hemant’s observations would be echoed by any Christian who honestly responds to “Tell me what you really think about the service you just attended”. The Christians who attended the same services where Hemant wished the pastor was a better speaker probably wish that too, even though they might be reluctant to say that to their pastor if they like him/her. I loved Hemant’s suggestion: turn the video cameras around so they record the congregations reaction to the sermon, rather than the sermon – then the pastor can find whether he’s holding their interest or not! I expect many Christians share Hemant’s preference that churches to be actively involved helping their local communities, rather than being simply a social club for like-minded people. These are just a couple of Hemant’s on-target observations that I expect many Christians will nod in agreement with.
On the other hand, I can imagine some Christians strongly disagreeing with Hemant’s preference for sermons with less Bible references. I once expressed concern to a pastor once that his sermons didn’t have enough Bible verses in. If you believe the Bible is the authoritative position on everything covered in its pages, you want the pastor to show that every major point he makes ties back to it. At least that’s how I felt in the days before I came to doubt that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.
I’m very glad Hemant objected to how lax pastors can be about making sure the stories they share are accurate and citing sources for anyone who wants to look them up. I’m surprised pastors don’t realize how much it undermines their credibility when the stories they tell can be easily found on the internet (in spite of the pastor’s failure to cite sources) and turn out to be inaccurate. If pastors are wrong about what I _can_ verify, why would I trust what they tell me about eternal life and salvation? I’m not sure why Christians don’t double-check the stories they hear in sermons and politely inform the pastor when what he/she shares is inaccurate. Perhaps they feel it’s disrespectful to check up on him/her. But I think it would be in the pastor’s best interests if his/her friends helped him/her become careful about accuracy.
Speaking of accurate information, the conversations Christians have with atheists would go so much better if the Christians had demonstrably accurate information about them. Which is a big reason I’d like to see Christians reading Hemant’s book. Who knows more about atheists than atheists? If what Christians say to atheists about atheists is clearly wrong, why would atheists expect the rest of what they say to be more accurate?
After Hemant has shared his church experiences in detail he summarizes what he does and doesn’t like that he saw in churches. He also discusses what it would take to convert him. I hope Hemant won’t be disappointed if I say, I don’t think most churches want to be places atheists like to attend. I think they want to be places atheists will visit, get converted and then want to attend. Nevertheless, many of Hemant’s suggestions would make churches better places for Christians and so I hope church leaders will consider his ideas carefully. Another suggestion of his I like is that churches whose service is dominated by the sermon give people a structured opportunity to ask questions about the sermon right after the service. That seems like a great idea to me.
I don’t expect Christians to read Hemant’s book and become atheists. But I would love to see more Christians learn how to be observant, thoughtful and curious and ask great questions like Hemant does. The Jesus I read about in the New Testament loved to ask thought-provoking questions. It only makes sense to assume he wanted to pass that practice on to his followers.
I’ve said a number of times I’d like Christians to read Hemant’s book. What about atheists? I’d like to see atheists reading it too, because I’d like them to consider Hemant’s friendly approach to Christian-atheist dialog. If you question whether it achieves anything, consider this: how many atheists do you know who have been invited to share the sermon time with a pastor and allowed to express their objections to faith to his whole congregation? How many atheists do you know who have been invited to write a book for a Christian publisher? Friendliness opens doors and Hemant’s book is proof of that.
You can find more reviews of I Sold My Soul on Ebay on Hemant’s book reviews page.