Customer Reviews

Growing Up Fundamentalist: Journeys in Legalism & Grace

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The Preface to the book gives an excellent history of fundamentalism in America. It is very important to have knowledge of the history in order to have understanding of the experience of growing up fundamentalist.

The interviews selected for inclusion in the book were insightful, honest, and, yes, heartbreaking. I applaud Ulstein's willingness to honestly present the fundamentalist experience. However, it is clear that while he may not consider himself a fundamentalist, he is still a member of "the fold" as an evangelical. Thus, I feel the interviews selected for publication are a reflection of this. While he certainly includes some interviews of people who are no longer involved in fundamentalist or evangelical churches, the majority of interviews are with people who are. I do not think this is an accurate reflection of ex-fundamentalists. I think, quite frankly, that most of us have abandoned the fundamentalist and evangelical brand of Christianity. As an evangelical, I think Ulstein has not dealt with some of his own underlying assumptions.....one of which is that most people who are brought up in fundamentalist churches "resolve" their issues by becoming "liberal" evangelicals (an oxymoron if I ever heard one). I think Ulstein is just too threatened by those of us who have become Roman Catholics or Buddhists or Episcopalians or atheists to include many of us (other than a few tokens) in his book. I think a sentence on the back of the book says it all, "Stefan Ulstein's probing interviews will help you learn how your friends, your children--and maybe those you hope to evangelize--perceive the complicated way of life often called fundamentalism."

This book of interviews with former fundamentalists does a reasonable job of portraying the difficulties that many of us have had to wrestle with in coming to terms with our fundamentalist past. The interviews are done sensitively and one feels as if the author has allowed his subjects to speak rather than trying to put words into their mouths. Many of the individuals interviewed still consider themselves to be Christians. Some do not. However, I found this book more uplifting than some of the "anti testimonies" I have read by fundamentalists who have become "born again atheists." This book is probably most useful for ex fundamentalists trying to figure out a new Christian direction than it is a sociological study of the species.

This book is a mix of fundamentalists' stories, former and present. It's light reading, not terribly deep, in my opinion. It suffers from credibility in that either the author or his subjects chose not to give their names and often their denominations or locations when telling their stories; thus everything together seems somewhat vague and generic. And it's not terribly fair to lump all fundies together this way; just because one church or group believes in strict subordination of women doesn't mean the next one will. The book has some interesting and thoughtful insights from the author's subjects on how the minds of fundies work, what makes them tick and why they cling to such obviously unscientific hogwash (in some instances). Each chapter is a slice of life, but unfortunately it's not overly nourishing. If you want serious analysis look elsewhere.

In "Growing Up Fundamentalist", Stefan Ulstein has collected a series of interviews which cover many problems and positives (though fewer of these) in growing up in a fundamentalist tradition. The interviews are sensitive, interesting and well-conducted. Ulstein seems, however, to shy away from drawing conclusions based on his data, or from offering solutions to these problems. He also appears to have a bit of a religious agenda of his own, in that he included many interviews with those who are still practicing Christians, and fewer with those atheists or agnostics. It would be interesting to do a statistical survey to see how accurate the percentage really is. A good and interesting, if not great, book.