My Fundamentalist Education: A Memoir of a Divine Girlhood [Hardcover]

Christine Rosen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 2005

When Christine Rosen started kindergarten, her ABCs included the Apocalypse, the Bible, and Christ. At Keswick Christian School "the Bible was our textbook," God the guide, and after entering the school gates, nothing was ever quite the same again. Christine learned creation science, dreamed of becoming a missionary to exotic countries, worried about the souls of Jews and Mormons, and experienced unusual methods of sex education. With the threat of nuclear annihilation at the hands of atheistic Russians looming, she also frequently prayed for rapture.

At home, Florida life seemed happily to confirm several literal truths: the story of Moses, with its plagues that afflicted the Egyptians — from lice, to rivers of stinking dead fish, to hordes of frogs — might have been describing Christine's back yard.

My Fundamentalist Education is a brilliant, affectionate, child's-eye journey to Rosen's home, school and small town. Set in a time and place when the Living Bible outsold The Joy of Sex, during a girlhood lived as the Lord intended, among the tropical flora and fauna of Florida, its televangelists, irascible elderly, and itinerant preachers, Christine Rosen and her sister, Cathy, uncover the not always godly but surely divine secrets of a Hallelujah-ya sisterhood.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rosen (Preaching Eugenics), a fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, knows her King James Bible backward and forward. For this she thanks the fundamentalist school she attended from kindergarten until eighth grade, when her parents finally figured out "what we were learning about television, and movies, and, most important, about men and women." In many respects Keswick Christian School in the 1980s was like fabled Catholic schools of the 1950s: misbehaving students were paddled, girls forced to kneel on the floor to check skirt lengths, boys and girls required to keep a respectful six-inch distance from one another. But to Keswick students, Catholics and even some Protestants weren't true Christians, and it was incumbent upon the children to learn "strict morals and Bible belief" and then to "witness" to playmates and families. Alas, writes Rosen, "by the close of third grade, I found I'd not yet converted a single living soul." While young Christine was absorbing an ascetic worldview, her erratic mother was discovering—and unsuccessfully trying to interest her daughter in—Pentecostal fervor. Although today Rosen lives "an entirely secular life," her tone is affectionate rather than critical, and her subtle humor and ironically accurate descriptions will appeal to others with stringent religious backgrounds. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Though no longer a fundamentalist, Christine Rosen manages to spin a tale of her childhood that is mostly free of animosity. Critics appreciate her open-mindedness and vivid prose, as well as the insight she gives into a child's predisposition to believe. Some reviewers cited a lack of context (how fundamentalism compares to other tenants in Christianity) and an inadequate explanation of how her upbringing affects her today. A few also fault My Fundamentalist Education for not furthering the debate between faith and evolution, but the criticism sputters like ideological rabble rousing. Rosen, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of Preaching Eugenics, intended to write a personal story of her childhood, a feat most reviewers feel she's accomplished.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs; First Edition edition (December 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586482580
• ISBN-13: 978-1586482589
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #817,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very charming and very funny! January 23, 2006

By William Alexander

Format:Hardcover

I picked this book up on a whim because its title caught my eye. I'm not a reader of memoirs, but since I also came from a fundamentalist/evangelical background similar in many ways to the author's, I figured it might be of interest. I was right. Rosen has done a superb job in this book and its writing style and charm, coupled with my occasional outbursts of laughter led me to finish it in one afternoon and evening.

For those of us who come from this background, it is easy to see reflections of our own life experiences in her memoir. Rosen perfectly captures the mixture of seriousness and comic amusement that accompanies the experience of growing up in fundamentalism. Being of the same age range as Rosen, I can not only relate to the curious lifestyle of fundamentalism (it is definitely a lifestyle) but I remember watching the exact same End Times movies and hearing the exact same historical events she describes used to appropriate apocalyptic prophecy. Its historical context made the book an especially poignant and thoughtful experience for me. And her descriptions of the interactions among the competing views of fundamentalism, evangelicalism, and charismatic Pentecostalism are an accurate depiction of how these worlds intersect in so many ways.

Rosen is most brilliant when she subtly conveys the innocent intentions of those who firmly believe that they are doing God's work, while at the same time indoctrinating the minds of young people and stifling independent thought. This environment is a strange mixture of compassion, kindness, love, yet at the same time, dogma, intolerance of dissent, and radical closed-mindedness.... It is an environment where individuals, especially young people, can connect in groups of like-minded others, establish deep friendships, and experience real joy, while at the same time the intellectual straitjacket grows tighter and tighter. It is very much a world of dichotomy where all are welcome as equals and saints of God (fundamentalists hold that all believers are saints) and "heresy" is carefully guarded against and rooted out. It is not an environment that welcomes critical thought. Rosen brilliantly portrays this and the perspective of a young child gives this book a sense of charm, deep nostalgia, and subtle comedy. I found myself bursting into barely-controlled laughter at many points.

For some of us (how many is unknown, conversion stories to evangelicalism are more popular than are the reverse) there comes a point when a stark choice becomes clear and unavoidable: one must choose the life of the faith or the life of the mind. Choosing the latter entails a sad divorce, because within fundamentalism, one simply cannot pursue both lives with vigor. Like Rosen, I chose the life of the mind, and am no longer a believing Christian, let alone a fundamentalist. But it is not an easy choice. As Rosen so movingly tells us, the life of fundamentalism is one of a comforting straitjacket. It is a life of dichotomy and contradiction where love and certainty is valued above intellectual honesty. The deep emotional need for certainty can never be met in the life of the mind, and that need, coupled with the deep acceptance one can experience in these environments is what is so powerful about these movements.

It has been difficult for me to view my fundamentalist past with the nostalgia that Rosen has come to, valuing and appreciating the positive without concealing the negative, as I'm sure it is for many people from these backgrounds. Perhaps Rosen's charming memoir can help us do so. Read more ›

25 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Dead-on analysis of growing up fundamentalist Christian January 11, 2006

By Patrick A. Stewart

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The Rapture. The Anti-Christ. Satanic subliminals in rock music. Creation in six days. Fear of sex. Self-loathing. Bad polyesther uniforms. Welcome to Keswick Christian, St. Petersburg, Florida's fundamentalist Christian school. Welcome to your fundamentalist Christian education.

In an era where a majority of Americans believe in creationism, the "born-again" President of our country sends "coded" messages to "believers" through speeches on stages in the shape of a cross, "faith-based" non-profits are taking over for governmental services, and "men of god" are making political speeches from their tax-exempt pulpits, Christene Rosen's "My Fundamentalist Education" should be required reading for all those "Blue Staters" trying to understand the mindset of fundamentalist Christians. Her well-written and entertaining memoir strikes home, laying bare what is taught and thought behind the doors of exclusionary fundamentalist churches and schools, and provides insights into the people who read the "Left Behind" series, whose cars have fish symbols and bumper stickers stating "In case of rapture, this car will be empty", whose favorite book is the Bible - which is (of course) literally true, and who believe in the creationist theory of Intelligent Design, in spite of the lack of evidence for it and the preponderance of evidence supporting Darwin's "dangerous idea" of evolution.

Rosen's book is an accurate and compelling recount of her time at Keswick Christian while living in the retirement town of St. Petersburg, Florida (its unofficial motto "The old people live in Miami, their parents live here"). How do I know?... My three sisters and I went to Keswick at roughly the same time she did (I spent my 5th to 8th grades there - from 1975-1979, my little sister went there until from kindergarten to 8th grade) - however, unlike Rosen's experiences, which she remembers somewhat fondly, mine aren't so benign. As a new kid with few social skills, the "Christianity" of the students there did not seem so evident in their initial bullying of an outsider. The Bible (King James Version, of course), was the major textbook and while the constant memorizing of verses was pedagogically useful, and the school provided a solid education in reading (especially in Olde English) and writing, science was quite lacking, as can be expected from those believing in a 6-day creation. However, what can be considered most disturbing about such an education and the beliefs that derive from it (as I experienced it) is the belief in the inerrancy of the Bible, in spite of multiple internal contradictions, and the willingness of those in power to use its verses, often out of context, to control social behavior, such as how one dressed and acted. In my experience there, religion became a bludgeon, with the ever-present threat of the rapture and being "left-behind" scaring children into unquestioning obedience, the potential for pregnancy through boys and girls holding hands (yes, my elder sisters' classes were told this by the school's chaplain) confusing us, and the King James Version of the Bible providing an unassailable rationale for a variety of "un-Christlike" behaviors. Probably most disturbing for me in the end was that the insularity of the school and its beliefs led to spiritual breakdowns when the reality of everyday life confronted the teachings of fundamentalist beliefs.

What one may take away from reading "My Fundamentalist Education", and what I took away from my very own fundamentalist education, is that while the teachings of the Bible and Jesus can provide a moral background and spiritual enlightenment, the insularity of fundamentalist Christianity, now becoming more pervasive in our country, is a way of hiding from the often difficult and complex reality of life, and provides an easy way of blaming complex societal problems on easy bogeyman, thus evading responsibility without dealing with the problems themselves. After all, if you are a "believer" the rapture will take you before the problems need to be solved. Read more ›

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful to read about the kind side of religion June 19, 2007

By Suzanne Amara VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The school that the author attends in this book reminds me of many parts of my childhood. I didn't go to a Christian school, but in our small town there were many clubs and Sunday Schools and Vacation Bible Schools and Good News Clubs and Pioneer Clubs and so on! My parents loved to get free child care and have us out of the house for a bit, so even if they didn't believe what was being taught to us, they had us attend many of these religious clubs and events. The mostly kind, mostly truly caring people at Christine's school remind me of most of the people I encountered at these clubs---true believers, who did their best to practice what they preached. In this day and age of such separation between blue states and red, believers and not, we often get distorted views of deeply religious people. Although my own beliefs waver often and are not at all fundamentalist, I, like the author, am glad to have had the experience of reading the King James Bible and meeting religious people. This book is very well written, humorous without being flip, and most of all kind. I really enjoyed reading it.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Former Keswickian says, "Ha!" July 29, 2006

By T. Olney

Format:Hardcover

When I read the St. Petersburg Times article announcing this book, I knew I had to read it. When I picked it up at my local library, I gritted my teeth, expecting to be eviscerated by a bitter cynic. Instead, what I found was a thoughtfully written piece about growing up and the influences that shape our world view. I graduated from Keswick while Christine was attending elementary school, but the biggest grin was her reference to the guys by the pickup truck with the Ayatollah sign. All those guys were my friends from my graduating class (we were seniors that year) - and I can tell you that all of them grew up - like Christine - as free thinking, contributing members of society. I guess that having a firm foundation in the bible isn't a bad place to begin your education.

The only puzzling but necessary part of the book were the name changes of the teachers and students. I was able to identify most of the people she referenced by her descriptions, including the principal and head master, but it did make for some puzzling reading at first.

My experience at Keswick was "mixed" as well, with some pretty horrific experiences, like being banned from the library and the bus my last two years at school, but also positive, like meeting my future wife and having a very weird and memorable time at school. Having boundaries is an important part of growing up - and Keswick certainly created those! What fun is it to misbehave if you don't get in trouble?

Christine puts the "FUN" back into FUNdamental education. So, as a fellow Keswickian married to another Keswickian - thank you.