everything that's on my mind

The unlikely disciple

Every now and then I start reading a book and simply don’t want to stop until I’m done. Kevin Roose’s The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University was one of those books. I’ve complained recently that I’ve had trouble finding time to read, but I managed to make time after the first few pages of this book and finished it in about a week, which is a fast read for me.

In 2006, Roose was a student at Brown University in Rhode Island. He was also working as an assistant for Esquire editor and author A.J. Jacobs. Upon a visit to Jerry Falwell’s Thomas Road Baptist Church in Virginia with Jacobs, who was doing research for his book The Year Of Living Biblically, Roose met some students from Falwell’s Liberty University. They engaged in conversation for several minutes, but it was a bit awkward once they realized he was not a Christian. On his way home, he didn’t understand why it was so difficult for them to talk to one another. Sure, he speculates, maybe a liberal agnostic from Brown and a conservative Christian from Liberty aren’t supposed to have much to talk about. But, he asks, why not? Aren’t they all college students, Americans, humans? Was the “God-divide” really that difficult to span?

He decided that he would like to get to know more about this Christian culture with which he was so unfamiliar. While other students at Brown would take a semester to study abroad, he decided to study in a different culture right here at home. He decided to transfer to Liberty for the spring semester of his sophomore year in January of 2007. He basically went undercover as an evangelical Christian – even being coached by a friend who had grown up in an evangelical church in order to get himself up to speed on the language and customs he’d encounter – and spent the next few months at Liberty.

Roose grew up in a liberal Quaker home and didn’t spend any significant time in church. He knew very little about the Bible. His family was technically Christian, but it’s unlikely anyone at Liberty would see it that way. His family was alarmed and concerned when he told them of his intentions. Particularly worried were his lesbian aunt and her partner, well aware of Falwell’s anti-gay and homophobic statements over the years. He tried to assure them that he would remain unchanged during his time at Liberty, though that didn’t seem to diminish their concern for his well-being. And most of his friends just thought he was crazy.

Roose planned to write this book before he set foot on campus at Liberty, but he did not enroll to ridicule or condemn the school or it’s students. He went to Liberty to get to know what it was like to be a conservative evangelical Christian in 21st century America. He did all of the things a normal Liberty student would do – took various classes on religion, went to Bible studies and prayer meetings, went to church, including singing in the Thomas Road choir on Sundays, and even gave up his spring break to go on a mission trip to Daytona Beach.

One of the most interesting stories was his decision to suggest to the school newspaper that an article be written about the head man himself, Jerry Falwell. They thought it was a great idea, and commissioned Roose himself to write the article. It would end up being Falwell’s last print interview, as he died a short time later, during the final week of the semester.

I’ve never thought much of Falwell, having primarily seen his public persona on cable and network news shows, where he often showed an ugly side, usually condemning someone or some group, and he seemed far too political for a supposed man of God. From his time at Liberty and his time interviewing Falwell personally, Roose manages to show another side of Falwell. He was, evidently, a notorious prankster, and Roose even found him likable when he met with him. There was still the ugly side that he and others of us would still object to, but he did manage to reveal some of why so many people loved him as much as they did.

Despite being 300+ pages, the book was too short for me. Not only did I not want to put down this book, I also didn’t want it to end. The stories Roose tells and the characters he introduces us to (including himself) are compelling and I hated to say goodbye to them. You want the story to continue, to know more about where everyone is now more than two years later.

In the end, Roose did, unexpectedly, come away from Liberty a changed man. No, he did not convert to Christianity and remains agnostic. However, as I suggested earlier, Roose went to Liberty with an open mind. He found merit in meeting with a pastor on a weekly basis as a spiritual mentor of sorts, and enjoyed being prayed for by others. He even confesses that he continues to pray today, despite the unlikelihood that anyone is listening.

And then there are the friendships. Over a year after leaving Liberty, he returned to tell his friends the truth about his semester undercover, that he was not an evangelical Christian and that he’d come to Liberty with the intention of writing his book. He wasn’t sure what to expect by way of their reaction, but he had no reason to worry. They had no problem forgiving him. He was even surprised at how quickly and easily they did so, and he remains friends with many of them today. Despite all of their glaring differences, they have much more in common. The “God-divide” is not nearly as large as people on both sides sometimes make it out to be.

The Unlikely Disciple is a fascinating read, the best book I’ve read in several years, and I highly recommend it.

-gf