Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America—and Found Unexpected Peace by William Lobdell

Nov 01, 2009 Books Ring Mah Bell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion-or-not

Another lost my religion, found my religion, lost my religion book. For some reason, I'm unable to look away, there's a magnetic pull to these books. I have no idea why. Really, does it matter why someone believes "x" and some other guy believes "y"? Maybe it's my secret desire for faith. Maybe it's me hoping to find faith so that life is easier... Maybe I just want to understand how people can have faith when there is some horrible shit going on in the world. I'd love an ounce of that faith to...more

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Mar 04, 2013 Trish rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, religion

This wasn't as meaty philosophically as I would have liked. The author didn't just turn his back on organized religion, he quit god. Jeez, for that, I would have expected a little more. Yes, organized religions can be barbarous, and, as practiced in many churches of every sect, hideously pretentious and even laughably ridiculous.

What kept me reading was not the author's struggle (ho hum), but his recounting once again the horrific revelations about the leadership of the Catholic church as they...more This wasn't as meaty philosophically as I would have liked. The author didn't just turn his back on organized religion, he quit god. Jeez, for that, I would have expected a little more. Yes, organized religions can be barbarous, and, as practiced in many churches of every sect, hideously pretentious and even laughably ridiculous.

What kept me reading was not the author's struggle (ho hum), but his recounting once again the horrific revelations about the leadership of the Catholic church as they strove to hide from their parishioners the abuse their priests wreacked on innocent children. Raised Catholic, I know whereof I speak when it comes to authoritarianism, god rest their merry little souls.

I was interested to read in the last pages that hell isn't mentioned anywhere anymore--churches believe their clientele find it off-putting. Yes, I would think so. Let's hope there is still a little corner somewhere for these men of god to rest their weary little fannies.

The author tells us that he decided to write this book when news articles on his de-conversion initiated a huge response from his paper's readers. That's exactly what Marley and Me author John Grogan said about his decision to write his bestseller. All I can say is that religion is something most of us can talk about from experience, so it does tend to draw an audience.

Have to edit this to add a great article found 3/30/10.
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Years later now, and Cardinal Keith O'Brien, UK Catholic leader, admits to sexual misconduct. A spokesperson at the Vatican was on television saying that "he's sorry. He won't do it again." Somehow this made me think suddenly of the confessions this man must have heard over the years. No matter what Catholics got up to in their private life, i.e., "I slept with my brother's wife," to "I hit my little brother because I hated him for breaking my doll," we were forgiven by just asking. Perhaps he thought after all the forgiving he's done for us, it is time to forgive him. He's only a man, after all. The only thing is that he has not claimed to be "just a man" all these years but something special: God's ordained minister. Anyway, time to declare if ever there was that emperor has no clothes. I'd forgive him, but not the crime, if there was one. For that, he'd have to pay, just like everyone else.

Not speaking of this man in particular, but of the abuses in general, I don't think the sanctity of the confessional speaks to criminal activity. Somehow we are back in that sticky wicket: can/should confessional revelations be used as evidence in a court of law?

Anyway, just thought I would put these thoughts here since I don't have anywhere else to put it.(less)

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Mar 29, 2009 Walter rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a slow-starting but ulitmately riveting spiritual memoir. There are two primary storylines that fascinate: the subjects that the author covers as a religion writer for the Los Angeles Times and the story of the impact that this vocation has on his spirituality. It is both sad and ironic that in finding his vocation he loses his faith, in no small part due to the egregious behavior he uncovers in the supposedly devout. A warning in the spirit of full disclosure: Lobdell sensitively handle...more

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Mar 13, 2009 Lola rated it 4 of 5 stars

Interesting, unapologetic and honest look at someone finding religion and then upon closer examination coming to the realization that he no longer has his faith. It is an interesting look in to one man’s journey through religion in America. I enjoyed his description of his journey in coming to believe and his honest explanation of why he no longer believes. He honestly addresses his happiness in finding religion and then as his journey progresses his disillusionment and the reasons he no longer...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars

I first read William Lobdell’s Losing My Religion back in 2009. As I re-read Kevin Roose’s The Unlikely Disciple earlier this year, I felt compelled to re-read Losing My Religion as well.

William Lobdell spent many years as a Christian, moving from a non-denominational church to Presbyterian, and finally undergoing courses to convert to Catholicism. He was an enthusiastic Christian, praying and reading his bible frequently, attending church with his family, and working as the religion reporter fo...more I first read William Lobdell’s Losing My Religion back in 2009. As I re-read Kevin Roose’s The Unlikely Disciple earlier this year, I felt compelled to re-read Losing My Religion as well.

William Lobdell spent many years as a Christian, moving from a non-denominational church to Presbyterian, and finally undergoing courses to convert to Catholicism. He was an enthusiastic Christian, praying and reading his bible frequently, attending church with his family, and working as the religion reporter for the Los Angeles Times. While most of Lobell’s religion and faith reporting is upbeat and shows good things about faiths of all kinds, things start to change for him as he begins to see that oftentimes, the faithful don’t live morally and that in many instances, there is little difference between the morality of atheists and the faithful. As Lobdell begins to investigate the child abuse scandal within the Catholic church and the antics of numerous evangelicals associated with organizations like the Trinity Broadcasting Network, he begins to ask more and more questions and finds that the more he asks, the less his faith can answer.

I found Losing My Religion to be a very authentic read. Anyone who has ever dared to question their faith knows there are only two possible outcomes: questioning leads to deeper faith, or turns you away from it altogether. And when you’ve depended on faith for many years, when you’re surrounded by people who are faithful, if you turn away from it, you find it is a very lonely journey. People rejoice when someone is “saved” but few are as happy for you when you walk away from that salvation. Lobdell doesn’t get self-righteous about his weakening faith. In fact, he seeks answers that could keep him in his faith. But ultimately, he has to go with what his head and his heart tell him.

Unlike Richard Dawkins, who can be patronizing to non-believers, Lobdell is respectful of people who maintain their faith. He doesn’t attack anyone for believing, he simply articulates his own thoughts and feelings. He brings up many of the same questions that many doubters raise- the questions that either have no answer at all, or answers that are at best unsatisfying.

Anyone who has gone on their own questioning journey, and who has come out the other side feeling more contented and at peace than when they started will appreciate this read.
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Nov 24, 2012 Mikey B. rated it 4 of 5 stars

There are really two parallel stories in this book. The writer is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and he takes some of his coverage on corruption in religion to make one of the stories in his book. They range from the aggrandizement of televangelists to the nefarious pedophiles in the Roman Catholic Church. The author also writes on the isolationism from mainstream society of the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons).

He intertwines these articles with his own faith that eventually self...more

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Oct 18, 2012 Debbie Mcnulty rated it 4 of 5 stars

I just finished “Losing My Religion” by William Lobdell. This is one of those books that you hate to put down and think about whenever you are not reading it. It started out a little slow but I stayed with it and I am so glad I did. I found Mr. Lobdell’s story was much like mine. He starts out in a mega church and goes through many transformations eventually ending up in the catholic church. Slowly over time the questions become greater than the answers. He starts to feel his belief drift away f...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Shana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Much as I try, I have a very difficult time wrapping my mind about faith. I understand that it is significant and meaningful to many, yet I have never experienced it. In an attempt to learn more about the nature of religion and faith, I read Losing My Religion.

Lobdell starts out as a young man heading down a not-so-great path, but finds comfort as a born again Christian. As he becomes an evangelical Christian, he also pursues journalistic writing on topics of religion. Then, he and his wife star...more

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Feb 03, 2012 Nancy Kennedy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a compelling story of how a respected religion reporter, William Lobdell, a committed evangelical Christian and almost-Catholic, came to lose his faith and today lives as a "reluctant atheist."

The author has achieved an amazing feat. While he no longer has any belief in God, he is able to chronicle his life of faith, and his experiences as a Christian, as though he still believed. That is, he doesn't look back with a cynical eye and belittle his blossoming and maturing faith. This fealty...more This is a compelling story of how a respected religion reporter, William Lobdell, a committed evangelical Christian and almost-Catholic, came to lose his faith and today lives as a "reluctant atheist."

The author has achieved an amazing feat. While he no longer has any belief in God, he is able to chronicle his life of faith, and his experiences as a Christian, as though he still believed. That is, he doesn't look back with a cynical eye and belittle his blossoming and maturing faith. This fealty to his former self allows the reader to fully experience his immersion in faith and the transforming effect it had on his life.

At the same time, he is also able to write vulnerably, and without rancor, about why ultimately he believes he was duped by religion, and why faith no longer makes sense to him. Even as he explains the implosion of his faith, he mourns the loss of it in his life. His is a finely nuanced story that both believers and nonbelievers can appreciate.

It's hard to argue when he says, "What the Bible promises -- peace and serenity -- I've found in larger measures as a nonbeliever." Peace and serenity is what we all long for. Many of us find it difficult to achieve, so we ping pong from one new thing to the next.

I also sympathize with his reasoning that if God existed, His presence would be more apparent in people who call themselves Christians and in churches and faith organizations that lay claim to belief. The failings of individuals and organizations are widespread and, as he discovered while covering the Catholic sex scandals, sometimes depraved beyond belief.

For an entirely different take on falling out of faith, read Mark Curtis Anderson's Jesus Sound Explosion. It's the story of an evangelical Christian's reversal of faith eyed through the lens of the author's love affair with rock music. Sue Monk Kidd's The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine (Plus) is another classic of this genre. I might agree to my own Faustian bargain if it meant I could write like this! (less)

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Jan 15, 2012 Marissa Morrison rated it 5 of 5 stars

Lobdell is a terrific writer, or else I never would have finished this sort of obvious memoir. Disgusted by his personal failings, the author turned to Christianity and credited his faith with turning his life around. When he took over the religion beat for the Los Angeles Times, Lobdell found himself exposed to a lot of good and bad acts by Christians but ultimately found that the bad outweighed the good. His nuanced chapter on Mormonism (wacky beliefs yet good people--at least until one of the...more

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May 04, 2010 Rick Harrington rated it 5 of 5 stars

OK, so I find this really funny: Just yesterday, I was visiting my extremely well-read friend who is just exactly 20 years older than me, and facing not just his mortality, but the fact that he can no longer master things. A cellphone, for instance. Or walking to the library to return a book which friends had so helpfully transported him to borrow. There was some sense of resentment that the return trip, whether by him walking or by the helpmates returning, was never anticipated. Getting old can...more OK, so I find this really funny: Just yesterday, I was visiting my extremely well-read friend who is just exactly 20 years older than me, and facing not just his mortality, but the fact that he can no longer master things. A cellphone, for instance. Or walking to the library to return a book which friends had so helpfully transported him to borrow. There was some sense of resentment that the return trip, whether by him walking or by the helpmates returning, was never anticipated. Getting old can really make a person cranky, don't I know.

Well, of course, I offered to return the book along my way, since I would be walking right by the library. But, well, you know, I glanced at the book, and decided I might like to read it. Despite the lines of people no doubt more justified in their desire than I am in mine, queued up in orderly fashion as the computer can now arrange.

I wasted no time, and am only now an hour and a half beyond the library's opening, so I don't feel too bad. Nor, for that matter do I regard it as a terrible sin that my friend had once pilfered some hundreds of dollars in library fines proffered him in a part-time job he once held as a college student, when he realized that there was quite literally no accounting for the fines. I guess it weighed enough on him to tell me. I guess my own sin of stealing a read from this book weighs on me that much. So I'm confessing it publicly, dear reader, to you. Yes, I secretly read books about religion. Off the record. Privately.

Anyhow, I was just dying to see how this story would unfold. I was glad to find the author not overly intellectual. He is honest in his telling, and skilled as the celebrated journalist he actually is. I could easily get away with this without any worry about any accounting. Ordinarily a somewhat painfully slow reader, I do find that I can be extraordinarily quick if the read is of merely professional interest. I guess that's the case with this one.

I mean, I've differed from Richard Dawkin's take on religion, suggesting that he throws the baby out with the bathwater, to make an utterly atrocious pun on Jesus. This one disappoints me for mildly different reasons. And those, if you are a careful reader, have already been embodied in what I've written to this point here and now. It seems that baby Jesus has now been placed in some sort of limbo. And it's hard for me to get past the pure coincidence of the book landing in my hands.

Well, it would be if there were any program to my reading at all.

The book ends with a kind of celebration of Howard Stern. I must say that just as the movie "8 Mile" did for me on behalf of the rapper M&M, I may have to take another listen to Howard Stern. I'd rather thought him to be a celebrant of gross and crude, which of course, he is, and, you know, I'm in favor of better taste than that. But there seems to be something about honesty and openness that I'm missing.

Well, until you see what's generally hidden by attempts to distinguish, by rules of civility, the ranks of us radically equal humans, I guess you don't really know what gross is. Which it is the burden of this book to expose. Not just the evil of the Church or churches of whatever denomination, but the evil more generally of the fictions we pose for ourselves. The fictional postures we make of ourselves. The fictional narrative we try to fit ourselves to. Etc.

But, you know, ultimately if playing out a role in public makes me somehow less than good, I'd like to see the gutsy person I'm meant to be. Or rather, yuch, no I wouldn't! A bit of taste is a good thing. I've never cared very much for Howard Stern, but then again I never really considered him very different from lots of priests I've known. They just cloak it better. Sorry.

So yeah, no personal God for certain. But not quite random either. Now, I've gotta go see a Man about a Book. It's the decent thing to do. Plus, I wouldn't want to be accountable for my friend's fines. Oh. I meant I've gotta go see an institution about a book, silly. There's just no accounting for Capitals in English.

Confused? Me too. But I can say this about religion. Get lost! You're in the way of my life, which has always been partly truth and partly fiction. I think the author agrees with me. Maybe.(less)

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Aug 23, 2009 Caroline rated it 5 of 5 stars

Though it's called "Losing My Religion," it starts with the story of how the author found his religion. What struck me about this book is how human it is in every word. It's not a polemic against religion. The author writes with love and empathy towards his past born-again Christian self as well as towards his current agnostic self -- and towards the people he met in his career reporting on religion. (Well, most of them. He had no use for the televangelists.)

I recommend it for anyone in any rela...more

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Jun 24, 2009 Sally rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion, religion-christianity

A personal journey from from born-again Christian to doubt to loss of faith. The author doesn't try to convince the reader to think one way or another, but simply recounts his own experiences. As a journalist covering religion, he tells of the impact of investigating the Catholic pedophile scandals as well as religious frauds and deceptions; and of exposure to people of many religious persuasions. He brings forward the satisfactions and benefits of belonging to a faith and believing in a persona...more

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May 04, 2009 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

I tend to shy away from books about religion, or even atheism (or even, for that matter, nonfiction). I'm not religious and I don't need to have my atheism reinforced and yet I was attracted to this by a NYTBR that made the point that it wasn't pedantic. And it wasn't. The author is a journalist and an excellent writer and he writes about his journey to religion and back with great empathy. There were maybe 3 paragraphs I couldn't read (a long letter from a religious leader trying to woo him bac...more

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Apr 07, 2009 Rushabh rated it 4 of 5 stars

An excellent book by a journalist about his journey embracing Christ, investigating the Catholic Church and eventual parting of ways with religion in general.

It really is a book in 3 distinct Acts:
Act 1 - From arreligious to an evangelical to (almost) a Catholic:
Its unclear whether Lobdell was an atheist to begin with (I think not), but he clearly was not a practicing Christian. A rough patch in his life led him to turn to God and seek support and solace in the Church. He has nothing but good wo...more An excellent book by a journalist about his journey embracing Christ, investigating the Catholic Church and eventual parting of ways with religion in general.

It really is a book in 3 distinct Acts:
Act 1 - From arreligious to an evangelical to (almost) a Catholic:
Its unclear whether Lobdell was an atheist to begin with (I think not), but he clearly was not a practicing Christian. A rough patch in his life led him to turn to God and seek support and solace in the Church. He has nothing but good words for the church that he joined and the people he met. All of them come across as very rational, yet very devout. They support him and help him get on the road to becoming a devout Christian.

Act 2 - Investigating the Catholic Church:
Lobdell was the religion reporter for the LA Times when the Catholic child molestation scandal broke. He investigated various such allegations and returned disgusted as what he saw as a fundamental breach of trust - the priests were supposed to be spiritual shepherds for their congregation and they abused this trust to permanently mess up the very children that they were trying to teach. What made him even angrier was systemic failures in the Catholic Church to expose known child molesters; instead the Church treated it as an internal matter, merely dismissing priests or even worse, moving them to other parishes where the pattern of abuse continued. The Church used its might, money and lawyers to squelch any complaints or protests whatsoever from the children that had been thus abused.

Act 3 - Embracing Atheism:
Investigating the church really seemed to cast a shadow upon Lobdell's faith. This led him to dig deeper and investigate the underbelly of the Christian faith - televangelists, preachers who claim to faith heal, the Trinity Broadcasting Network (largest Christian TV station in the world) and look at the economics of what was going on. Again, what seemed to make him really angry was not the millions that the preachers (or their churches) were making but the straightforward duping of the congregations and complete abuse of their trust. He notes stories of quadriplegics and terminal cancer patients given false hopes that they would walk out of church, healed (they weren't). What's even more heartbreaking is that people would put their faith in God and the faith healers and stop taking drugs thereby making things worse (and in some cases dying).
Lobdell talks about how it was hard for him to let go. He had a difficult time dealing with death - what happens after and if he was going to hell for abandoning God. He talked to friends and preachers about his loss of faith and certain qustions about God that had been bothering him - and didn't get any answers that he considered good enough. Its unclear if this was so because he had already made up his mind and was talking to these preachers almost as "due diligence" or out of a genuine need to resolve things.

On a personal note, the third act of the book really resonated with me. I went through something similar when I left the Jain fold around 2000. Its hard to deal with the fact that there is this life and then that's that - ashes to ashes, dust to dust. But if you come to terms with that, it makes life really nice. The worst that can happen to you is death. Every moment past is never coming back, so enjoy it to the fullest. Doing something you don't like to do is a monumental waste of time. Its also "simple". I don't have internal conflicts about being an engineer doing science by day and talking in an unknown language to beings whose existence is unprovable at night. I don't have to come to terms with reconciling faith and evolution or having to deal with things that I cannot measure (or view someone's measurement of the same).

All in all, a great book. Highly recommended.(less)

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Jun 29, 2011 Danielle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, early-review, wow-that-is-a-bargain, memoir, facing-the-past, moving-on, non-fiction, religion, supernatural

Before I started this book, I expected it to be very biased and heated, because almost all persona accounts of religion seem to be. What I found instead was a logical and restrained story of Lobdell's spritiual journey and that was endlessly refreshing. I won't say that he is entirely neutral, because that would be impossible when recounting your own faith, but Lobdell told his story in a way that you could apprectiate even if you didnt agree with him all of the time.
Yes, there were times when I...more

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Jul 01, 2009 Dave rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction-read

I heard the author speak about his experiences promoting this memoir on NPR. His story piqued my interest having had a crisis of faith and paradigm shift in my own life.

His story was resonant with my experience, I was moved by his faith in God and his faith in, and admiration for, the community (or communities, since sects can be divisive sometimes)of believers. People respond to problems with theology, institutional and individual failings and foibles in a variety of ways. It seems to me that...more

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Bob I read some comments of his in the paper when the book first came out. My take on his story was much like what I get from Bart Ehrman. What he saw in...more
Jul 01, 2009 05:15am

Dave I think Lobdell's transition was more complex than the black and white thinking you inferred. I got the distinct impression that it wasn't a matter of...more
Jul 01, 2009 05:49am

Bob Well, they always say the biggest obstacle to Christianity is Christians. My roommate in college was a devout Christian and the most judgmental person...more
Jul 01, 2009 05:51pm

Aug 04, 2009 Peter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This was a really great read. I really identified with a lot of what Lobdell went through. It's interesting after, having had something mean so much to you, how easily you can really do without it. It is also quite telling how many pastors even endorse the book, since he treats religious people in general as really good people trying to be better--it lacks the nastiness of books by people like Hitchens--which is a much more constructive way to communicate about God and religion.

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Jun 23, 2009 Stewart rated it 4 of 5 stars

Travel books have attracted me during my life, the literal travel books featuring new places and people, history books taking me to unfamiliar eras of the past, and science fiction books that lift me to new worlds in the future. I also like the type of travel book that shows me a person's journey of changing beliefs, whether religious, political, or social. In my experience, most people inherit the religious and political beliefs of their parents and childhood environment and stray little from...more Travel books have attracted me during my life, the literal travel books featuring new places and people, history books taking me to unfamiliar eras of the past, and science fiction books that lift me to new worlds in the future. I also like the type of travel book that shows me a person's journey of changing beliefs, whether religious, political, or social. In my experience, most people inherit the religious and political beliefs of their parents and childhood environment and stray little from these beliefs in adulthood.
What especially interests me is the person who makes big changes in his or her beliefs. William Lobdell is one of those persons, who grew up an Episcopalian, stopped going to church at age 17, became an evangelical Christian in his late 20s after several personal crises, then decided to study to become a Catholic. Lobdell's job as religion writer for the Los Angeles Times brought him in close contact with the sexual abuse scandal of U.S. Catholic priests. That scandal was a catalyst to his losing his faith not only in the Catholic church but in organized religion and God as well.
The book is well written, easy to read (I read it in a day), and thoughtful. The problem of suffering of innocent people, the contradictions in the Bible, and the philosophical incoherence of so many of the major world religions is commented on. After Lobdell threw off his religious beliefs, he wrote, "Frustrating, endless confusion about how the world worked disappeared. My life makes better sense now, without a personal God in the equation."
Christians, particularly fundamentalists who believe every word of the Bible is literally true, always have to make truly amazing mental contortions or become "cafeteria Christians" to square their beliefs with reason and reality. They remind me of Claudius Ptolemy and later apologists for the belief that the sun revolved around the Earth -- including the Catholic and Protestant churches until the 19th century. Epicycles and other amazing complications were added and added to rationalize the old system. However, simply changing one's belief to that of the Earth revolving around the sun explained our reality so easily and simply.
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Jun 22, 2009 Beckie rated it 4 of 5 stars

When William Lobdell began covering religion for the LA Times, he thought he had been called to that position by God. A recent convert to Christianity, Lobdell dove into inspirational stories of how faith affects people's lives. At the same time, in his personal life, he moved from an Evangelical church to a mainline one and nearly converted to Catholicism.
Then he saw the dark side of religion: the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, and the inner workings of Trinity Broadcasting Network...more

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Jun 02, 2009 Christa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 08, 2013 Heather Edwards rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found myself in many of the author's experiences. I too, experienced the euphoria of being born again, and threw myself into everything that my personal relationship with Jesus offered. I recognized the weight and burden of feeling doubts, and especially the exaggerated intensity of maintaining a faith that is slipping away in spite of everything. And I identify with the sense of peace that comes with being truly honest about my own reality. This book is wonderful, not because it's trying to c...more

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Nov 11, 2010 Suna marked it as to-read

Shelves: religion-under-fire

At Last I Found This Damn Book!!!!!

Oh synchronicity, I love thee: Just the other day I was having my umpteenth rant at my loved ones about hearing an interview on NPR when I was in America about four years ago: It was an interview with a journalist who had completely lost his faith reporting on it for his newspaper, becoming disillusioned with the corruption and inner toxicity of the church.
It was mentioned that he'd written a book about his road from Born Again to born against.
(A great bumper s...more

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Jul 31, 2009 Mr. Brammer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lobdell's experience of losing his faith is something that many in the non-believer community can understand. He didn't decide to quit religion out of spite or because if his reporting on evil within the church (although this certainly was important). Instead, the faith that he felt as a young man slowly dissipated until he felt nothing. In the end, he comes to discover that religious faith is not something that can be faked, and that religious experience is so personal that the dogmas of major...more

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Aug 31, 2011 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: christianity, nonfiction

Journalist William Lobdell takes readers on a very personal journey with him. He describes becoming a born-again evangelical Christian in his 20s to later nearly accepting his wife's faith, Catholicsm, and eventually to having no faith during his years in Los Angeles reporting on religion in America, partly because of the hypocrisy he witnessed when covering the Catholic Church's landmark sexual abuse cases. He makes a good point about finding it difficult to be religious when one cannot tell th...more

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Sep 08, 2009 Rosalía rated it 5 of 5 stars

Be prepared to witness the child stepping forward to announce, "The Emperor has no clothes!" It was a VERY important book today in America and should actually replace the Giddean's (sp.??) Bible in every hotel room dresser.

As You read, you watch William become a man of devout faith. Then, as he reports during his career as a journalist on the Religion Beat, you observe his powerful deconversion. His faith goes out in a puff of smoke, like a bright flame atop a candle that goes out and leaves a t...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Dana rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this open and honest memoir, Billy, a newspaper reporter, explains how he became a born again Christian and grew in his faith and prayed that he could get a job reporting on religion. He got the job and believed it was an answer to prayer. He enjoyed learning about religion through the stories that he reported. As he grew in his faith, he moved on from the evangelical church he met with to a Presbyterian church and then began attending a Catholic church going through a one year catechism clas...more

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Nov 12, 2009 Melody rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lobdell brings rigorous journalistic practices to this memoir, and his willingness to do so adds immeasurably to the work. He starts out as a sort-of-Christian, experiences a conversion to (what I think of as Evangelical Lite) Christianity and attends a mega-church with happening music. From there he begins to explore the Catholicism of his wife's youth, ultimately deciding to convert. During this several-decade span, he is working as a journalist, eventually as a religion reporter. The last thi...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Kurt rated it 4 of 5 stars

I chose this book as part of a series I started assembling when I decided, about a year into the loss of my own faith (details in my review of Leaving the Fold), to come out on Goodreads as a new non-Christian and to listen to the experiences and wisdom of those who have traveled this road longer than I. What I love about Lobdell's book is his peace and maturity as he reflects on his journey. When he writes about his experiences becoming a Christian, he lets himself share what his perspective wa...more I chose this book as part of a series I started assembling when I decided, about a year into the loss of my own faith (details in my review of Leaving the Fold), to come out on Goodreads as a new non-Christian and to listen to the experiences and wisdom of those who have traveled this road longer than I. What I love about Lobdell's book is his peace and maturity as he reflects on his journey. When he writes about his experiences becoming a Christian, he lets himself share what his perspective was - without a hindsight judgment. If he says something like, say, "I felt God moving," he doesn't immediately qualify that with, "But it was probably just exhaustion and wish fulfillment." The reader has already figured out how the book ends from the title - Lobdell doesn't need to be ashamed of what he thought and felt at the time, and he isn't. Especially in the epilogue, Lobdell paints an incredibly compassionate picture of his life after religion:

I do miss my faith, as I'd miss any longtime love, and have a deep appreciation for how it helped me mature over 25 years... I don't know what the future holds in this new land. I don't see myself crossing the river back to Christianity... I don't see myself adopting a new religion. My disbelief in a personal God now seems cemented to my soul. Other kinds of spirituality seem equally improbable. (p. 279)

When I first left Jesus, I was nervous because I didn't want to be part of the angry Atheist crowd that is so popular in some literary circles. Lobdell presents a beautiful alternative, someone whose faith was genuine and whose loss of faith is just as genuine, but who does not make unnecessary criticisms or judgments of his former companions. Lobdell very much inspires the direction I tentatively attempt to travel now.

Structurally, this book spends some time with Lobdell as a lost young adult, abusing substances and making cruel decisions in relationships. The author then narrates his introduction to Jesus and the huge changes in his life, presented with respect and appreciation. He goes into great detail about some of the massive stories he covered as a religion reporter (the Catholic Church sexual abuse nightmares, certain aspects of Mormonism, unreliable faith healers, incidents that don't seem miraculous without a lot of mental/ethical gymnastics) that confronted him with evidence that eventually caused his doubts to overwhelm his faith. I dropped a star from my review of the book because the stories became a bit repetitive and seemed to stall the personal journey narrative with which I was trying to engage, but that is probably more a statement of my own tastes than objective merit of the book.

In a final, relatively related note, I read a used copy of this book. Some reader before me used a yellow highlighter to draw attention to certain passages, which is part of the fun of buying a used book, but I noticed that this person seemed most interested in Lobdell's harshest moments - when he points to parts of the Bible that don't make much sense, when he relates hard evidence of wrongdoing by faith healers, when he shares some of the more.. archaeologically dubious claims from the Book of Mormon. I think the reader before me is angry about religion and wanted a more forceful book. The curious part is that this reader had to work hard to find any of that in a book that is otherwise almost entirely gentle and patient, and it serves as a nice reminder to me of just how well Lobdell does at sharing his story and making his points in ways that are patient, gentle, and respectful. I recommend this book for anyone in the process of leaving his or her faith who is afraid that the only alternative is hostile atheism. Lobdell provides an alternative perspective that I love.(less)

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Jun 29, 2009 Barry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: spirituality-religious-history

The author of this book was the religion reporter for the LA Times. He converted to non-denominational christianity prior to picking up the religion beat, was episcopalian for a time, and was in the process of converting to catholicism when the priest-sex abuse scandal story broke out nationwide. The narrative describes what he went through during his personal spiritual journey as he reported on both the uplifting side and the darker side of institutional religion where protecting the institutio...more

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title link	preview: Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America—and Found Unexpected Peace
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Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America—and Found Unexpected Peace

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