num_pages: 328
description: Beyond Belief addresses what happens when women of extreme religions decide to walk away. Editors Susan Tive (a former Orthodox Jew) and Cami Ostman (a de-converted fundamentalist born-again Christian) have compiled a collection of powerful personal stories written by women of varying ages races and religious backgrounds who share one theyve all experienced and rejected extreme religions. Covering a wide range of religious communitiesincluding Evangelical Catholic Jewish Mormon Muslim Calvinist Moonie and Jehovahs Witnessand containing contributions from authors like Julia Scheeres (Jesus Land) the stories in Beyond Belief reveal how these women became involved what their lives were like and why they came to the decision to eventually abandon their faiths. The authors shed a bright light on the rigid expectations and misogyny so often built into religious orthodoxy yet they also explain the lurewhy so many women are attracted to these lifestyles what they find thats beautiful about living a religious life and why leaving can be not only very difficult but also bittersweet.
language: English
title: Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religions
publisher: Seal Press