I Fired God: My Life Inside---and Escape from---the Secret World of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Cult
Zichterman provides an insider’s account of growing up under the influence of America’s network of Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) churches and educational institutions. Her personal experiences and those of her siblings appear to substantiate cultlike practices that isolate and degrade women and impose unholy terror on young men. Still, much of the personal horror relates to Zichterman’s mentally unstable father, who is prone to violent rages. The gut-wrenching accounts of physical and sexual abuse in the name of God and the IFB are disturbing, yet with or without this brand of Christianity, her father might have operated as a severely disturbed person. Also, Zichterman somehow pairs off with a kindhearted husband, who she describes as representing the highest IFB ideals (they were eventually forced to leave the church). Even so, the author’s allegations that the IFB provides a soil rich for abuse and domination are believable. This is one edgy, thought-provoking odyssey—from oppressed child to ultimate whistle-blower. --Susan DeGrane