This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Lance Aksamit was born into a world dominated by two authoritarian regimes - one political and the other ontological. General Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno was the Panamanian autocrat, and Jesus the benevolent dictator. These two regimes found themselves at odds in the backwater jungles of the Darien when Noriega accused Lance’s blind father of being a spy. The son of an ordained minister and missionary, Lance’s life was intended to have a straight and narrow trajectory and for a while it did. He grew up fully immersed in the Evangelical church, not some fringe element or offshoot, but mainstream nondenominational “born again” Evangelicalism. As a teen, he picketed abortion clinics, accosted strangers in the name of Jesus, and debated his teachers on the falsehoods of evolution, global warming, and Catholicism. He rarely failed to perform such Christly duties as warning fellow students about the dangerous lies humanists and atheists were busy propagating in the classrooms. Lance was an annoying zealot.
The unthinking convictions Lance adopted at a young age would later propel him into close proximity with the Alt-right. They hawked secret and suppressed knowledge that smelled of home. Ultimately, his flirtation with right-wing conspiracy theorists fizzled out. However, his short-lived immersion in the burgeoning Alt-right did provide a unique perspective from which to critique. Lance found his way from Christian fundamentalism to atheism and from right-wing conservatism to Marxist humanism over the course of 8 years while he traveled the globe.
Lance is currently a history teacher.
Reviewed by Joe Wisinski for Readers' Favorite
Youth Group by Lance Aksamit is the author’s personal story about living in evangelical Christianity intertwined with the current wave of Christian nationalism, a powerful political force in the United States. Aksamit is the son of Christian parents who worked as missionaries. He was taught not only about the Bible and evangelicalism but about the unique culture that’s found in strict Christianity. So he participated in such activities as several-times-a-week church attendance and evangelizing others. He was also taught to participate in many activities that are not part of the lives of most children and teenagers, such as purity culture and the burning of CDs that are not thought to be appropriate for Christians. Aksamit eventually left Christianity and wrote from the standpoint of a former Christian. The book provides insight into the history of Christianity in the United States, including how it interacts with government, especially in the current time. Each chapter of the book begins with an anecdote from another person who has also left evangelical Christianity.
Youth Group by Lance Aksamit is fascinating from beginning to end. The author writes honestly, not hiding his feelings about evangelical Christianity, both when he was a part of it and after he left. I liked that Aksamit wrote to evangelical Christians, former Christians, and those unfamiliar with evangelicalism. It’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, for non-evangelicals to understand the hold that the movement has on its adherents, so Aksamit’s book serves a valuable purpose in explaining the dominance of Christianity on the lives of those who are true believers. The explanation of Christian nationalism and its effect on politics and culture is another important aspect. The intertwining of the history of evangelicalism with Christian nationalism serves as a warning for the country. Youth Group should be required reading for evangelical Christians so they can see their religion from the standpoint of a former practitioner. The book is also valuable for those who, like Aksamit, have left the church because they’ll find their feelings validated. I highly recommend this excellent book.
