Losing My Religion by William Lobdell.✔✔✔✔

This was the first complete book I read on Kindle!
William Lobdell wrote this memoir of becoming an evangelical, then a Roman Catholic, then a somewhat reluctant athiest. He was the religion journalist for the L.A. Times and was preparing to enter the RC church when he began reporting on RC clergy sexual abuse claims. He was disheartened both for the way the hierachy of the church covered for abusive priests and vilified their victims, and by how congregations rallied to the side of those priests rather than to the victims. The result was he gradually, yet completely lost his faith and never did join the church.

In his column he also reported on "prosperous ministries"- the TV evangelists who charm money out of their viewers' pockets - Benny Hinn in particular.

He describes in some detail his life after losing his religion, and many of his thoughts mirror my own - reluctance to describe his fall from faith, feeling more peace and security than he ever did as a Christian, and he has better relationships with people as a result.

When he published the column in which he described his new thinking, he received countless e-mails, mostly of support, but many, as you could expect, lamenting his loss of faith and offering to lead him back to God. " The tone of response caught me off guard, but it was what Jesus would have expected of his followers: plenty of love, understanding and gentleness. The outpouring of concern didn't rekindle my belief in Christianity, but it strengthened my faith in humanity."

This was a quick, but engrossing read, informative and honest. I highly recommend it.