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I Sold My Soul on eBay: Viewing Faith through an Atheist's Eyes
vBulletin Book Store > vBulletin books beginning with I
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I Sold My Soul on eBay: Viewing Faith through an Atheist's Eyes |
Author: Hemant Mehta
Published: 2007-04-17 |
List price: $13.99
Our price: $11.19
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As of: October 14th, 2008 01:35:42 AM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Very eye-opening.
The title of this book immediately caught my attention. I read the back and it definitely sounded interested. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But I was pleasantly surprised. The author is not bitter or hostile at all. It quickly becomes clear that his intention is not to bash Christianity or to call believers stupid and ignorant. He says that his main intention is to help. And I believe him.
Of course, I don't agree with all of his conclusions, but this book has helped open my eyes about what atheists are like. I especially like the author's idea about inviting an atheist to have a conversation with your pastor. I think this is a great idea. One in fact that I think my pastor would really go for. He already has an outreach and dialogue with atheists.
But I don't believe the author's claim that seeing a miracle would convert him to Christianity. It sounds good, but I simply don't think that would be the case. After all, the Bible is full of stories about people who witnessed miracles firsthand (including the resurrected Christ) and remained unbelievers.
Anyway, I highly recommend this book.
 Not in that Choir.
I bought this book because it was recommended to me by Amazon while perusing other atheist literature. I'm glad I read it but make no mistake, this book is NOT for atheists. If you enjoyed any of Sam Harris' books, you will probably not enjoy this book.
America is polarized on all fronts these days and I'm glad that Hemant Mehta has helped correct this. However, I would have liked a more in-depth examination of the church experience It would have been nice if Mehta had asked "Let me get this straight, you guys actually believe that...?" This seems to be the purpose of the study guide in the appendix (which is great, but not apparently written by Mehta). Unfortunately, to use the guide with other people, I'd have to be a member of a church, which brings me back to the conclusion that this book really wasn't written for me.
However, if you are a Christian who feels the need to save the souls of those who don't even believe they have souls, I would encourage you to buy a copy for you and everyone who shares your mission. There is nothing wrong with improving your customers' experience.
 Christians: Preaching to the Choir
I have had the pleasure of meeting Hemant a few times now and on each occasion I was impressed with his amazing ability to express what most atheists feel in a way that anyone could understand. Hemant is incredibly articulate and he can express that articulation and ability to speak to the masses in his book. Hemant decided to hear the Christian message in churches and put it up for bid on eBay. The winning pastor asked him to visit multiple churches and write a critique about what he liked, did not like, and what can the churches do to attract non-Christians. Hemant offers an incredibly insightful critique of each church he visited, from a small rural church all the way to a 40,000 member mega-church. Hemant's main point is that if Christians want to market toward non-Christians they need to change their message and image and appeal to non-Christians. Treating non-Christians as "the enemy" is not going to draw non-Christians to church. Hemant's critique is honest, including listing things that he did like about the different churches. I Sold My Soul on eBay is a must read for pastors, preachers, priests, and ministers everywhere, especially ones motivated to appeal to non-Christians. The book is equally a must read for atheists to better understand the church environment and grasp the concept that most atheists already understand: Christians churches seem to advertise and market themselves to existing Christians, often as nothing more than attempt to draw worshipers away from other churches to theirs.
A Helpful Letter to Christians from an Atheist.
As Mehta says in his book, he is a member of Christianity's core target demographic: He is a non-believer with an open mind. He's part of a growing group that could potentially be converted to Christianity if approached with their needs and mindset. He even has a chapter dedicated to what it would take to convert him.
And yet he doesn't convert (and it's not because he didn't try). This book records his efforts to experience what millions of Christians experience each week: church. This is a gift to protestant churches who are trying to bring new people in the doors. He tells you what works and what doesn't. He is an atheist, and he wants to hold a realistic mirror up to Christianity.
At no point does he bash, ridicule, or mock the beliefs of those who he writes about. He is respectful, but still maintains the ability to ask tough questions. And if you are a Christian who can endure some tough questions regarding your faith from non-believers who might join your church, you would do well to prepare yourself with this book.
Good news is...Much better than expected
Although the "eBay" part of the title got me to pick up the book, I'm afraid I was expecting a boring account of religious visits...another tedious set of dialogues. To my surprise, the book reads like a novel. Mehta can write! If he'd gotten a decent copywriter to create the jacket copy, he'd have an even bigger audience.
Mehta begins by inviting us into his world. Born a Jain, he soon decided he couldn't count on God for help. He became an atheist. When he realized how much discrimination atheists experience, he became involved in founding college groups for atheists. For some reason, never clearly explained, he decided to embark on a mission to visit Christian churches. And for even murkier reasons, he sought a sponsor via the ebay auction.
Chapter 2, "How I Became a Churchgoing Atheist," offers a brief course in viral marketing. Mehta not only posted the auction, but also promoted himself via press releases and blog notices. Nice going! As the buzz spread, he got publicity that many Internet marketers would kill for, with front page spreads on major big city newspapers.
Both the strength and weakness of the book come from Mehta's non-scholarly, non-journalistic approach. He's just an ordinary person expanding his curiosity and writing articles about his experiences. On the plus side, we avoid the self-conscious analysis of a reporter and the abstraction of a scholar. But we also get some rather naive questions.
For instance, Mehta notices that Catholic churchgoers know the rituals so well they anticipate what's coming next. Do they really think about what they are doing? he wonders. And he's puzzled when a minister invites committed Christians to raise their hands if they believe in the Lord (p 86).
But ritual (in or out of religion) has a psychological impact and the hand-raising seems to be more about affirmation of membership than about answering a question -- sort of like cheering your favorite team at a sports match.
I also enjoyed Mehtas discussion of atheists as pretty cool people, although I was amused when he wonders why there are so few atheist groups on campus and elsewhere. As he says, for atheists, religion is a non-issue (except when responding to religion in the social environment). So why would they get together to discuss it?
Mostly, I enjoyed the book and I applaud Mehta's contribution to the growing number of popular books on atheism. His style will go down easier than Hitchens or Dawkins. He doesn't take himself too seriously and he's willing to go along with the "sell your soul" humor although of course he doesn't believe he has a soul to sell.
Ironically, this book was published by a Christian house to stimulate dialogue. Yet I can't help wondering how many hard-core atheists will prefer not to get into dialogue in the first place. It would seem like arguing about whether the sun rises in the East in the northern hemisphere.
Mehta's conclusion is powerful but understated. He didn't find God, he says, but he did discover the power of churches. He gets into a little PC when he says he hopes churches use their power for good causes. Here's where some training in sociology, psychology and history would add a helpful touch of realism.
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