Book Review: Godless by Pete Hautman

Jason is tired of the Catholic religion, which is always forced upon him by his parents and his teen church group. One day, when getting beat up by a guy much smaller than he is by the water tower, he has a religious moment of realization. The water tower provides life to the town, so therefore, the water tower is God. Jason, along with his gastropod-collecting best friend, found the religion of Chutengodianism. Originally founded as a joke, the Church of the Ten-Legged One (the water tower) grows in size and the teens become more serious about their faith. They start to do stupid, dangerous things in the name of their religion…

This book was basically a satire of the Catholic church and how it’s more of an institution than a community of people with similar beliefs. It also raises questions about the nature of religion and atheism.

Jason’s Chutengodianism religion started as a joke, but Jason’s best friend starts to actually believe in the religion—he even writes an entire Bible, but he almost gets himself killed. The other two followers just join the church because they are bored and they just want the benefits. Also, they do stupid things in the name of Chutengodianism, and one of those two people almost gets killed.

Jason uses Chutengodianism to figure out his own feelings about God. In the end, he decides he’s an atheist. It was hard for him to admit that to his parents because they are both religious fanatics. As a punishment for founding Chutengodianism, his father had him stay at home and read about the Catholic religion all day and then write book reports on the books he read. In the end, the books didn’t convert Jason, and his father had to realize that Jason has to make his own decisions about religion. I can empathize with Jason. When I admitted to my parents that I was an atheist, they seemed to trivialize my decision. They didn’t make me read books about Christianity, but they would try to embarrass me at family functions and gatherings by announcing that I’m an atheist when it’s nobody’s business. They will say the occasional snide remark, but they let me believe what I want to believe.

When Jason founds Chutengodianism, he sees how a religion develops (supposedly). Someone claims that they have heard God or have had a divine experience, and then it escalates from there. The core message of the church is twisted and people use the religion as an excuse to do stupid or harmful things. Jason sees this corruption and decides that he doesn’t want to be a part of it. It’s deeper than that though, Jason genuinely doesn’t feel the presence of God. That’s the reason I became an atheist—I just don’t feel God in me, and I feel kind of silly trying to talk to God because I know he’s not there (for me, but I can’t speak for other people). Even if I had a relationship with God though, I don’t think I would belong to a church, because I don’t think a church is necessary to believe in God—the world is your church. Jason seemed to believe that a church is necessary to believe in God though, and that’s one message of the book I didn’t agree with.

Overall, I loved Godless. I thought it was hilarious! I recommend this to teens that are exploring atheism, but I don’t recommend that this be taught in schools. It could offend some religious teens and parents. I give this book four out of five stars because of its originality, humor, and style.

Families, Teens, and Religion

A lot of Young Adult literature that involves religion usually revolves around the teen figuring out what their religious beliefs are and their family’s role in that decision. The last book I read, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, put a lot of emphasis on family dynamics and how strong an influence parents and grandparents have on a child’s religious beliefs. Margaret felt very distressed about whether to become an atheist like her parents, Jewish like her grandmother, or Christian like her other grandparents. She felt like she had to choose one of them because she felt that if she didn’t choose, she was in some way, betraying her family if she didn’t choose (although her parents made it clear that it was completely her choice when it comes to religion).

In a recent survey, it was found out that about 82% of teens identify as Protestant, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Mormon, or Jewish. Most of these teens are following in their parents’ footsteps. Does following their parents’ footsteps make them have a closer relationship with God, or their parents though? It seems to be the latter as the majority of teens today have a very superficial idea of their religion. Knowledge of their religion is shallow, and it’s hard for them to express the difference their belief in God makes in their lives. To many teens, God exists simply to solve their problems and to make people happy. Divine truth, exploration of the self, and a deep connection with God is not the purpose of religion to them.

More information about this study can be found in the book “Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers,” and this link: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7019023/ns/us_news/t/study-most-us-teens-serious-about-religion/#.Ux_m616KWrc

It can be assumed from these survey results that teens mostly believe in God because, “Mom and Dad told me to.” Ever since they have been old enough to go to church, they have been told what to believe—they didn’t make a meaningful decision for themselves.

Does this mean that parents should not raise their child in a church environment until they can decide what they want for themselves? I cannot say, but I can say that there are a lot of positives to raising a child in a church environment. Religious teens tend to have better emotional health, academic success, community involvement, concern for others, trust of adults, and avoidance of risky behavior. Is there a way to retain that benefit and still allow teens to make decisions about their religious beliefs?

One suggestion is to be open-minded about discussing religious beliefs. Let the teen form his/her own religious beliefs over time. If the teen doesn’t want to go to church because he/she doesn’t agree with church teachings, open it up for discussion.

The NBC article below says there is research that suggests that family bonding is more important than religious beliefs. The teen should feel comfortable discussing religious beliefs with their family. If we came away with anything from Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. it should be that family relationships are more important than the religion your child chooses to believe in.

For more advice, check out this link: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7349996/ns/health-childrens_health/t/when-parents-teens-clash-over-religion/#.Ux_hEV6KWr.