I’m almost finished reading The Poisonwood Bible. That book has freaked me out entirely. One of the reasons is that I grew up in a similar fundamentalist environment. It was creepy reading about it, and I didn’t understand why all the characters weren’t stark raving mad at the end, like I sometimes feel. I’m very lucky that my family didn’t stay stuck in fundamentalism; it’s a horrible thing–the biggest lie of them all perhaps.
This book echoed so many of my own thoughts–respecting the spiritual beliefs of others, dogmatism being a huge turn-off, the rejection of any idea of a loving god consigning souls to hell because they were born in the wrong place. I felt some of the frustration that I felt as a child while turning these pages.
As a child, you know some things are just wrong. I know I did. They try to beat it out of you, brainwash you into believing something else, something that is a lie. The brainwashing doesn’t work. You’re left with your convictions, but with just enough uncertainty to make you a little mad. Both kinds.
Aughhhh.
