Published in 2013
331 pages
Cami Ostman‘s first book is Second Wind: One Woman’s Midlife Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents. She is a weekly contributor to The Spirited Woman and has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine; Adventures Northwest; and Fitness magazine.
As a writer, editor, and researcher for more than 14 years, Susan Tive has worked on on several nonfiction titles, including Faith and Feminism and Rachel’s Bag, and on a variety of academic articles exploring psychology, feminism, and religion.
They both live in Bellingham, WA.
What is this book about?
Beyond Belief addresses what happens when women of extreme religions decide to walk away. Editors Susan Tive (a former Orthodox Jew) and Cami Ostman (a de-converted fundamentalist born-again Christian) have compiled a collection of powerful personal stories written by women of varying ages, races, and religious backgrounds who share one commonality: they’ve all experienced and rejected extreme religions.
Covering a wide range of religious communities—including Evangelical, Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, Muslim, Calvinist, Moonie, and Jehovah’s Witness—and containing contributions from authors like Julia Scheeres (Jesus Land), the stories in Beyond Belief reveal how these women became involved, what their lives were like, and why they came to the decision to eventually abandon their faiths. The authors shed a bright light on the rigid expectations and misogyny so often built into religious orthodoxy, yet they also explain the lure—why so many women are attracted to these lifestyles, what they find that’s beautiful about living a religious life, and why leaving can be not only very difficult but also bittersweet.
