Believer, Beware

For so many these days, the religious tradition we were raised in is no longer working for us. Either we choose to remain in the fold but on the margins, or we leave and feel somewhat adrift. Others have no tradition, yet we all search for a spiritual life that feels authentic to us. This book is for those seekers, whether not-quite-lapsed Catholics, believers fed up with right-wing dogma, Reconstructionist Jews, radical agnostics, modern pagans, converts, or apostates. The spirit of these essays is summed up in the tale of the Zen master who tells a young monk, "If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him," for his appearance is only the manifestation of one's longing for enlightenment, not the real thing. In this second collection to have sprung from religious commentators Sharlet and Manseau's popluar website, we enter a "temple of words" and hear a "cacophony choir" of voices searching for the real thing. Contributors include journalists, playwrights, novelists, rabbis, and ordinary people, telling true tales of striving to understand their relationship with the divine. The works are not categorized, but are preceded by a "Guide for the Perplexed," an index of themes, major religions, and stances.

Jeff Sharlet and Peter Manseau are cofounders of the online literary magazine Killing the Buddha , and coauthors of Killing the Buddha: A Heretic's Bible. Sharlet is also the author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, as well as a contributing editor to Harper's and Rolling Stone. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Manseau's other books include Vows: The Story of a Priest, a Nun, and Their Son and the novel Songs for the Butcher's Daughter. He lives in Washington, D.C.