Synopsis:
The wife of a fundamentalist pastor details her years of abuse at the hands of her hypocritical husband.
Review:
A friend of mine recommended Fleeing Fundamentalism after hearing that I’d been digging into books on polygamy. Honestly, these kinds of stories are the only kinds of memoirs I want to read–stories about women dealing with extreme personal situations. I definitely appreciated Carlene Cross’s insight into her particular situation, but as is generally the case I was disappointed in the theology-lite. Sadly, Cross came to reject all of Christianity because of the heinous abuses her husband meted out to her, and so she didn’t look to any Christian sources to combat the bad theology she was taught. She lumps all of Christianity in with the twisted version she was taught, and that makes me sad.
I agree with you that all too often many women’s experience with spiritual abuse in the fundamentalist marriage and church drives them away from Christ, and may drive others as away as well, without giving them any solid spiritual answers. I haven’t read the particular book you’ve reviewed here, but I have read others that only tend to reinforce women’s negative opinions of Christianity.
Yes, it’s very sad.
It may take years, but she might eventually work her way back around to a Christianity that she can live with.
That’s true, God is big!