Black Sheep: My Journey from Evangelical Christianity to Atheism

by Cassie Fox

An Evangelical Christian minister walked away from her faith and became an atheist.Raised in the confines of Evangelical Christianity from a young age, Cassie Fox served and sought the God she loved with all of her heart. A true believer, she attended Bible college and became an ordained minister, fervently preaching the Gospel to others with passion.

After years of living a life dedicated to her faith in God, she learned information that cast her religious beliefs in a different light. In this raw, transparent, and sometimes heartbreaking autobiography, Cassie Fox shares her gripping journey as she battled and agonized over the implications of her newfound understanding until she ultimately found peace and healing in the least expected of places.

Walk through this incredible, life changing story of triumph, and discover the message of optimism and hope she found at the end.

Black My Journey from Evangelical Christianity to Atheism is an empowering, true story.

Buy Black My Journey from Evangelical Christianity to Atheism today!

Genres: Religion, Memoir, Nonfiction

248 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 4, 2019

Reviews

[robert giles jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for questioning Christians and former Christians

I'm a former Baptist, and find books that promote Atheism or Agnosticism more compatible with my understanding of life when they come from an ExChristian. Ms Fox describes Biblically and scientifically why Christianity is false, and why she became an Atheist. Parenthetically, found it interesting that she skipped the Agnostic stage that many of us Exchristians experience. This book has appendices that describe some of the science underlying Ms Fox's abandonment of faith. Overall, I enjoyed this book. The only thing I might have added if I had been the author would be additional Biblical reasons for unbelief. As Isaac Asimov said, The Bible, properly read, is one of the leading reasons to be an Atheist.

[Dallas Powell, jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

anyone who has left faith, or is considering doing so, should read this. The author's experiences are quite relatable and can translate to other religions.

[Marjorie Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of how the author, brainwashed Into evangelical Christianity from an early age, slowly came to understand how almost everything she had been taught as true and infallible was actually a complete and utter load of tosh.

She describes her journey clearly and sensitively, and with a great deal of insight as to how so many apparently sensible and decent people can be convinced to reject copious scientific evidence in favour of the infallible “word of a god”, and, in the process, approve and encourage atrocities in the name of this supposedly loving god.

As an ex-evangelical Christian myself (but, unlike the author, from the UK, not the USA) I understand only too well the fear of displeasing this cruel god by questioning the truth of his word, or by preferring to believe in science rather than inconsistent and incorrect tosh. And I understand the impossibility of discussing the scientific evidence and biblical contradictions with the followers of this god, and the hurt caused by being disowned and despised by those who once loved you because you no longer believe the tosh they still believe, and are daring to question it. Thankfully, in the UK, most evangelicals are less extreme and rather more gracious in their behaviour towards us “backsliders”.

At least we can take comfort in the fact that while many of them are still praying to their imaginary friend for us to return to the fold, there isn’t a snowflake’s chance in hell that their prayers will be any more effective than any other prayers to their imaginary friend. The earth will keep circling the sun, until it doesn’t, we’ll keep playing our teeny tiny part in this magnificent universe we live in, with all its wonders, until we don’t, and the molecules in our bodies return to the universe from whence we came.

[Jc · Rating 3 out of 5]

My lower rating is not meant as a mark against this, it is just that this book was not meant for me. As someone with post-grad training in Anthropology & Evolutionary Biology, and as someone who has read extensively in biblical/religious history & criticism, and atheist philosophy, this book is a bit too simplistic for me. However, I believe Cassie MEANT for it to be simple and basic -- it is intended for those who are stuck in the evangelical/pentecostal/bible-thumping world, but who may be wondering if there is something else out there that would allow them to use their brains. For such, this could be a perfect first read to get the critical juices flowing. Cassie is very honest when it comes to sharing her experiences, including the born-againer prejudices that she needed to get past before she could learn to think for herself. I went through similar things/stages, and arrived in a near-identical place, so I appreciate where she is coming from. Thanks, Cassie, for sharing. I hope your message reaches those it is intended for.

[David Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and much like reading my own life story. The difference being that I got out of the "Christian Prison" earlier and with no regrets. One cousin offer me a book idea that I took her up on. In is was a diatribe telling me how miserable my life is without God and this explains my depression and life shattering developments. Here's the problem, I became liberated, free, happy, clean and clear that there is no fairy in the sky watching my dreams even, not just my actions. I found science, answers to questions and yes, science is not something I believe in, it is something that people do. In science, we expect failure, even embrace it for that is how we learn and add to the depth of knowledge that is already out there.
What I now know (I bailed out near 60 years ago) is that I am free of the oppression of being told to simply 'believe' something and never getting any answers. The classic, how was the entire world flooded and two of every animal was somehow on that stupid wooden boat of Noah's? BTW, that stupid replica somewhere in the South, sprang a leak in a rain storm recently. Yeah, that was going to work?!?!?
Some day, ask a Christian this, "what would the planet weigh if totally covered in water?" The answer, (and I am making a bit of a guess) is simple, it would be enough to toss it out of orbit.
No, forget the monkey in the sky and divest yourself of stupid rules made entirely to control others. It is insidious and completely Ludacris.

[John Paul Richard Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an excellent and frightening portrayal of what it was like to be raised in an extreme fundamentalist, evangelical family. The author went through emotional hell over a period time while gradually shedding her indoctrination. It is one of the best of these histories that I have read (and I've read a good many). As an evolutionary biologist, I was gratified to see the strong role that science, particularly biology and evolution played in her deconversion. Her intelligence and curiosity drove her somewhat unsteadily forward. Her final apostasy was not foregone. She vacillated and had trouble getting to her eventual rejection of the lies she had been immersed in as a child. There are appendices to the book that expand upon some of the scientific ideas discussed in the main text. I think these appendices would be reasonably easy for someone to understand who had not had much of a background in biology. She provides a number of excellent references for further reading. I hope this book will garner a large number of readers, particularly those raised in an environment similar to the author's.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A personal journey towards enlightenment

Having been raised in a Baptist home, I can relate to how difficult it is to leave the religion you have been taught from childhood, is true. Guilt about seeking truth when the stories just don't make sense anymore. It's a journey I've never regretted. I am a happy, moral person now, without religion.

[CarmenSA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled to get through this book. The language and writing style while informative was a bit overly simplistic and lacked the academic rigor I expected given the author's educational background. While I agree with other reviewers that it may well have been intentionally simplistic in order to be accessible to those struggling with fundamentalism, there were several typos, formatting errors etc that made me wonder how rigorously this work was edited before publishing and I found myself looking for and noting the absence of sources when making more scientific/academic claims.

I did appreciate the vulnerability of the author's personal experiences and found myself nodding along in agreement to her descriptions of Pentecostal practices and it did also spark a few memories of things I witnessed/experienced but had forgotten.

All in all I gave it three stars because I appreciate her journey and her vulnerability in sharing her story but found it overly simplistic, at times insensitive in tone to those she's trying to reach and it needs further editing for typos, structural issues and lack of academic support. I understand that it's not meant to be an academic piece but it would not be difficult to add citations without distracting from the story and add credibility.

[Romantic Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ☆ - I genuinely enjoyed this insightful book. With multiple degrees, two of which are in the fields of psychology and sociology, I have a great understanding and appreciation for this educational memoir. Through education I fell in love with studying physical anthropology, biology, and astronomy. As my appreciation increased, my questions did as well. Science is amazing and this book provides an in depth yet comprehensive lesson about our earth, evolution, and the human creation of fundamentalist religion. I recommend this book to anyone with questions or simply an open mind!

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

You might read the subtitle of this book and think it will be a sad book of someone's descent from Christianity to atheism. That could not be farther from the truth. While this book does describe the author's process from fundamentalist Christianity to atheism, it is so full of hope for humanity if we would only pay attention to being the best humans we can be. There is no God who will come and save us. We must save ourselves. While we do have so much capacity for evil, we have even greater capacity for good.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

quite interesting

Reading about this author’s transition from being an evangelical minister to eventually becoming an atheist, I was engrossed in everything she had to say. There is a lengthy appendix at the end of the book; I was not engrossed by that, although I recognize its value in supporting her ideas from the main text. The ebook would be better if various grammatical errors were corrected.

[Richard T Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book not as complicated as some other main stream authors, great story on her journey to find her true self and understanding of her brainwashing by religion, Great insights and references, I highly recommend for people searching for answers, not over powering to lead you in a certain direction,

[Jon Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Well written.

This book is excellent and I lived a similar lifestyle having spent my first 12 years in the buckle of the bible belt. I only gave it a 4 because I think she put too much faith in evolution to solve all human kind problems. I certainly recommend it to anyone looking to make sense out of Christianity.

[Briar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick easy read about the evangelical community and her journey out of it. It examines the mindset and her struggle to get out of the community and the lasting impact it still has on her.

Good read and interesting read.

[John R Sickler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A life story

This book laid a person live from Christian life to not believe in that life.
It uncovered, that religion is trying to cover up science as not being true.
Evolution shows where the Bible is not true.

[Jim Paine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Book resonates with me

I love the wisdom and the honesty the author shares as she chronicles her journey through and exodus from Evangelical Christianity. It rings true with my experience.

[Jonah · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a journey Cassie had to go through, I'm on the same road she's paved for us. Hopefully this book is as helpful to you as it was to me.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read about conversion to atheism, and it makes sense.

[Richard Velazquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting tale of finding true enlightenment. A story that is far too common presented with true heart.

[Lee]

Cassie’s book resonates with me because it mirrors my own spiritual journey. My only criticism of the book is poor editing.