A WALK THROUGH THE WILDERNESS

In this memoir, a man recounts his entrapment in a radical religious cult, his road to freedom, and his ultimate embrace of atheism.

Conger enjoyed an ordinary childhood in California—the older of two children, he grew up within the largely conventional confines of a middle-class family that provided him with love and support. And while his was a “faith-filled environment,” it was free of any uncommon extremism. Still, when he left home to attend Humboldt State University, he quickly became “ensnared” by the Assembly in Arcata, a radical group of Christian fundamentalists that dominated the author’s life for a decade. He was systematically sequestered from his family and friends, subjected to prohibitively intrusive rules, and indoctrinated with unquestionable dogma. At least for a time, he deeply felt that this was his spiritual home: “I truly believed that this was the only place I could live a holy and righteous life pleasing to God in every way.” But he finally had his doubts when a sexual scandal rocked the church and his eyes were finally opened to its entrenched corruption. Conger started over, earned an MBA, divorced the wife that was all but imposed on him by the Assembly, and eventually remarried. After experiencing terrible difficulties conceiving a child with his new wife, he finally declared himself an atheist: “I’ve been doubting for a long time, and I’ve finally reached the conclusion that there simply can’t be a good and loving god ruling over the universe. It just makes no sense to me anymore.” The author is admirably candid regarding his tumultuous experiences. He writes in an informal, companionably clear prose and offers many rich details about his turbulent spiritual journey and path to atheism. But his remembrance never answers the central question he raises—what made him susceptible to recruitment by a cult in the first place. The best explanation he can muster is a bland one—the naïveté and idealism of youth. This is a familiar story, one that ultimately lacks the introspective depth necessary to keep readers gripped until its conclusion.

A frank, intriguing, but uneven account of a remarkable spiritual odyssey.