For many of us, the word religious immediately evokes
thoughts of brainwashing, violence, and eye-rubbingly
tiresome conversations. Why not be done with it? David
Dark argues that it’s not that simple: “If what we believe
is what we see is what we do is who we are, there’s no
getting away from religion.”
Both incisive and entertaining, this paperback edition
of Life’s Too Short to Pretend You’re Not Religious combines
Dark’s keen powers of cultural observation with candor
and wit. With equal parts memoir and analysis, Dark
persuasively argues that the fact of religion is the fact
of relationship.
Looking hard at our weird religious backgrounds (Dark
maintains we all have one) can bring the actual content
of our everyday existence—the good, the bad, and the
glaringly inconsistent—to fuller consciousness. By
doing so, we can more practically envision an undivided
life and reclaim the idea of being “religious.”