The third week after the book release has begun as AAPI Heritage Month begins, and my book, Asian American Apostate: Losing Religion and Finding Myself at an Evangelical University remains at the top of the prestigious “Religious Fundamentalism” new release chart. Yeah, I had never heard of such a category before my book, but it’s something. Interestingly, there are 4 versions of the book available, hardcover, paperback, e-book, and audiobook, and each one has spent some time at #1.
So, in honor AAPI Heritage Month, if everyone reading this could buy 10 copies of my book to keep it atop this super prestigious list…yeah, I’m kidding. You can buy the books, though, if you want to give them to friends and colleagues. And if you have the bandwidth, consider leaving a review on Amazon. It really helps! Being atop these “New Release” charts doesn’t mean huge sales. It just means during that hour a few folks bought the book.
Being an apostate is hard. I enjoy talking to people, and when I tell them I wrote a book, they naturally want to know what it’s about. Most people are intrigued by the subject matter, but some people are downright offended. Many times in the past few weeks, I’ve told someone what the book is about only to have them frown and express some kind of disappointment. The very nice woman at the pharmacy below Geri’s office wanted to know all about it, but when I described the book as being a story of losing faith, she innocently said, “but you get your faith back at the end, right?” Her look of disappointment and sadness when I told her I did not get my faith back was heartbreaking.
A lot of my friends in my community are ex-christian, but very few of them want to engage in publicly criticizing anything christian. A few of my artist friends, including some who have become somewhat famous for jokes about christianity have shied away from helping promote my book for fear of being associated with a supposed anti-christian author. Privately, they express support for me and the book, but they won’t go public. So deeply ingrained is christianity in this country that being critical of it, even with its love affair with Trump, the GOP, Q-anon, and anti-LGBTQIA hatred that being an outspoken apostate is dangerous. Do not come at me with “not all christians.” 85 percent of White christians voted for Trump in 2020.
I get it. It’s scary taking a stand, even against as clear and present a danger as the evangelicals. This makes me so grateful to my friends who have publicly supported me and the book. Some very public friends have posted about it, helped with my book launch, and written endorsements. So as AAPI Heritage Month gets underway, I know my book plays a role, however minor, in dismantling White supremacy and centering AAPI voices. Evangelical culture, in particular, is rooted in White supremacy, and I am out here pushing back against it, against the notion that AAPI folks aren’t supposed to cause trouble, against BIPOC allyship with White supremacy.
This world. This life. We can’t let them win. The christians are at war with reproductive, and by extension womens’, rights. They’re coming for trans lives. They claim to follow a bible that demands care for immigrants and elders, and yet they are the most rabid opponents of those groups. It’s not just a GOP thing. It’s an American evangelical thing. There are christians in my life who fight against evangelical culture, too, and they are invaluable to me and to the fight.
My book is not just a deconstruction story. It’s a story of finding myself and my purposes. One of those purposes is to stand for human flourishing, and one of the biggest impediments to human flourishing is evangelical christianity.
Thank you to all who stand with me and so many others publicly fighting for everyone to be seen, heard, and valued.
#AAPIHeritageMonth, #AsianAmericanApostate, #ExVangelical, #Emptythepews
So well said Scott. People being so disappointed in not wanting to claim Christianity, and people feeling uncomfortable speaking up about it, while maybe understandable, just goes to show how deeply problematic things are. Christians of all people shouldn't free threatened or socially uncomfortable with non participation.