hey there. someone already did this a couple of years ago. his name is kevin roose and he now works for the new york times. he published a book called The Unlikely Disciple .
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also posting this on reddit and boasting about it is probably not your best idea but have fun!
The book Unlikely Disciple is written by this guy who went to Liberty University as a journalist. He lets the reader see the angst and fear he watches coming forth from the kids there who realize that maybe, just maybe, their faith isn't really sincere or isn't genuine enough and fear dying before they can be baptized a second or third time. Because that's the thing about salvation - if you don't question it, you may be committing the sin of presumption, which is the sin of pride, which means you haven't accepted Christ as your savior for real, not deep in your spirit where it counts. No, I have no envy for the fear that is the other side of the coin of faith. It's constant gaslighting, by others and by your own self.
As far as the fear of not being, you won't be aware of it. How do you feel about the billions of years you didn't exist before you were born?
> Shit - Liberty doesn't even require an application.
A kid from Brown faked being an evangelical Christian to spend a semester there, then wrote a whole book about the experience.
As I recall, in order to get accepted all he had to do was write an essay about how Jesus influenced his life. He bullshitted two pages and got accepted. The actually classes were not so easy he claimed - the religious coursework was especially difficult (though perhaps not so for kids who grew up on it). The online programs however are run exactly like the for-profits colleges (easy, useless, expensive, very profitable).
He also made the place sound very cult-like, though the kids themselves seemed like good people (being taken advantage of). It was a truly fascinating read.
What's next? A show based on the sequel?
Actually, A&E already has filmed some of Duck Dynasty there, but anything close to that book on camera would be impossible.
This book is a pretty amusing (and insightful) read. An agnostic quaker from Brown takes a year "abroad" to go to Liberty University.
In general, I think they sit with their dorm-mates, so there are RAs to keep track of attendance, etc.
Have you read "The Unlikely Disciple", by Kevin Roose? It is, to a degree, the opposite of your experience; it's about a student from Brown who goes to Liberty for a semester. It's a very fairly written and enlightening assessment of the belief system of Liberty and other fundamentalist Christians. I don't personally agree with their views, but it's a nice insight and analysis of how "running across enemy lines" can show that the differences aren't as stark or relevant as one might think. I highly recommend it.
I'd highly recommend Kevin Roose's book <em>The Unlikely Disciple</em> for a fascinating, concise glimpse into Liberty's culture. He was then a Brown University student (ie extremely open-minded "liberal") who did a semester at Liberty out of morbid curiosity. It's a super quick read too!
Edit: I seem to have created a downvote-enemy in this thread. Still cannot recommend the book enough! In the words of LaVar Burton: Don't take my word for it!
There’s a great book written by a Brown student who transferred there for a semester to write about it. The Unlikely Disciple
Don't know the name of it. I read about it in this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Unlikely-Disciple-Semester-Americas-University/dp/0446178438
It's briefly mentioned in the summary.
>I'm hoping to hear from others, especially Liberty grads, who have had similar experiences of losing/leaving faith while or shortly after receiving an evangelical Christian education.
Not exactly what you asked, but I really enjoyed the book The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose -- Roose was actually just a college junior at Brown when he decided, instead of doing a semester abroad like many other students, to instead transfer to Liberty university for a semester, even though he wasn't a fundamentalist, as a kind of cultural exchange that he could write about. This wasn't really a de-conversion story, like Dan Barker's Godless, but it still provided an interesting perspective and I won't spoil the last chapter for you but there were some surprises based on what happened while he was there.