Book: THE UNLIKELY DISCIPLE: A SINNER'S SEMESTER AT AMERICA'S HOLIEST UNIVERSITY ~ Kevin Roose
THE UNLIKELY DISCIPLE is the latest non-fiction book in the growing “I did (or did without) XYZ for a a set period of time”* or “I watched/listened/read/etc. all of… XYZ”** genre.***
Author Kevin Roose, Brown University student and liberal, non-practicing but God-believing Quaker, spent a semester studying at ultra-Christian Liberty University, founded by the later Rev. Jerry Falwell. While there were few educational surprises (obviously he knew he would be taking classes about Creationism, theology, and Christian life), on a personal one-on-one level, it was a completely different experience than Roose expected it to be. The resulting book is not a snickering “look at the Jesus Freaks!” snarkfest, but a deep examination of Liberty University students as individuals, and the institution of Liberty University as a whole.
Roose’s experiences at Liberty seem to fit the mantra “love the sinner, hate the sin”. He grew close to many of his dormmates - Jersey Joey, Zipper, RA’s Stubbs and Fox - as well as other students (men and women), and certain faculty. Because he interacted with these students daily, he grew to know them as unique people with their own personalities, hangups, and worries, not as “generic” LU students. Some of the people he met doubted their faith at times, others wondered if they really belonged at Liberty, questioned parts of the long Honor Code, and really wondered why it was necessary to believe that good, non-Saved people were damned to Hell. As Jersey Joey wondered:
“All I’m saying is that, look, my grandfather’s not saved. He’s the best person I know. Just a fantastic human being. And I’ve tried witnessing to him tons of times, but he’s not getting it. He just doesn’t want to believe it. So tell me this: how can the meanest old Christian who’s the biggest dick - who gossips, lies, beats his wife - how can he go to heaven over a guy like my grandfather? I don’t get how that happens. It doesn’t make sense.” (p. 222)
It’s understandable how Roose developed close friendships with many of these students (“love the sinner”).
Of course, there was student intolerance, most violently toward homosexuality. Among male students, every homophobic slur was utilized at some point, as jokes, as insults, and (at times) as accusations. Roose actually started to fear one of his less-than-stable roommates who suspected that he (Roose) was actually gay (he’s not) because he’d sleep only in boxer shorts. This intolerance would hit Roose like a wet towel every so often, reminding him exactly where he was and what the university as a whole believed and represented. For example,Roose’s semester at Liberty happened during the Virginia Tech massacre, where over thirty people were gunned down. While many on the Liberty campus prayed for healing at VT, others saw the massacre as some sort of sign from God to make people aware of the need to accept Christ in their lives and be Saved.
Viewed as a whole from a non-Saved, non-Christian point of view, the list of things to both fear and mock (“hate the sinner”) about Liberty University is long and unsettling. Mandatory classes in “young earth creationism”, dating the Earth at only 6000 years old. No smoking, no drinking, no swearing, no opposite-sex affection beyond hand holding. No viewing R-rated movies, even off campus. Support groups for chronic masturbatory types, at least male chronic masturbatory types. A huge code of conduct students must follow called “The Liberty Way” which outlines reprimands (a kind of demerit) and fines for every transgression. (For example, smoking cigarettes is six reprimands and a $25 fine.) One woman who was ratted out by her roommate for sneaking off campus and having sex was levied with thirty reprimands, a $500 fine, and 35 hours of community service.
It was admirable that Roose was able to maintain his ruse and survive the semester, especially since he engaged in what anthropologist Clifford Geertz called “deep play”, full immersion in his environment. He sang in the gospel choir (which didn’t help the “gay” jokes), went to Florida during Spring Break to minister to the drunken hoards, enlisted for one-on-one spiritual mentoring with Pastor Seth, attended “Every Man’s Battle”, an anti-masturbation support group, honestly prayed (and prayed, and prayed), and even conducted a student newspaper interview with Jerry Falwell shortly before he died unexpectedly that semester. Amazingly, Roose didn’t get outed as an undercover journalist, although he came close a few times.
Before the book was about to be sent to the publisher, about a year after his semester spent there, Roose visited Liberty again, confessed that he was a writer, and that a book was forthcoming. Most of his friends weren’t upset about the undercover work or the book. In fact, a few were more disturbed about his not actually being Saved than the entire project. Liberty University as an institution have not been exactly pleased with the book, although they are selling it in the campus bookstore - with a large, three paragraph disclaimer which Roose has contested point-by-point on his web site.
THE UNLIKELY DISCIPLE was an absorbing read. I had a difficult time putting it down, powering through it in a few days. It’s especially interesting how some of the Liberty experience has stayed with Roose since leaving and writing this book. Roose went into the project with certain expectations, but also found that some of those expectations were wrong, especially after he formed individual relationships with students. This perhaps would not have been as compelling of an experiment had it been conducted by a hard line atheist.
Highly recommended (by this agnostic anti-theist, anyway).
* A.J. Jacob’s The Year of Living Biblically; Judith Levine’s Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping; Sandra Bongiorni’s A Year Without “Made In China”; Alica Smith’s Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally; etc. etc. etc.
** A.J. Jacob’s The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World (reading the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica); Julie Powell’s Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (cooking the entire Art of French Cooking); Phyllis Rose’s The Year of Reading Proust: A Memoir in Real Time.
*** Note to self: Figure out something quirky to do for a year, soon.
