Strange Gods

A Secular History of Conversion

By: Susan Jacoby

Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley

In this original and riveting exploration, Susan Jacoby argues that conversion - especially in the free American "religious marketplace" - is too often viewed only within the conventional and simplistic narrative of personal reinvention and divine grace. Instead, the author places conversions within a secular social context that has, at various times, included the force of a unified church and state, desire for upward economic mobility, and interreligious marriage.

Moving through time, continents, and cultures, Jacoby examines conversions to authoritarian secular ideologies. She also provides portraits of individual converts, including the Catholic Church father Augustine of Hippo; the German Jewish convert to Catholicism Edith Stein, murdered at Auschwitz and canonized by the church; boxing champion Muhammad Ali, who scandalized white Americans in the 1960s by becoming a Muslim; and even politicians such as George W. Bush. Finally, Jacoby takes on the question of why the freedom to choose a religion - or to reject religion altogether - is a fundamental human rights issue that remains a breeding ground for violence in areas of the world that never experienced an Enlightenment.

©2016 Susan Jacoby (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Jacoby draws the first detailed maps of a terrain that has been very much in need of intelligent, careful cartography." ( Kirkus)

For the religious and for the atheist

Excellent book, excellent read. It is written for people of all faiths or none. It is a fantastic description of the history and impact of religious conversions in society. Highly recommended!

Our own fabrications

Strange Gods was entertaining enough that I listened it through is less than a week. My joy in hearing her framing of religion rests in my being Eastern Orthodox and certain of Gregory of Nyssa's understanding of the community labeled "church". Many of us dwell in the church because it is where we were raised and where all my friends are. Or, it is where we think the greatest return will be gained, here and now or later with the resurrection. Dr. Jacoby wrote a marvelous book describing where, probably, 99 of us reside.