Choosing My Religion is a luminous memoir, crafted with the eye of a journalist and the art of a novelist by New York Times Magazine writer and editor Stephen J. Dubner. By turns comic and heartbreaking, it tells the story of a family torn apart by religion, sustained by faith, and reunited by truth.

What do you believe in? Whatever it is, that is your religion. Religion shapes your loves, ideals, behavior, and goals, but unless you've thought about it clearly, your religion may not be worth believing. Choosing My Religion will help readers in their late teens and early twenties to arrive at sound answers to life's big questions. Youth ministers, teachers, and college ministers that work with high school and college students will also find this to be an extraordinary resource.

To the dismay of religious leaders, study after study has shown a steady decline in affiliation and identification with traditional religions in America. By 2014, more than twenty percent of adults identified as unaffiliated--up more than seven percent just since 2007. Even more startling, more than thirty percent of those under the age of thirty now identify as "Nones"--answering "none" when queried about their religious affiliation. Is America losing its religion? Or, as more and more Americans choose different spiritual paths, are they changing what it means to be religious in the United States today? In Choosing Our Religion, Elizabeth Drescher explores the diverse, complex spiritual lives of Nones across generations and across categories of self-identification such as "Spiritual-But-Not-Religious," "Atheist," "Agnostic," "Humanist," "just Spiritual," and more. Drawing on more than one hundred interviews conducted across the United States, Drescher opens a window into the lives of a broad cross-section of Nones, diverse with respect to age, gender, race, sexual orientation, and prior religious background. She allows Nones to speak eloquently for themselves, illuminating the processes by which they became None, the sources of information and inspiration that enrich their spiritual lives, the practices they find spiritually meaningful, how prayer functions in spiritual lives not centered on doctrinal belief, how morals and values are shaped outside of institutional religions, and how Nones approach the spiritual development of their own children. These compelling stories are deeply revealing about how religion is changing in America--both for Nones and for the religiously affiliated family, friends, and neighbors with whom their lives remain intertwined.

The son of Catholic converts from Judaism chronicles his own return to the Jewish faith after being raised as an altar boy and a devout Christian. Reprint.

An Indispensable Guidebook for Those Seeking a New Spiritual Path, or Wishing to Reconnect to the Religion of Their Youth

With this consumer guide, readers can review 99 world religions and utilize proven shopping comparison techniques to base their decision about which to adopt on the things that really matter - what you have to wear, whether you can have sex, what you can and can't wear, and where you'll go when you die.

Choosing your Religion is a guide to Christian denominations in the U.S. It describes, in concise form, the distinct features, beliefs, practices, and origins of 18 faiths, most of which are fixtures in nearly every American town and city. While these churches are familiar to all, their differences are not commonly understood. An ideal resource for those re-evaluating, or considering church for the first time, the Book of Denominations allows readers to easily acquire the broadest possible view of the Christian religion by examining its many facets, its different denominations. It may also serve current churchgoers looking to learn more about their own faith. The book contains a wealth of information organized for the benefit of the inquiring reader. For each faith group presented, it answers questions such as: What do they believe? How did it start? How many people belong? How do they worship? The book also includes an overview of the Christian religion and a glossary of religious terms.