Interdisciplinary Book Reviews

Identity, Trauma, and Cultural Change in Sarah McCammon’s The Exvangelicals Sarah McCammon’s The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church is more than a memoir. It is a cultural document, a psychological case study, and a map of a movement that has no headquarters, no creeds, and no formal membership — only a shared ache. McCammon traces how a generation raised on purity culture, end times fear, and political absolutism has begun to unravel the worldview they inherited. Read alongside Daryl R. Van Tongeren’s Done: How to Flourish After Leaving Religion (2024), the picture becomes even richer. McCammon shows what is happening culturally and relationally; Van Tongeren explains why it feels the way it does psychologically. Together, they illuminate the inner and outer landscapes of leaving a totalizing religious system. A Childhood Formed by Fear, Love, and Certainty McCammon’s early chapters capture the emotional atmosphere of evangelical childhood: salv...

How Mercier and Sperber reframe reasoning as justification and argumentation in human interaction. Overview Mercier and Sperber’s The Enigma of Reason challenges one of the most entrenched assumptions in cognitive science: that reason evolved primarily to improve individual knowledge and decision-making. Instead, they argue that reason is best understood as a social adaptation, designed to justify our actions and persuade others. This reframing positions reason not as a solitary truth-seeking faculty, but as a tool for navigating the complexities of human cooperation and communication. Previous works such as Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), building on his collaboration with Amos Tversky, summarized decades of research revealing flaws in reasoning. Much of human decision-making relies on mental shortcuts or heuristics, characteristic of System 1 thinking, which depend in part on intuitions shaped by regularities in nature. Kahneman emphasized the slow and effortful work of Sy...

  Done: How to Flourish After Leaving Religion By Daryl R. Van Tongeren Book Summary Daryl R. Van Tongeren’s Done: How to Flourish After Leaving Religion (2024) explores the psychological, social, and existential challenges faced by individuals who no longer identify with a religious tradition. Written for those in the midst of religious deconstruction, deidentification, or reconstruction, the book blends empirical research, personal narrative, and practical guidance to illuminate the complexities of leaving faith behind. Introduction: The Great Disillusionment Van Tongeren begins by situating the book within the broader cultural trend of declining religious affiliation, citing Pew Research Center data on the rise of “religious nones.” He frames this departure as a “great disillusionment,” acknowledging the grief, loss, and longing that often accompany the process. The book is designed to help readers navigate three possible destinations: 1. Deconstruction: questioning and disman...

    Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape       by Susan Brownmiller   Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton Abstract  Susan Brownmiller’s Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape (2013), originally published in 1975, reframed rape as a political act of power and control rather than an isolated crime of passion. Drawing on history, law, warfare, slavery, racial politics, prisons, and cultural and victim narratives, Brownmiller argued that rape functions as a conscious tool of domination. This review summarizes her central arguments, highlights the book’s historical and cultural significance, and provides a historical framework against which we can measure progress or the lack thereof (Sutton, 2025, October 1). Keywords: rape, feminism, sexual violence, power, gender, survivor advocacy   CITE THIS REVIEW Sutton, G. W. (2025, October 1). Rape as Power: Revisiting Susan Brownmiller’s Against Our Will in Historical and Cultural Context....

How Should We Think About Homosexuality?  By Mark A. Yarhouse Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton CITE THIS REVIEW:  Sutton, G. W. (2025, September 25). Framing Sexuality Through Lenses: A Review of Mark Yarhouse’s How Should We Think About Homosexuality? Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews. https://suttonreviews.suttong.com/2025/09/framing-sexuality-through-lenses-review.html ABSTRACT This review examines Mark A. Yarhouse’s How Should We Think About Homosexuality? (2022), a contribution to the Questions for Restless Minds series. Yarhouse presents a tripartite framework—the integrity, disability, and diversity lenses—through which Christians might engage questions of sexuality. Yarhouse succeeds in offering accessible categories and pastoral exhortations toward humility and compassion, yet there are also limitations. The framework risks reinforcing heteronormative assumptions, pathologizing lesbian and gay (LG) identities, and abstracting sexuality into theologic...

  The Missionary Kids   By Holly Berkley Fletcher Reviewed By   Geoffrey W. Sutton The Missionary Kids Abstract In The Missionary Kids: Unmasking the Myths of White Evangelicalism (2025), Holly Berkley Fletcher combines memoir, oral history, and historical analysis to examine the lived realities of missionary children (MKs). Drawing on her upbringing in Kenya and interviews with other MKs, Fletcher challenges romanticized portrayals of missionary life by exposing the cultural dislocation, spiritual neglect, and emotional burdens often carried by children in missionary families. The book is structured around four parts: the myth of parents as martyrs, the imposed nature of missionary “calling,” the spiritual neglect of MKs in boarding schools, and the collective testimony of resilience and loss. Fletcher’s dual perspective as both historian and former CIA analyst enriches her critique of evangelical institutions and their impact on children. This work contributes to schola...

  The Coming Wave AI Image Illustration for a review of the book by Suleyman The Coming Wave  CITE this review:  Sutton, G. W. (2025). The coming wave: AI, technology, and psychology. Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews. Download Review as PDF REVIEWER : Geoffrey W. Sutton Book Summary We are waist deep in the ocean and laughing as playful waves knock us over and give us a short ride toward the shore on a hot summer’s day. We know the warnings about undertows but scattered along the shore are our safe-keepers-- lifeguards armed with whistles and small boats. Suleyman warns us that the coming wave of artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology will not just devastate our shorelines but wreak havoc on our infrastructure and even our way of life unless we accept his challenge to construct a formidable bulwark to keep the powerful sources at bay. Mustafa Suleyman's argument in The Coming Wave is compellingly structured around four defining traits of the coming technol...

God Have Mercy:  A Look at Hays & Hay's  Perspective on LGBT Inclusion AMAZON CITE This post :  Sutton, G. W. (2025). God have mercy: a look at hays & hay’s perspective on LGBT inclusion Interdisciplinary Book Reviews. REVIEWER : Geoffrey W. Sutton Book Summary The Widening of God’s Mercy by Christopher B. Hays and Richard B. Hays (2024) is a deeply reflective and scholarly work that traces the biblical narrative of divine mercy as an ever-expanding force—one that consistently reaches beyond traditional boundaries to embrace those once excluded. Written by a father-son duo, the book is both a theological exploration and a personal journey, particularly for Richard Hays, who revisits and revises his earlier positions on sexuality and LGBT inclusion in light of a broader biblical vision. Central Thesis At its core, the book argues that the Bible presents a dynamic and evolving picture of God’s mercy—one that is not static or confined by rigid legalism, but responsiv...