Escape & Infidel
I've been reading two autobiographies by women who grew up and escaped from repressive religions. The first book Escape is about life in a fundamentalist Mormon sect, while Infidel describes life within several Islamic countries, as fundamentalism begins to take hold over the region. The two books are very similar in ways, yet quiet unique and therefore make good reading together. Perhaps most surprising to me was that overall life among fundie mormons in the United States was overall more severe and strict. Escape Escape was a very easy, but harrowing and disturbing read about the life of Carolyn Jessop in the FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints). You would think that since she was living in the United States, it would be a simple choice for her to just walk away from it all. But this was not an option. By telling her story from childhood on, one gains a glimpse into how religion contorts the mind and the spirit of each individual it touches. When taken to the extreme, religio