Further reading

In compiling this list of resources, I have tried to avoid books and articles that are trying to persuade people to leave one spiritual tradition in favor of another. I have tried to provide an overview of each tradition, together with accounts of leaving it or becoming disenchanted with it.

All religions

  • Daniel Enstedt, Göran Larsson, and Teemu T. Mantsinen, editors (2019), The Handbook of Leaving Religion. Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion, Volume: 18.
    ISBN: 978-9004331471 (eBook) / 978-9004330924 (hardback)
    Available for download: https://brill.com/view/title/33911 

Atheism

  • Julian Baggini (2003), Atheism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, USA.
    ISBN: 978-0192804242.
  • Richard Holloway (2000), Godless Morality: Keeping Religion Out of Ethics. Canongate Books.
    ISBN: 978-0862419097.
  • Martin S Pribble (2013), “Leaving the Tribe: Why I’m no longer part of the online atheism community.” Slate, 12 December 2013. https://slate.com/technology/2013/12/why-im-quitting-the-online-atheism-community.html 

Buddhism

Christianity

  • Diarmaid MacCulloch (2011), Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. Penguin Publishing Group.
    ISBN: 978-0143118695.
  • Kallistos Ware (1995), The Orthodox Way. SVS Press.
    ISBN: ‎978-0913836583.
  • Marlene Winell (2006), Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving Their Religion. Apocryphile Press.
    ISBN: 978-1933993232.
  • Jamie Lee Finch (2019), You Are Your Own: A Reckoning with the Religious Trauma of Evangelical Christianity. ‎ Independently published.
    ISBN: ‎978-1075246302.

Cults

Islam

  • Karen Armstrong (2000), Islam: A Short History. Modern Library.
    ISBN: 978-0679640400.
  • Reza Aslan (2011), No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam. Random House.
    ISBN: 978-0812982442.
  • Fiyaz Mughal, Aliyah Saleem (Author), Leaving Faith Behind: The journeys and perspectives of people who have chosen to leave Islam. Darton Longman & Todd Ltd. ISBN: ‎ 978-0232533644.

Judaism

  • Simon Schama (2014), The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words 1000 BC-1492 AD. Ecco.
    ISBN: 978-0060539184.
  • Simon Schama (2017), Belonging: The Story of the Jews 1492-1900. Allen Lane.
    ISBN: 978-0670068289.
  • Schneur Zalman Newfield  (2020), Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Temple University Press. ISBN: 978-1439918968.
  • Ezra Cappell (2020), Off the Derech: Leaving Orthodox Judaism. State University of New York Press. ISBN: ‎ 978-1438477244.

Monotheism – general and comparative

  • Karen Armstrong (1994), A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Ballantine Books.
    ISBN: 978-0345384560.
  • Karen Armstrong (2007), The Bible: The Biography. Atlantic Books.
    ISBN: ‎978-1843543961.
  • Reza Aslan (2010), Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in the Age of Globalization. Random House. ISBN: ‎ 978-0812978308.
  • Joseph Campbell (1962), Oriental Mythology (The Masks of God, Volume 2), reissued 2021.
    New World Library. ISBN: 978-1608687282.
Mormonism

Paganism

Spirituality

Unitarianism / Unitarian Universalism