On the Spectrum: Autism, Faith, and the Gifts of Neurodiversity. Daniel Bowman, Jr. 2021. 256 pages. [Source: Library] [DID NOT FINISH] [no stars given]
I am not rating this book because I did not finish the book. I read *some* of the book. (I'll detail which chapters in a bit.) This is not a proper review. It is a partial review of what I did read. It is not meant to reflect the book as a whole because I did not finish the whole book.
On the Spectrum is a collection of essays written by an autistic poet who is a practicing progressive Episcopalian, a husband, a father, a lover of literature. (Personally, I thought he came across as a literary snob. But to each his own. Seriously. Love whatever authors you love. No judgment. His tastes aren't my taste from what little I read, however, again to each his own.)
The essays I read include: "Autism and the Church" (8 pages); "Service and the Spectrum" (12 pages); "The Insidious Nature of Bad Christian Stories" (8 pages).
Are those three essays enough to judge the book as a whole? NO. Of course not. That's why this is NOT a proper review. It was enough for me to taste and see that this book was not what I wanted. It would be horribly unfair to judge a book based on what it isn't. What the book is: Personal memoirs in the form of a collection of essays written by a man whose first love is poetry and *literature*.
Essays are not my typical read. I didn't understand that this is what the book is, a collection of essays. So while I was expecting the traditional format/structure of more traditional Christian nonfiction or christian living or dare I say even theology, this is a collection of personal essays. I think the subtitle is slightly misleading in that it doesn't really clarify that this is a book of essays.
Poetry is not my typical read either. Even though the book is not a book of poetry, you can't take the poet out of his writing style, his narrative. And that's not a bad thing, it's an authentic to himself thing.
Personal memoir. I believe that it would be safe to say that ALL of the essays are personal.
It isn't that faith is completely and totally absent from this one. It isn't. But based on the subtitle AND the fact that this is listed under the category or label Christian living, I was expecting another kind of book. I read chapters whose titles might indicate the presence of faith as a subject. It is entirely possible that other essays might reflect faith as well.
I will say that his faith--PROGRESSIVE EPISCOPALIAN--does not align with mine. He seems more likely to quote some of Oprah's favorite authors (in particular there were scores of Richard Rohr quotes If not scores, it felt like it. I only read a handful of essays but his name kept popping up. I just used the search feature to search, eleven times he is quoted and/or referenced)
"Autism and the Church" is an essay detailing the author's history with the church...the elements of church that were NOT working for him (though he couldn't quite put his finger on the why until his diagnosis) and his present experiences in his local church. One quote, "Since my diagnosis, I know I don't have to feel ashamed anymore. And that's perhaps the key takeaway I'd like to offer to fellow Christ followers: as you live and worship alongside your autistic neighbors, you can help free us from the shame we've carried." I think my favorite bit of this one was seeing how the Book of Common Prayer could be *extremely* comforting because of the structure and familiarity.
"Service and the Spectrum" is an essay all about BALANCE. How does one balance the need for self-preservation (taking care of one's self to avoid meltdowns and overwhelming the mind, the senses, etc.) with the need to "serve" the church and "bear fruit." This is a thought-provoking chapter with plenty of questions and one man's solution to those questions.
"The Insidious Nature of Bad Christian Stories" is an essay about how terrible, horrible, no good, very bad anything labeled "Christian" is. Which is perhaps slightly ironic since this one is I believe published by a Christian publisher. The main point of this one seems to be that the only good art is secular art. Are there bad Christian movies? Yes. But where I would disagree is the generality that ALL, no exceptions, are bad. It seems impossible to him that a good Christian movie could ever be made. But it isn't just films, he is criticizing anything and everything specifically "Christian." He first says that Christian art doesn't even deserve "serious critical attention" because obviously it is so poorly done and obviously bad. Actually the word he uses is CHILDISH.
What are some childish attitudes that bad Christian stories feed into and encourage?
- The immature need to have correct beliefs, as opposed to the adult need to consider and examine diverse voices to develop critical thinking, empathy, and love.
- The immature need to be continually comforted, rather than the adult need to be comforted when afflicted, but also afflicted and challenged by difficult art when one has become too comfortable, even complacent, in one's faith, relationships, work and leisure.
- The immature need for clear answers to questions that have none, as opposed to the adult need to learn to live creatively with mystery and paradox.
- The immature need to separate good and evil into clear camps at all times, as opposed to the adult need to learn to let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest
- the immature confusing of real emotion and true empathy with shallow sentimentality and greeting card cliche, as opposed to the adult need to feel deeply through encounter and catharsis while confronting our own contradictions
- The immature need to romanticize the past as opposed to the adult need to recognize the complications, flaws, and entrenched injustices of every era--and in that recognition, to nevertheless work in faith to love God and our neighbors.
- The immature need to be in control as opposed to the adult need to wait on God through ambiguity.
It would be easier to evaluate if he'd lowered himself enough to comment with specifics instead of generalizing everything and condemning it one and all.
Christian works [be they art, movies, books, music] will always, always, always have haters. That's true enough. Even within Christian circles you will find haters that slam on Christian stuff. For better or worse. Again often condemning anything and everything in a generalized grouping. So while plenty of readers would probably agree with Bowman, I cannot. Because generalizations just don't work for me.
So this last essay I read was a big NO to me.
