Book - Raised Right

Raised Right by Alisa Harris

I have to admit that I was not genuinely interested in reading this book when I received it. The subtitle, “How I Untangled My Faith from Politics,” left me dreading what I would find on the inside.

I admire the author, Alisa Harris, for being able to break away from the religious and political programming that was forced on her in her formative years. Unfortunately it seems to have resulted in disillusionment that the world isn’t black and white as she was taught. It also seemed to me that there was some bitterness toward the parents that subjected her to that relentless dogmatic approach to life. Though, to be fair her love for her parents is also evident in the book.

The things that she plans to pass on to her children: To care, To love, To take heart – these are things every parent should teach. Her last sentence should be a clarion call to all of us, ‘In other words, as Jesus urged His followers, “Take heart! I have overcome the world” – not through a show of power but a picture of love.’ I can agree with her on that point. We also agree on the view that freedom of speech includes all speech, even that which we disagree with.

And there are points of Ms. Harris’ which I disagree with. I won’t use this book review to list each and my counter argument to them, since this is a review and not an opinion piece.

Needless to say, the book is good, written well and tells a story of which many should be able to draw parallels from and also learn from. Her personal story is both heart-breaking, yet inspirational. Ms. Harris is very witty and is able to draw a reader into her situations.

If you have the time and/or opportunity to pick this book up and read it, you will be well served to do so.

As always, even though this book was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah at no charge other than giving a review of the book. Waterbrook Multnomah makes no stipulations on the review of Raised Right being good or bad, just that it be an honest review.

The link below will take you to a downloadable copy of chapter 1.

 http://multnomahemails.com/wbmlt/pdf/RaisedRightSneakPeek.pdf