Freedom From God: Restoring the Sense of Wonder

"Former Pastor Willson has written an engaging and unusual account of his own release from the traps of false ideas about God and the self. His theology amounts to no less than a revival of a kind of monism, the assertion that all reality, the whole universe, is one substance. His journey will seem familiar to many agnostics and independent minds, but his account is told with zest and is supported by experience and deep feeling. Highly recommended." --LIBRARY JOURNAL

A study in candor, a philosophical broadside of profound importance, a guide to personal liberation, an invitation to wonder — a book that links truth-seekers and truth-tellers. "Freedom From God" is the product of a lifetime of thinking and reading. For eight years Willson was a card-carrying "Master of Divinity," serving as missionary/pastor in New Mexico. Then he left the church in sorrow and anger over its failure to speak out against war. He taught high school for ten years, then quit teaching "to write," and entered what he came to call "the real world," thinking all the while. Eventually Willson decided that the word "God" was too contaminated to be useful, but found he experienced wonder, more than ever.

"For many, many individuals, the struggle between honesty and religious indoctrination is a hard one - especially for those of us who were indoctrinated as children. This book should be a great help to anyone wrestling with such problems." -- Chaz Bufe, author of Heretic's Handbook of Quotations

"For those whose experience of organized Christianity has turned to ashes, Harry Willson provides a fine framework for picking oneself up and dusting oneself off. More important than disenchantment validated is his marvelous call to wonder. He reminds us that if there is grace it must build on nature. And, if there isn't grace, he bravely points to what it means to be deeply human." -- Michael E. Daly, former RC priest, retired professor of Social Ethics at UNM