About the book:
Marcus Brigstocke is a husband, a father and an award-winning comedian. He's also an atheist... or at least he thinks he is. He knows that God probably doesn't exist because he read it on the side of a bus, and that's one of the ways you can know things.
Here, in God Collar, Marcus sets out on a journey through faith in the hope of filling his 'God-shaped hole' (this is not his arsehole- he is not suggesting his bottom looks like God). He explores his own issues around faith: his lack of it, his need for it, other people's exploitation of it and what good purposes it might serve if he could get hold of it. What good is God if some of His keenest followers abuse children, blow each other up and refuse to dance to 'YMCA'? Can God and Marcus ever be friends when they have so little in common? What's a reluctant atheist to do?
My review:
To be honest, I found this book quite uncomfortable in places. Its not an easy book for anyone of faith to read, but I do think its necessary in order to understand some misconceptions of non-believers about religion and why they occur.
This book promises to be hilarious, and I did find it funny in a few places. But mostly I found it very thought-provoking. I couldn't stop talking to those around me about what I'd read, considering it when I journalled, and generally contemplating each chapter in great detail.
I did really feel for Marcus' exploration of his beliefs. It was interesting to see his thought processes in action, and how we are all influenced by what we experience in everyday life.
I came out at the end of it not having enjoyed the book, but being glad that I'd read it and feeling a little sorry that all Marcus' contemplating whilst writing didn't seem to have made any certainty for him in his life. Worth a read, but not compulsory reading in my opinion.
Action Reader's Action:
Take some time to talk with someone whose beliefs are different to your own
What do you believe in and why?
