A survivor of a Japanese internment camp, the first person to cross the Atlantic in a kayak, and para-glider that jumped off of Mt. Everest in a massive snow-storm; none of these people or things have anything to do with Patrick Nachtigall, yet he has the shameless audacity to write his personal memoirs.
Rarely is book about spirituality and religion as funny and insightful as Patrick Nachtigall's No Religion Required: A Memoir of Faith, Doubt, Chocolate Milk, and Untimely Death. From an orphanage in Costa Rica to a leper colony in rural China, this is the hilarious true story of a lifelong traveling, religious pilgrim wrestling with the strange and profound claims of Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. Adopted by Christian missionaries as an infant in Central America and wanting to follow in their footsteps in rural China, Patrick turns his memoir into an exploration of the dark side of institutional religion and how it sits side-by-side with humanity's never-ending quest for spiritual fulfillment. Patrick uses academic expertise, personal experience, and humor to re-examine the role that religion has played throughout history and in various cultures.
Blessed with a gift for storytelling as well as tremendously attractive legs, the various intimate true stories from Patrick's life pose bigger questions for us all about "Why we believe in the supernatural?" Why religions can so easily become poisonous?" "How religions deal with the dark side of life and suffering?" as well as "How religions inspire us to do good." Throughout his various misadventures around the world, the question lingers whether religions is even necessary in the 21st Century. Is religion something we have outgrown? Does it cause more problems than it solves? Is there room for both science and religion?
While many spiritual memoirs are dry, hard to relate to, and fail to challenge the author's own religious assumptions, No Religion Required provides an honest, transparent examination of the author's pre-conceived notions about religion, spirituality, and the Christian beliefs he was raised on. Drawing from his experience in over 80 countries and having lived and worked on 5 continents, Patrick is uniquely qualified to ask the questions that most haunt humanity in our increasingly secular and technologically-dependent world. No Religion Required promises to be one of the most enlightening books you will ever read whether you are religious, agnostic, an atheist, or just spiritual.
