Found in the biography section, this book is classified as non-fiction. Let's examine how the bisexual author portrays his Christian parents and his church:
As you read the following pages from the book, pay special attention to how Christians and Christian parents are PORTRAYED:
In the following pages, the author describes how, as a teen, he was caught listening to music his parents disapprove of. Notice how his parents are portrayed. Also, notice how the author says that he chose to believe differently from his parents and figured out how to hide what he did from them going forward. This is very important as it teaches children that it's okay to go against what your parents are teaching you and to hide what you are really doing:
On this page, the author again questions and disagrees with his parents beliefs. This, of course, can also encourage Christian kids to question their parents' beliefs:
In the following pages, his Christian parents' beliefs are expressly ridiculed by his friend:
On the following pages, the parents views about pornography are ridiculed by his friend who calls his friend's Christian parents "hard-core":
On the following pages, the author describes the Christian belief that homosexuality is an abomination. The author thinks that the guys in the video are just like him, normal, and questions how it can be an abomination. Notice that the televangelist "hurls these words away from his mouth like slurs" and the asks how it could be an abomination since one guy kissing another guy on the cheek and two guys laughing together and two guys holding hands doesn't look evil. (Love is love, and love is the best thing there is.) The guys are even tall and muscular, not effeminate. As he watches the video, the author feels a "fleeting warmth". The televangelist (and Christians in general) are portrayed as evil for believing it's an abomination.
In the following pages, the author as a teen gave his father a "news flash" about music and his father reacts in anger. The author describes his father's anger and fury as he is physically punished. The author describes Bible passages that his father uses to justify his actions (which his father calls "the Biblical basis for spanking"), the many times his father "spanked him in anger" and this time when his father felt remorse for disciplining him in anger and in a bizarre twist of events said, "Please, Aaron, whip me. I've been a bad, bad daddy. I deserve to be whipped." Of course, his mother who is emotionally unavailable just straightens the chairs that were knocked over. Just ask yourself what kids would think about Christians (whether they themselves have Christian parents or not) after reading these pages.
On the following page, the author who goes to a Christian school is being expelled for activities at a party. He thinks that maybe Jesus isn't coming back one day and that he "can't keep hoping to be rescued from his life". He decides he needs to start saving himself and not rely on Jesus to save him from his life. Of course, the Bible tell us that Jesus is our salvation and that we should rely on Him and that we should not rely on our own understanding!
These are just some of the examples of how this book slanders Christians.