The Unimaginable Atheist: I review “The Loser Letters”

and tell CUA they made a big mistake:

“The Loser Letters,” Mary Eberstadt’s tale of an ex-Christian’s attempt to improve the New Atheism via perky blog posts from rehab, is making its dramatic premiere at the Catholic University of America. The play, adapted from Eberstadt’s novel by Jeffrey Fiske, has three major elements. One of these is brilliant and charming; one is powerful but laced with melodrama; and one so underthought that it’s degrading to the audience. Unfortunately, I’ve named these elements in reverse order of how much of the play’s time and attention they receive.

more. EDITED to remove no-longer-needed disclaimers. Anyway, this show made me think about this long-ago symposium I organized for Crisis magazine, if you want to hear some real atheists (and other non-Christians, although lol solely Jews because I care about what I care about) describing their real views of Christian faith and practice.