{"id":10606,"date":"2016-10-07T12:33:29","date_gmt":"2016-10-07T16:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?p=10606"},"modified":"2016-10-07T14:25:40","modified_gmt":"2016-10-07T18:25:40","slug":"the-unimaginable-atheist-i-review-the-loser-letters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2016\/10\/the-unimaginable-atheist-i-review-the-loser-letters.html","title":{"rendered":"The Unimaginable Atheist: I review &#8220;The Loser Letters&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>and tell CUA they made a big mistake:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div id=\"stcpDiv\">\n<div id=\"stcpDiv\">\u201cThe Loser Letters,\u201d Mary Eberstadt\u2019s tale of an ex-Christian\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s degrading to the audience. Unfortunately, I\u2019ve named these elements in reverse order of how much of the play\u2019s time and attention they receive.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/aleteia.org\/2016\/10\/07\/review-the-loser-letters-takes-the-stage-at-catholic-university\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">more<\/a>. EDITED to remove no-longer-needed disclaimers. Anyway, this show made me think about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.crisismagazine.com\/2002\/christianity-from-the-outside-a-crisis-magazine-symposium\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">this long-ago symposium<\/a> I organized for <em>Crisis<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>and tell CUA they made a big mistake: \u201cThe Loser Letters,\u201d Mary Eberstadt\u2019s tale of an ex-Christian\u2019s 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\u2019s novel by Jeffrey Fiske, has three major elements. One of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1071,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,7],"tags":[162,131,30],"class_list":["post-10606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-mackerel-snapping","tag-abortion","tag-it-is-very-dark-you-are-likely-to-be-wrestled-by-an-angel","tag-mackerel-snapping-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Unimaginable Atheist: I review &quot;The Loser Letters&quot;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"and tell CUA they made a big mistake: \u201cThe Loser Letters,\u201d Mary Eberstadt\u2019s tale of an ex-Christian\u2019s attempt to improve the New Atheism via perky blog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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