Grace Without God

A THOUGHT-PROVOKING EXPLORATION OF HOW TO LIVE A MEANINGFUL LIFE WITHOUT RELIGION.

Meet the “Nones,” a rapidly growing group of religiously unaffiliated Americans (so-called because they check the box that reads, essentially, “none of the above” when asked about their faith). While many Americans are raised in a religious tradition, recent decades have seen large numbers of families drift from their churches and synagogues, temples and mosques, and abandon faith-based practices. But what is lost when we leave religion?

Faith traditions give us a moral grounding and a sense of identity by connecting us to our past and creating tight communal bonds. But without the one-stop shop of religion, how do the nonreligious fill the need for ritual, story, community, and, above all, purpose and meaning? With a quarter of Americans identifying as religiously unaffiliated, these questions have never been more urgent.

Katherine Ozment—writer, journalist, and mother of three—comes face-to-face with the fundamental issue of the Nones when her son asks her the simplest of questions: “What are we?” Unsettled by the only reply she can summon—“Nothing”—she sets out on a journey across the changing landscape of America to find a better answer.

Insightful, surprising, and compelling, Ozment’s search is both a personal and critical exploration, inspiring readers of all backgrounds to find their own way forward to a meaningful life.