"A lively, affectionate autobiography with messages of inspiration and acceptance." -Kirkus Reviews
"An inspiring depiction of human endurance and the heart-healing balms of generosity and kindness." -Jeff Mann, author of Purgatory
When Scott Terry was ten, he embraced the Jehovah's Witness faith and their prediction that the world would soon end. As an adolescent, he prepared for Armageddon and prayed for God to strip away his growing attraction to other young men. By adulthood, Terry found himself no longer believing in the promised apocalypse. Over time, he left the Witness religion and became a cowboy, riding bulls in the rodeo. He overcame the hurdles of parental abuse, religious extremism, and homophobia and learned that Truth is a concept of honesty rather than false righteousness.
Cowboys, Armageddon, and The Truth: How a Gay Child was Saved from Religion offers an illuminating glimpse into a child's sequestered world of abuse, homophobia, and religious extremism. Scott Terry's memoir is a compelling, poignant and occasionally humorous look into the Jehovah's Witness faith-a religion that refers to itself as The Truth-and a brave account of Terry's successful escape from a troubled past.
"A powerful story not only of dealing with and escaping from abuse but also about coming to terms with being gay in an atmosphere that regarded it as both unnatural and sinful." - Brady Clemens, GLBTRT of the American Library Association
"A whiplash piece of literary reporting, about a family of children growing up poor and religiously abused in the rural West, and one child miraculously finding himself in spite of everything. I was riveted." -Patricia Nell Warren, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Front Runner
Advocate magazine Top 20 Must-Read Books
Nominated for the Over The Rainbow Book List by the American Library Association in July 2012
Best LGBT Debut and Best LGBT Non-Fiction of 2013 by Rainbow Book Awards, Elisa Reviews