For many of us, the word religious immediately evokes thoughts of brainwashing, violence, and eye-rubbingly tiresome conversations. Why not be done with it? David Dark argues that it’s not that simple: “If what we believe is what we see is what we do is who we are, there’s no getting away from religion.”Both incisive and entertaining, this paperback edition of Life’s Too Short to Pretend You’re Not Religious combinesnDark’s keen powers of cultural observation with candor and wit. With equal parts memoir and analysis, Dark persuasively argues that the fact of religion is the fact of relationship. Looking hard at our weird religious backgrounds (Dark maintains we all have one) can bring the actual content of our everyday existence-the good, the bad, and the glaringly inconsistent-to fuller consciousness. By doing so, we can more practically envision an undivided life and reclaim the idea of being “religious.”