Escape & Infidel

I've been reading two autobiographies by women who grew up and escaped from repressive religions. The first book Escape is about life in a fundamentalist Mormon sect, while Infidel describes life within several Islamic countries, as fundamentalism begins to take hold over the region. The two books are very similar in ways, yet quiet unique and therefore make good reading together. Perhaps most surprising to me was that overall life among fundie mormons in the United States was overall more severe and strict. 

Escape

Escape was a very easy, but harrowing and disturbing read about the life of Carolyn Jessop in the FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints). You would think that since she was living in the United States, it would be a simple choice for her to just walk away from it all. But this was not an option. By telling her story from childhood on, one gains a glimpse into how religion contorts the mind and the spirit of each individual it touches. When taken to the extreme, religion can justify any crime in the mind not just of the perpetrator, but the victim as well. But in each case, all participants and bystanders are scarred for life.
Nonetheless, if anything Carolyn's story is a confirmation that the human spirit to be free cannot be extinguished. 


Infidel

Infidel is the autobiography of the famous Somali activist - Ayaan Hirsi Ali. If you have not heard of her, she was a member of the Parliament in the Netherlands, who has had to have armed protection to this day for her outspokenness against Islam. A colleague of hers - Theo van Gogh was murdered by a Muslim over the making of a short film Submission (by the way, you can watch it in full on YouTube). 
Like Carolyn, Ayaan was a victim of circumstance. Although born into an islamic family, she grew up in numerous countries in North Africa and the Middle East at a time when islamic fundamentalism was just taking off. Compared to Carolyn's life, the most horrid experience in Ayaan's life was genital mutilation. This, however, does not detract from the fact that here we are presented with the story of a woman, born into a culture of female subjugation, yet whose skeptical nature drives her on to question and reject her upbringing and become one of today's leading critics of islam, while fighting for the rights of women seeking refuge from islamic fundamentalism.

I would also add that Ayaan's style of writing is superior to Carolyn's (even though Carolyn's autobiography is co-authored!), but that should in no way be detract anyone from reading Escape.