Shadle
REVIEWS
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"In a memoir that will resonate with many readers, Carolyn Shadle leads us on a personal journey in search of herself. Explorers of faith will find inspiration and deep honesty as they read about Carolyn's transformation."
Anonymous
"Readers must face the cold hard facts. There are thousands intellectuals who have abandoned their childhood indoctrination due to a deeper understanding of that which we were taught on our Mama's knees. This book is more personable than most books of its nature by a scholar. Step by step you will see the long process of doubt and why doubt is a virtue, not a vice, if you want to know the truth. Do you?"
Anonymous
"I have woven many threads of my life together and find now a beautiful tapestry,” Carolyn Shadle recollects. Her GOD TO GOOD: MY JOURNEY FROM RELIGION TO REASON is more than a first-hand memoir of a concerned social activist navigating the most turbulent changes of the 20th century; it’s a moving portrait of a devout Christian leader who step by step realizes that her faith does not hold the answer to her life’s calling to make the world a better place."
Anonymous
"Carolyn Shadle and I have arrived at different spiritual destinations. However, our faith journeys have much in common, including a rejection of narrow-minded religion, an embrace of reason, concern for social justice, respect for healthy doubt, disappointment in institutional religion, and a commitment to spirituality that elevates behavior over belief. Carolyn’s thoughtful and engaging narrative will benefit people who seek authentic spirituality for the twenty-first century. "
Anonymous
"Carolyn Shadle's journey is one marked by a commitment to reason. This commitment led her out of unreasonable forms of religion to a place of greater depth and meaning. Even theists like me can appreciate Shadle's road from irrational religion to atheism."
Anonymous
"These days at present may appear to be removed from historical perspective where the commodification of nuance abrogates any trends that help demonstrate meaning. Carolyn's book is a great look at a pivotal moment in our history at the intersection of race, economic inequality, the role of women, and religious participation experienced a sea change both through conflict and confluence. Carolyn's is a valuable voice in a discussion that increasingly is being robbed of context and an appreciation of the hard work that it took to get to where we are today.“
Anonymous
Author Publishes MemoirCarolyn Childs Shadle’s [‘58] memoir about leaving the Christian faith was self-published this past December. A review in Kirkus notes that “the author reflects on her younger years, when going to church gave her a sense of belonging.” It goes on to say that “she traces her life through the upheavals of the 1960s and the appearances of the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and, most pertinent to herself, Pat Boone.” Carolyn writes that during her [Wilson] high school years a preference for Boone’s music “was my way to live out my Christian faith.”
Review in the Woodrow Wilson High School ALUMNI BEACON,
January-March 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars.
Will leave you thinking about your own journey
Reviewed in the United Kingdom Amazon on 13 January 2025
Carolyn Shadle’s life spans the most tumultuous and significant decades of American history, from the altruistic radicalism of the 1960s to the Christian nationalism movement of 2025. For much of her youth, Carolyn “continued to frame my life through the lens of a Christian.” With maturity came questions and insights drawn from experience and from thought leaders in communications, business, and ethics. A strength of this book is its frequent pauses to reflect on readings or conversations that changed the way she conceived and practiced her faith. This is a story of political and humanitarian and spiritual awakening that inspires the reader to think about their own experience of spirituality, whether conservative, fundamentalist, altruistic, or atheist.
Customer Review from Constance Hardesty, Author,
Teen-Centeredl Writing Club
amazon.co.uk
Carolyn Shadle's book, From Religion to Reason, is a thoughtful, well-written, and interesting memoir documenting her life path. It is a "good read" and is a book meant to be shared.

Judith L. Stoddard, RN, BS Ed., author of Finding Peace: Meditations and Stories for Insight and Balance
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"Carolyn C. Shadle ‘62 From Religion to Reason: My Journey. Shadle hopes her autobiographical memoir takes readers on a journey of self-discovery, belief, and identity by sharing her path in a deeply rooted Fundamentalist Protestant upbringing. She found that embracing the importance of interpersonal communication, work in high education, and civic engagement allowed her to discover a more authentic sense of self."
Review in The College of Wooster Alumni Magazine,
Summer, 2025
"Among the highlights of her story are those in which the author points out the extreme degree of moral pressure that society exerts on each one of its members, especially children, through moralistic pacts carried out during religious ceremonies. The coercion is such that it condemns virtually all listeners to carry it for life.

Not even a first-rate academic education seems to have the power to free human beings from what they believe and feel they are obligated to revere as sacred and blindly obey, considering it a divine mandate.…
Carolyn achieves this thanks to her extraordinary capacity for reasoning, free from all submission to social conventions and atavisms such as superstition. Added to all this is her equally extraordinary willingness to love. These are the ingredients that empower her to rise above her alienated social context and, therefore, her time."
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Excerpt from review by
Consuelo de Holguín of La Paz, Mexico
ADDITIONAL PUBLICATIONS
Among her varied writings are Building Communication Skills, published by Dandy Lion Publications; The Changing Outplacement Process: New Methods and Opportunities for Transition Management, published by Quorum Books; Communication Case Studies: Building Interpersonal Skills in the Veterinary Practice, published by the American Animal Hospital Association; Positive People Experiences, published by ICS, Inc.; Justice or “Just Desserts?” An Adult Study of the Restorative Justice Approach, published by Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), as well as numerous magazine articles. She has also served as book editor.