“Asian American Apostate is a stunning contribution to the topic of deconstruction and leaving high-demand religion that for too long has been almost exclusively occupied by White voices.” (Bradley Onishi, host of Straight White American Jesus and author of Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism—and What Comes Next)

R. Scott Okamoto had no idea that his job as an English teacher at an evangelical Christian college meant facing bigotry as an Asian American and faux intellectualism as a teacher—and what it would mean for his own journey.

Asian American Apostate is a wry an ironic story of leaving religion while teaching at an evangelical university. Okamoto's often chilling accounts reveal that these schools, where prayer and trite theological debate erupts in any lecture, are anything but higher education. Stories range from a classroom declaration against interracial marriage because it causes painful pregnancies, to grading a paper entitled, “Why Obama Is a Nazi,” and to the times Okamoto, a popular teacher, was disciplined by school officials for keeping standards for writing. Okamoto's personal reporting gives you the inside story of how America’s evangelical schools encourage not a life of the mind but White cultural power. But more than that, you’ll see how Okamoto, despite personal and professional challenges, found clarity about who he was not, and who he was coming to be.

Listen along as Scott recounts his difficult, unlikely, and ultimately encouraging spiritual journey that will immerse you the search for a deeper and more expansive life.