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Cowboys, Armageddon, and the Truth

How a Gay Child Was Saved from Religion

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.

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About the Book

An illuminating glimpse into a child’s sequestered world of abuse, homophobia, and religious extremism. 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, learning that Truth is a concept of honesty rather than false righteousness. He eventually left the Witness faith to become a cowboy, riding bulls in the rodeo.

Book Information:
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-61153-513-6
eBook ISBN: 978-1-61153-537-2
Prices: $18.99 paperback, $6.99 ebook
Release Date: October 22, 2024
Distribution: Ingram for Print, IPG for eBook
Page Count: 308

Nominated for the Over The Rainbow Book List by the American Library Association in July 2012

Named Best LGBT Debut and Best LGBT Non-Fiction of 2013 by Rainbow Book Awards.

“Cowboys, Armageddon and The Truth tells a real hero’s journey. Terry proves to be a wonderful model of the sensitive gay man rising up through and out of religious orthodoxy and coming into his own. This book is about the gay hero’s journey.” -Toby Johnson, author of Gay Spirituality

”Scott Terry’s gritty, colorful account of his church-choked years is insightful and cringe-inducing-a window into the lives of people with a terrible need to confine themselves in rigid little boxes. I shuddered at his predicament, marveled at his resilience, and was heartened by his breakthrough.” -Will Fellows, author of Farm Bo

Details

Author: Scott Terry
Genres: Award-Winning, Biographies and Memoirs, Featured, Nonfiction
Publisher: Torchflame Books
Publication Year: 2024
ASIN: 1611535131
ISBN: 9781611535136
List Price: 18.99
eBook Price: 6.99

A lively, affectionate autobiography with messages of inspiration and acceptance.

– Kirkus Reviews

This stirring memoir illustrates the maiming pain that families can inflict on their members, especially the young and powerless, and the many ways that orthodox religion can isolate and warp its believers.

– Jeff Mann, author of Purgatory

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. Will make sure to get it for my personal library.

– Patricia Nell Warren

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Scott Terry

Scott Terry (also writing under Scott M. Terry) was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, and spent his childhood praying for God and Armageddon to heal him of his homosexual thoughts. At the age of sixteen, he escaped from home and was riding bulls in the rodeo as a gay cowboy.

Scott’s memoir, (Cowboys, Armageddon, and The Truth) was named one of the Top 20 Must Read Books of 2013 by Advocate magazine. It was named one of the best LGBT releases of 2012 by Out In Print and Band of Thebes book lists, and was a double-award winner of the Rainbow Book Awards (Best Gay Debut, and Best LGBT Non-Fiction, 2013). Scott’s new novel, The Gift, is a work of fiction and scheduled for release in Spring 2025. Scott has written often for the San Francisco Chronicle, and his essays has been featured in the Huffington Post and Alternet Magazine, amongst others.

Scott’s rodeo gear, clothing, and championship buckles are in the permanent collection of the Autry Museum of the American West (Los Angeles), and are currently on display in the museum’s Imagined Wests exhibit. He and his husband operate an organic farm in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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