Craig Thompson's Lament

In their memoirs Blankets and Foreskin’s Lament, Craig Thompson and Shalom Auslander express feelings of discontent towards the religions they grew up in: Christianity and Judaism. While Thompson becomes disillusioned with Christianity, Auslander’s view of his religious upbringing is negative from the start. Ultimately, Thompson and Auslander’s reasons for leaving their traditions both stem from personal and familial experiences within their religious community. The main difference between Thompson and Auslander’s experiences with their religions is that Thompson before becoming disillusioned with Christianity had been enamored with it.. He practiced his faith rigorously as evidenced by his habit of reading the Bible each night (Thompson

In a conversation with his brother Phil, Thompson discloses that he still believes in God, but “the rest of Christianity its Bible, its churches, its dogma - only sets up boundaries between people and cultures” (Thompson 533). This idea is asserted when Thompson is discouraged to attend art school by a fellow church member. The member recounts that art school had corrupted his brother by turning him into a homosexual and consequently straining their relationship (Thompson 519). Similarly Auslander’s relationship with his faith is shaped by his interactions with his religious community. His perception of Judaism appears to be heavily influenced by his relationship with his family. Unlike Rabbi Wolpe who viewed Sabbath as a day to “pause, put down the distractions of life, and pay attention anew to the sounds of the soul and to God’s place in our lives” (Wolpe 74) Auslander viewed it as a day of monotony and one largely consisting of arguments between his brother and father. His parent’s lack of effort towards bringing their family together on this day resulted in Auslander viewing Sabbath as a reminder of his family’s growing disconnect. This environment during Sabbath pushed Auslander to want to break this cycle and encouraged Auslander to leave his