I wrote this essay as an assignment during my university days which was in the late 70s. Go Tell It On The Mountain was the first novel I read by James Baldwin and enjoyed it immensely. Religion was very much part of my life while growing up. My parents were practising Christians, which meant I had to attend church Sunday morning mass, Sunday school at midday, and occasionally participating evening service. In early adolescence, I became a choirboy. Then, as a young man and after leaving Guyana for Great Britain, my church attendance became infrequent, and finally, it faded. I'm not sure why I turned my back on the church. Perhaps I might have become disenchanted with indifference or mild hypocrisy that appeared in some churches I attended in London. Or, it might have been my infatuation with atheism. But memory can be unreliable, owing to its dynamic nature. However, I can honestly say that I have invariably regarded myself as a Christian - if not a practising one, which probably entails regular church attendance. James Baldwin's novel inspired me to choose two themes for the academic essay-namely, the role religion can have in the lives of some folks. The function of religious faith can be twofold: positive and negative, which I try to show in the essay. Lastly, I have omitted page-number references

Mode of access: World Wide Web