An Accidental Dissident: Life and Times of a Christian in Communist Romania

What was it like to grow up and live as a Christian under a communist regime where atheism was state policy? Mihai Oara was born in Transylvania, a Romanian province with a rich historical and cultural background. He grew up in a totalitarian country in which communist ideology was imposed from the outside after the Second World War, in conflict with and opposition to the traditions of the country. Some people adapted to the new conditions, some withdrew from political life, and some opposed the regime secretly or openly. This is a story of growth, transformation, the defeat of fear, and one's struggle to maintain moral dignity. It begins with a child scared to death, caught between his parents, who expected him to practice and profess the Christian faith, and the school system, which expected him to profess atheism. As he goes through the normal stages of development, he finds ways to cope and redefine himself multiple times. He evolves to learn how to avoid pressures and commitments, and later to transcend fear and find inner freedom. At the end of this transformation, he becomes involved in various underground activities; some religious, some of a political nature. Slowly but surely, he finds himself on the radar of the Securitate, the secret police of Romania. A confrontation is inevitable. The pace of the narrative accelerates as the secret surveillance becomes tighter and he must find ways to dodge it. The message of the book is a plea for courage and human dignity.