"When it comes to religion CJ Werleman has a monopoly on funny. Unafraid to venture where most are too afraid to laugh" -BookshakerAbout CJ
CJ was born in Sydney, Australia. I guess this makes him an Aussie. Although, with
Dutch-East Indies grandparents on one side, and a family that traces its heritage
back to the first white settlers on his mothers' side, CJ's identity was influenced
not only by meat pies, kangaroos, and holden cars, but simultaneously by clogs,
windmills, dykes, and people that place far too many vowels next to each other in a
single word.
His father, born in Indonesia, fled Australia in the early 60's to pursue a career in Hollywood. His mother, an astute business woman, became the first female real estate agency proprietor in her state. The influence of his parents must have been significant, because CJ fled the business world to pursue a career of acting to be busy on Indonesia's idyllic island of Bali.
As a child, CJ's love for writing wasn't noticed early. His first love was sport. And at one stage or another, he trained hard to represent Australia in every single sport imaginable: tennis, cricket, swimming, golf, football, ping pong, and midget tossing. Needless to say, he fell short of national acclaim. But here's where CJ's decision to relocate to Indonesia paid dividends. In 2007, he was selected for his country, his adopted nation. Awarded the honor of representing an archipelago of 250,000,000 inhabitants in the international game of cricket. At the 2007 ICC Trophy held in New Zealand, CJ would go on to score the most number of runs, and take the most number of wickets for Indonesia. Awarding himself the title of that nation's greatest ever all rounder. And to this day, he doesn't stop reminding close friends in Bali of this fact.
Unfortunately, being the #1 ranked cricketer in the #87th ranked cricketing nation pays less than a volunteer at a cupcake stall on Memorial Day - and therefore any self deluded ambition that a professional sporting career could be had at age 37 was mercilessly snuffed out.
With his sporting aspirations reluctantly retired, CJ's other love (outside of taking his pants off in a pub so as to win $20 off his mates), writing, came to the fore. Until that time, his literary accomplishments were confined to a few published articles in Inside Business Success, the Bangkok Post, and his Australian Rules football team's (the Bali Geckos) match reports. But residing in the heart of his journalistic mediocrity was a quiet discontent. An irritation greater than the discomfort of a long taxi ride with 'Delhi belly'. And what irritated him most was other people's mindlessness. To him, nothing exceeded the mindlessness of seemingly intelligent people believing they were eating a dead Jew in the form of shitty wine and stale crackers.
On the evening of October 12, 2005 - CJ witnessed the devastating aftermath of twin suicide bombs on Bali's Jimbaran beach, a renowned seafood location for tourists. This event propelled CJ to take action, and today he is the rising voice of today's new atheists. Dedicated to warning his fellow humans about the dangers of religious doctrine. And street side curries.
'God Hates You. Hate Him Back' was released in November 2009, and has consistently enjoyed the #1 spot on Amazon for religious criticism, and religious humor. 'Jesus Lied. He Was Only Human' is his latest release. A book that completely and comprehensively debunks the Christian faith. Significantly, unlike other books in this genre, CJ never loses sight of his funny.
WHO IS CJ WERLEMAN ?
CJ was born in Sydney, Australia. I guess this makes him an Aussie. Although, with Dutch-East Indies grand...More
