Fugelsang opens the introduction by explaining that he exists because his parents, a former nun and Franciscan brother, broke their vows to God. His mother, Mary Margaret (later Sister Damien), entered the Daughters of Wisdom convent after high school, working with “lepers” before serving at a hospital in Malawi. His father, Jack (later Brother Boniface), worked as a butcher before joining the Franciscans, where he taught history and coached basketball. The two met at Holy Family Hospital in Brooklyn when Brother Boniface sought tuberculosis treatment. Despite their different backgrounds—she from the segregated South, he from Brooklyn—they became friends through his letters about American current events during her time in Malawi. After 10 years, he convinced her to leave the convent, and they married two months later, settling on Long Island.

Fugelsang grew up in a devoutly Catholic household in Bohemia, Long Island, attending Mass regularly and learning that Christianity meant service, compassion, and social justice. His exposure to the Christian Right came through televised evangelists like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson in the 1980s and 1990s, who preached against groups like welfare recipients, feminists, and gay people, with little emphasis on caring for the poor or vulnerable. This version of Christianity—which made abortion and anti-LGBTQ positions central—contradicted everything his parents taught him.