Village Atheists: How America's Unbelievers Made Their Way in a Godly Nation - Softcover

Schmidt, Leigh Eric

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691183112 ISBN 13: 9780691183114

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2018

Synopsis

A much-maligned minority throughout American history, atheists have been cast as a threat to the nation's moral fabric, barred from holding public office, and branded as irreligious misfits in a nation chosen by God. Yet village atheists--as these godless freethinkers came to be known by the close of the nineteenth century--were also hailed for their gutsy dissent from stultifying pieties and for posing a necessary secularist challenge to the entanglements of church and state. In Village Atheists, Leigh Eric Schmidt explores the complex cultural terrain that unbelievers have long had to navigate in their fight to secure equal rights and liberties in American public life. He rebuilds the history of American secularism from the ground up, giving flesh and blood to these outspoken infidels. Village Atheists demonstrates that the secularist vision for the United States proved to be anything but triumphant in a country where faith and citizenship were--and still are--closely interwoven.

About this title

Review:

"For anyone interested in the birth, growth, and development of grassroots secularism in the United States this book is an absolute must."
--Phil Zuckerman, Los Angeles Review of Books

"The best history of nonbelievers in the United States."
--Joseph Blankholm, Public Books

"Schmidt's rich, deep exploration of atheist thinkers in 19th-century America contextualizes questions pressing on American Christianity today."
--Choice

"This well-written and lively text will be of interest to both scholars and more general readers with an interest in American irreligion."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"One of CHOICE's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2017"

About the Author:

Leigh Eric Schmidt is the Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. His books include Restless Souls: The Making of American Spirituality and Heaven's Bride: The Unprintable Life of Ida C. Craddock, American Mystic, Scholar, Sexologist, Martyr, and Madwoman.

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0691183112
• ISBN 13: 9780691183114
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 360