Godless Citizens in a Godly Republic, R. Laurence Moore
Godless Citizens in a Godly Republic, R. Laurence Moore
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Godless Citizens in a Godly Republic
Atheists in American Public Life

Author: R. Laurence Moore, Isaac Kramnick

Narrator: Matthew Boston

Unabridged: 9 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/21/2018

Synopsis

From colonial times into the twentieth century, our laws and court cases ignored atheism, assuming that all good Americans were religious. Americans came to associate atheism with radical social philosophies that advocated violence—especially anarchism and communism. Avowed nonbelievers were derided, even the famous patriot Thomas Paine. Only in the twentieth century, with the passage of laws allowing for conscientious objection to war, did nonbelief enter debates about religious liberty. Still, today every one of the fifty states has God written into its constitution, with eight requiring a belief in God for holding public office. God is everywhere in American public life: on our currency, in the Pledge of Allegiance, and in the national motto. R. Laurence Moore and Isaac Kramnick explore both God's omnipresence and the dramatic rise in nonbelievers that has led to an "atheist awakening" intent on holding the country to its secular principles.

About R. Laurence Moore

R. Laurence Moore is currently the Howard A. Newman Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He is also the chair and director of undergraduate studies for the American Studies department. His areas of research are American intellectual, cultural, and religious history, and his recent publications include the books Selling God: American Religion in the Marketplace of Culture and Touchdown Jesus: The Mixing of Sacred and Secular in American History.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kevin on March 17, 2023

“The Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." -The United States Treaty of Tripoli, 1796 “I don’t know that atheists should be regarded as citizens, nor should they be regarded as patriotic.” -George H. W. Bush, 1987 Did you know that there are......more

Goodreads review by Marsha on March 02, 2022

This is one of the better books about atheism in America. It’s neither strident, defensive nor accusatory. The authors cite autobiographies, newspaper articles and refer to the Constitution itself, as well as federal and state laws in order to point up the cause for atheism and the history of religi......more

Goodreads review by Empirical on October 25, 2018

This is a very edifying read. Started with exciting history, then a little lull, then the book really took off. There is a good chunk of historical info about the founding fathers and other influential and unknown figures, and their belief (Yes! They are all believers.) Context to that stance and en......more

Goodreads review by Ceci on March 30, 2018

"Godless Citizens" is an interesting book, but after perusing my review copy, I have to wonder what this adds to the conversation. It is another book that calls out the religious for their persecution complex while they attack the nonbelievers, who don't outnumber them in any state. It says that ath......more

Goodreads review by Margaret on September 05, 2018

The first warning sign that this book might not be as thoughtful as I wanted was the fact that E.B. White, whose quotation about religion begins the book, is cited as "the author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little," with no regard for (or knowledge of?) his long tenure as an essayist for The New Y......more

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