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Freethinkers A History of American Secularism Susan Jacoby 9780805077766 Books

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Freethinkers A History of American Secularism Susan Jacoby 9780805077766 Books

In FREETHINKERS: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN SECULARISM, author Susan Jacoby traces the origins and development of freethought in America - and demonstrates how the history of America is intimately intertwined with the history of American secularism.

Starting with the American Revolution and working through American history up to the present day Bush administration, Jacoby offers a concise - but colorful! - overview of secularism, freethought, and the separation of church and state. Though she does discuss the secular roots of the Constitution, only a small portion of FREETHINKERS focuses on the Founding Fathers and their religious beliefs (or lack thereof). Indeed, FREETHINKERS is not a treatise on the First Amendment; it does not claim to be. Volumes have been written on what sort of "wall" Jefferson, Adams, Madison, et.al., sought to erect; rather than add to the library, Jacoby offers her view and then moves on. What follows is an analysis of various social movements, such as abolition, women's suffrage, labor rights and civil rights, with an emphasis on the role in which secularists and freethinkers played in each. Especially interesting are Jacoby's accounts of abolition and women's suffrage, what with all the wheeling, dealing and backstabbing that went on behind the scenes. It's refreshing (or perhaps just downright depressing) to see how much contemporary political maneuvering resembles that of the golden days of freethought and radicalism.

As I devoured FREETHINKERS, I found myself wishing that I had been introduced to similar works during high school. Like many high school students, I found the sanitized, inoffensive history textbooks (both American and global) B-O-R-I-N-G. It wasn't until I graduated from college and again had time for leisure reading that I discovered uncensored, true-to-life historical nonfiction - and actually took an interest in American history and politics. History doesn't have to be boring, kids! In fact, it's almost always as exciting, if not more so, than the latest flick that Hollywood has regurgitated onto the big screen.

Perhaps if books such as FREETHINKERS (as well as James W. Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me and Michael Farquhar's A Treasury of Great American Scandals) were introduced into high school curriculums, we'd raise a new generation of politically engaged and active young citizens - knowledgeable voters who, armed with a profound respect for science, empiricism, and secularism, not to mention a healthy dose of skepticism, would not have elected dubya to office (twice!), and allowed him to wage a war based on 935+ "false statements".


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Freethinkers A History of American Secularism Susan Jacoby 9780805077766 Books Reviews

Great history of the founding fathers, and the sad state of American intellectual maturity. The more I learn, the less proud I am of our nation in relationship to other advanced nations. We are simply too religious, too stubborn, too willfully ignorant, and too steeped in superstitious nonsense for grown-up nations. My parents always tell me I was so happy when I was a believer....and I have to retort, "Sure, but as a kid, I was happier believing in Santa Claus, but doesn't make sense or reason to start believing, once rational knowledge and thought has dispelled the false."

A good read. I read it because I wanted to follow the sequence of her books, and am now reading her "The Age of Unreason." That's America. Unreasonable. Fox-isized into blissful idiocy.
This books opened my eyes to how censorship has hidden the true facts of history from generations of school children, who became citizens wihtout benefit of ALL our history. I will not try to expound on the wonder and intelligence of Susan Jacoby's well researched treatise, but highly recommend that those who are appalled by the ways of the world, as we know them today, get a copy and read this book and see how the "powers that be" mesmerize the populace, and use them, to achieve their own nefarious ends.

I have always been "out of step" with those who would use me to achieve their own purposes and delighted to know of those brave people who fought the battles against bigoted, ignorant cultures, clerics, governments, and businesses over the centuries. Thanks Ms. Jacoby for confirming that there are, and have been for many years, sane people who inhabit this beautiful blue planet.
Ms. Jacoby is an unabashed secularist. God bless her. (Pun intended.) American history is replete with secularists at the forefront of major cultural events, however, they are mostly ignored in most historians' narratives. The author helps by noting such luminaries as Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Robert Ingersoll, Margaret Sanger, Emma Goldman, and Clarence Darrow. She also stresses that all secularists under the umbrella such as deists, agnostics, atheists, humanist, and freethinkers have been much maligned for their commitment to having no religious or spiritual beliefs. The United States has had moments were the separation of church and state, and freethought were acceptable to large segments of the population.

'Freethinkers' was published in 2004 when President George W. Bush was in office. Arguably, the merging of Christian religion and public office was at its apex. Science-based assessments when it came to public policy took a back seat to magical thinking. Today, in 2016, religion still warps government actions, but not as severe as in 2004. What Ms. Jacoby's work shows is that religious zeal ebbs and flows throughout our history. It also shows that secularism has a proud history of defending our Constitution from Christian intolerance towards anything that deviates from their religious attitudes. The separation of Church and State was very clear when the Founding Fathers developed our Constitution. She explains why they constructed this grand experiment in such a manner. Abortion, feminism, labor, civil rights, Emancipation, evolution, the American Civil Liberties Union, fighting against censorship, contraception, removing school prayer in public schools, the death penalty, and the pill are some of the issues covered by Ms. Jacoby.

The stigmatization of being secular is very much still with us, but finally making inroads after being in the woods since the ascension of the Republicans Southern Strategy for winning the White House and Congress. 'Freethinkers' allows secularists to take pride in their mindset and understand we have a proud history. The book corrects many of the fallacies promoted by conservative Christian religions by showing their actual actions during such events as the women's right to vote, slavery, public education, and birth control. It never fails a religion beseeches the government to protect them from being overrun by other religious groups, but once they attain enough followers, wellllllllll, then it's a whole different story. It's becomes their religious way or the highway. 'Freethinkers' was a great booster to my morale.
In FREETHINKERS A HISTORY OF AMERICAN SECULARISM, author Susan Jacoby traces the origins and development of freethought in America - and demonstrates how the history of America is intimately intertwined with the history of American secularism.

Starting with the American Revolution and working through American history up to the present day Bush administration, Jacoby offers a concise - but colorful! - overview of secularism, freethought, and the separation of church and state. Though she does discuss the secular roots of the Constitution, only a small portion of FREETHINKERS focuses on the Founding Fathers and their religious beliefs (or lack thereof). Indeed, FREETHINKERS is not a treatise on the First Amendment; it does not claim to be. Volumes have been written on what sort of "wall" Jefferson, Adams, Madison, et.al., sought to erect; rather than add to the library, Jacoby offers her view and then moves on. What follows is an analysis of various social movements, such as abolition, women's suffrage, labor rights and civil rights, with an emphasis on the role in which secularists and freethinkers played in each. Especially interesting are Jacoby's accounts of abolition and women's suffrage, what with all the wheeling, dealing and backstabbing that went on behind the scenes. It's refreshing (or perhaps just downright depressing) to see how much contemporary political maneuvering resembles that of the golden days of freethought and radicalism.

As I devoured FREETHINKERS, I found myself wishing that I had been introduced to similar works during high school. Like many high school students, I found the sanitized, inoffensive history textbooks (both American and global) B-O-R-I-N-G. It wasn't until I graduated from college and again had time for leisure reading that I discovered uncensored, true-to-life historical nonfiction - and actually took an interest in American history and politics. History doesn't have to be boring, kids! In fact, it's almost always as exciting, if not more so, than the latest flick that Hollywood has regurgitated onto the big screen.

Perhaps if books such as FREETHINKERS (as well as James W. Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me and Michael Farquhar's A Treasury of Great American Scandals) were introduced into high school curriculums, we'd raise a new generation of politically engaged and active young citizens - knowledgeable voters who, armed with a profound respect for science, empiricism, and secularism, not to mention a healthy dose of skepticism, would not have elected dubya to office (twice!), and allowed him to wage a war based on 935+ "false statements".