Freethinker

An authoritative history of the vital role of secularist thinkers and activists in the United States, from a writer of "fierce intelligence and nimble, unfettered imagination" (The New York Times) At a time when the separation of church and state is under attack as never before, Freethinkers offers a powerful defense of the secularist heritage that gave Americans the first government in the world founded not on the authority of religion but on the bedrock of human reason. In impassioned, elegant prose, celebrated author Susan Jacoby paints a striking portrait of more than two hundred years of secularist activism, beginning with the fierce debate over the omission of God from the Constitution. Moving from nineteenth-century abolitionism and suffragism through the twentieth century's civil liberties, civil rights, and feminist movements, Freethinkers illuminates the neglected accomplishments of secularists who, allied with liberal and tolerant religious believers, have stood at the forefront of the battle for reforms opposed by reactionary forces in the past and today. Rich with such iconic figures as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Clarence Darrow—as well as once-famous secularists such as Robert Green Ingersoll, "the Great Agnostic"—Freethinkers restores to history generations of dedicated humanists. It is they, Jacoby shows, who have led the struggle to uphold the combination of secular government and religious liberty that is the glory of the American system.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1876.

Another dynamic collection of contemporary essays on Humanism, Religion and Nature by former minister and chaplain Chris Highland selected from his weekly "Highland Views" columns in the Asheville Citizen-Times. Friendly Freethinker follows the publication of A Freethinker's Gospel and Broken Bridges, each presenting provocative perspectives on faith and freethought in a fractured world. Positive, incisive, hopeful and helpful, essays include "Can We Talk About Religious Supremacy?," "Having Difficult Conversations without Destroying Relationships," "Battling Bullies in Boyhood and Beliefs," "The Man Who Changed His Name to God," "Why Does the World Still Need Scriptures?," "The Friendship of an Atheist and an Evangelical," "If There is a God in Nature, Which One?," "What I Would Most Like to Believe," "Mature Christians and Grown-up Atheists," "Does Religion Begin and End in Silence?" and many more (50 essays in all). Highland draws from a deep well of experiences in chaplaincy and teaching, exploring the edges of our comfortable communities and congregations, asking the questions that stir us to more rational thinking and practical action. Though he left the ministry--and faith--Highland is happily married to a progressive minister who reads, comments and helps edit his newspaper columns. Together, they model a creative, constructive approach to bridging differences of belief. Highland's writings exemplify a commitment to secular/spiritual communication so greatly needed in our culture today.

Poet, playwright, and librarian, Éva Circé-Côté was a prolific journalist writing for progressive newspapers under a number of pseudonyms. As a feminist and a freethinker who fought for equality and secularism, she offers a non-conformist perspective on Quebec society and politics in the first four decades of the twentieth century. Freethinker is translated from the 2011 Clio prize winner, Éva Circé-Côté, libre penseuse, 1871-1949.