Rating: 
Summary: As American As Apple Pie
Review: There is a movement among atheists and agnostics to have themselves referred to as "brights". It is unnecessary. There has been for over three centuries the honorable and laudatory term "freethinker" to designate unbelievers. It often encompasses the beliefs of deists, so many of whom played a role in founding our nation. In _Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism_ (Metropolitan Books) by Susan Jacoby, both freethinkers and open-minded religious believers will find a history of remarkable contributions that freethought has brought to our nation over the centuries. Jacoby is squarely in the freethinker camp, and her book could be seen as one of advocacy, especially as she regards the current government and its faith-based programs. The history revealed here, however, shows that American freethinkers have been in the advanced guard of good ideas from resisting governmental religion through abolition through birth control. There are many who say that America's greatness lies in its religious devotion, but even if that is true, its nonbelievers helped found a nation where different religions could be expressed and tolerated, and they have continued to advocate religious civil rights to the current day.
Encroachments by those who want religion to be sponsored by government had been attempted long before the nation was founded; Patrick Henry himself introduced a bill in the Virginia General Assembly that would have taxed all citizens to support teachers of Christianity. Our Constitution quite famously has no reference to Jesus, or even to God, within it. The Founding Fathers invented the first government that was based on the consent of the governed and not on any claim to a divine foundation. This was quite deliberate; those at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia explicitly considered, and rejected, putting God in the document. It is little appreciated that the famous revolutionary Ethan Allen was strongly against organized religion; he wrote a summary of his beliefs in 1784 as _Reason the Only Oracle of Man_. More influential were the writings of the deist Tom Paine, frequently cited in these pages as a deist with a particular antipathy for the Bible and certitude that Christianity was a ridiculous distortion of true religion. Another freethinker looming large on these pages is Robert Ingersoll, "The Great Agnostic," a Civil War veteran, booster for the Republican party, and spellbinding orator. It is unimaginable that an avowed freethinker these days might be called upon by his party to speak to any political convention, but Republicans were eager to recruit Ingersoll's oratorical talents. Ingersoll and others were eager to fight censorship of Whitman's _Leaves of Grass_ or birth control information, and were on the front lines in the Civil Rights movement.
The tolerance expected by Jefferson ("It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.") has been a tradition among freethinkers, a tradition they have tried to get believers to extend even to other believers. A vicious wave of anti-Catholicism was set off when Al Smith in 1928 became the first Catholic presidential candidate. Freethinkers were ready to remind the rest of the nation that there was no religious requirement for office. One of Smith's most fervent defenders was Clarence Darrow, the nation's best-known agnostic since Ingersoll. Such admirable actions ought to be appreciated by everyone of any belief, but Jacoby has written a history; it is easy for any American to be grateful that freethinkers helped champion birth control or Whitman's poems long ago. These efforts were controversial at the time, and current freethinkers are subject to the same sort of scorn; consider the death threats that Madelyn Murray O'Hair and Michael Newdow have endured. Believers who follow Jacoby up through current times, however they might disagree with freethinkers on the ramparts of "Under God" in the pledge, stem cell research, or vouchers for religious schools, will have to agree that the freethinkers of the past have helped produce a freer and smarter society.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative and gripping
Review: This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how the First Amendment protections of and from religion came about and have been interpreted and enforced (or not enforced) over the course of our history.
Jacoby does an excellent job of documenting and explaining the development not just of the secular point of view, but of the religious opinions freethinkers were up against in their times, and what the stakes were (and are) at each point.
Jacoby does a good job of debunking the religious right's assertions that it was religion that inspired the abolition and civil rights movements, when in fact both were made up evenly of religious and non-religious people. She also documents the rifts that religious and non-religious members of the women's rights movement experienced that set the movement back, and documents how the women's rights movement not only increased women's participation in society, but also weakened religion's hold on women, and how this was and is essential in winning (and maintaining) women's key rights.
Jacoby also delves into the religious (or not, depending on your take of her analysis) views of American political heroes Jefferson, Madison, Paine, John F. Kennedy, and Lincoln. It's important to describe that some of our most famous leaders and founders were, at best, ambivalent about religion. Jefferson's and Madison's views are especially important as writers of our DOI and Constitution. Their private writings indicate that they did indeed desire a "wall" between church and state, and lobbied in support of it.
Jacoby's last great analysis is of how throughout American history, anyone expressing unorthodox religious or political beliefs was denounced in pulpits all over the country as a god-hater, and therefore an America-hater. Whether you believed government should not support religious schools, slaves should be set free, women should be allowed to vote, workers should be allowed to unionize, industries should be regulated, evolution should be taught to children, or that black people should be able to share public facilities with whites, there were always a majority of religious figures ready and willing to accuse you of destroying the country and its morals, and individuals usually had to dissent from their own congregations to support equality, free speech, scientific knowledge and social justice.
Overall, my only criticism is that Jacoby set herself such a task that she had to only scrape the tip of the iceberg for each of her analyses. Fortunately, she includes a bibliography for advanced study. This book is a breath of fresh air in a climate that has been oversaturated with books either overstating religion's role in good movements or completing forgetting religion's role in keeping people poor, ignorant, and oppressed. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A missing piece of history!
Review: This book is one that tries to fill in a bit of missing history - missing, that is, in our highly charged and politicized culture. Contra those whos would have us believe that 'secularlists' and others who held non-conventional views on religious matters have been a force of evil in this country, Mrs. Jacoby shows that if anything, 'secularists' have quite a robust and proud history. We - yes, I am a secularist - have been as active a part of this country's history and direction as religious folk and, as Mrs. Jacoby argues in this engaging work, that history has been largely for the good. Many have taken Mrs. Jacoby to be saying more than, I think, she is. By 'freethinker,' many assume 'atheist.' Mrs. Jacoby's use of the term is a bit broader; a freethinker is one who holds highly unconventional (in a literal sense) view on religion - from those who are out-and-out atheists, to deists, to - at this country's inception - universalists. The point, rather, is to show that from its inception, this country has been founded on a radical idea; that government need not be 'under god;' it can remain secular (the word 'civil' was used during the founding to connote a non-sectarian government). From the founding (and I did find her arguments a little less than convincing) she moves on to a chapter on deist Thomas Paine, on the woman's movement (particularly Stanton and Anthony's agnosticism), the growth of secularism during the 20'S and 30's, and the battle with religion - particularly Catholicism - that it has fostered to this very day. In a review that secularist Christopher Hitchens wrote, he criticized Jacoby for her seemingly exclusive linking of 'freethinking' with left-liberal causes. After reading the book, I think that in part this is justified. The dominant force in established religion has been Catholicism and Catholicism has always been (with few exceptions) conservative. It is undeniable that by history's lights, secularism generally HAS been more prevelant and visible on the left as a counterweight. But in a sense, Hitchens is correct. When i finished the book, I felt that Mrs. Jacoby gave the impression that secularism has ALWYAYS been a left-liberal venture - that 'freethought' is a synonym for 'ACLU' What of Ayn Rand, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sidney Hook and the many others who supported libertarian or conservative causes while maintaining atheistic views? Hook particularly is a glaring ommission as he was an atheist who was instrumental in the fight against communism (so much so that a very religious President Reagan gave him a medal of freedom for his efforts - an atheist!) This leads to another criticism. Like most any history, this one is quite selective. The chapter on Thomas Paine, for example, paints him as almost a demi-god; his historically acknowledge flaws - egotism, fondness for the drink, and overall 'rebel who needs a cause' rambunctiousness - are either ignored or cast aside with one-sentence 'brush offs.' Even secularist Bertrand Russell, when writing an essay on Paine, felt the need to mention Paine's bad spots. While Mrs. Jacoby has written a fine history, revisions like these (and virtual lack of citations when making contreversial claims) made me a bit trepidacious. All in all though, this book is a very good one that lays out a sorely needed counter to Christian historians' assertions that atheists and freethinkers have had little to do with American history. This is simply not true and Jacoby shows it. She doesn't deny (who could?) that Christianity is an inextricable part of our history, but writes of the forgotten, yet abundant, examples of the contributions of freethought.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable and important book
Review: This is a marvelous book that will be enjoyed by both history buffs and freethinkers. Jacoby spans American history and tells the continuing tale of conflict between religious conservatives and freethinkers. Making no attempt at any phony "objectivity," Jacoby makes it clear that she has no sympathy for the religious right. Still, despite her obvious opinions on the subject, the book reads like a mainstream history book and not a secularist manifesto. Any history lover will enjoy the chronological survey of American history, covering the religious beliefs and practices of the founding fathers and many of the other popular figures of American history. Jacoby also goes into some depth to discuss particular church/state issues and many lesser-known personalities who have been important to the freethought movement in this country. The only criticism worth mentioning about the book, and it is relatively minor, is that it relays facts but hesitates to analyze those facts. Although filled with interesting data and anectdotes, the book makes little attempt to explain the data. For example, why was the Bible acceptable required reading in public schools 200 years ago, but not now? The religious right uses such arguments, and freethinkers should be equipped to counter them. Nevertheless, this book is a great read and should be enjoyed by a wide audience. Any readers who consider themselves activist freethinkers or activist Humanists would be interested, in addition to this book, in Rethinking Radicalism by David Anthony.
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