Godless Citizens in a Godly Republic

Atheists in American Public Life

By: R. Laurence Moore, Isaac Kramnick

Narrated by: Matthew Boston

From colonial times into the 20th 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 20th 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 20 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.

©2018 R. Laurence Moore and Isaac Kramnick (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Detailed historical look at religion & atheism

This was a thoroughly enjoyable book that scrutinizes the American experience of both religion and atheism from our beginning to modern day. I've listened to this book twice and will most likely listen at least once more, as its packed with information. I would recommend this book to anyone, whether religious, spiritual or not.

Atheism Shall NOT be a Pejorative Term ...

This book is a comprehensive examination of the hsitory of the oft persecution of atheists, agnostics and others that don't believe in a supreme being having created the universe or that has any direction in the lives of sentient beings.

As a non believer myself, I take comfort in knowing that I'm not alone in this regard and that more people are beginning to live their lives based on logic and reason rather than myth and superstition.

Having read many books on the subject, I can say that this book is very well researched and very well narrated.

I highly recommend this book to both non believers and BELEIVERS alike.

Dry At Times, But Quite Insightful - A Well Formed Case

This book is very thorough and fair in its treatment of theists and non-theists views. I applaud the effort and will likely reference this book in papers. However, being very detailed has the downside of being dry. The authors combat this the best they can by dramatizing the stories (without any intentional fictionalizing) and carefully organizing the work.

Excellent

Excellent discussion from a historical perspective both past and recent past - recommended for everyone regardless of beliefs.