Freethinkers—A History of American Secularism

[dwckabal]

Has anyone else read this book? I am enjoying it immensely. There are so many passages that have struck a chord, but I just read this one:

It is difficult, in an era in which most Americans acquire their information from packaged sound bites that require almost no effort from audiences, to convey the excitement of a time when people were willing to expend a good deal of energy looking at evidence, and listening to opinions, that challenged the received wisdom of previous ages. Autodidacts considered it fun to sit or stand for hours and hear lecturers discuss Shakespeare's sonnets, the poetry of Byron, the philosophy of Voltaire, the new biblical criticism based on the premise that the Scriptures were written by humans, evolution, electrification, the germ theory of disease, or woman suffrage. Their faith-inspired counterparts were equally eager to listen to evangelists deliver lengthy sermons on salvation and damnation. Freethought lecturers, unable to hold out the prospect of salvation or threaten damnation in the next world, could appeal to their audiences only by holding out a different vision of how to think and live on this earth.

Amazon.com link

[salvorhardin]

1. Thanks for the recommendation

I was planning on reading this one next -- right after I finish Fred Pohl's Eschaton Sequence trilogy. However, I was equivocating on purchasing Freethinkers; unsure if it was really worth it. It was either that or Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things.

FWIW: I'd love to see the lecture make a comeback. I think it could be done with the internet and a subscription based bit torrent service to help pay lecturer fees. A sort of colloquia for common people. Yeah, there'd be piracy but like with PBS I think that if you got together enough really interesting lecturers (James Burke, Kip Thorne, Lawrence Krauss, Dawkins, Shermer, John Allen Paulos, Vilayanur Ramachandran... I could rattle off 25 people easily) that the people who could afford to pay would. Oh well, a dream I suppose.

[Abies]

2. I finished it a few weeks ago

Freethinkers is full of quotable gems.

Susan Jacoby did an excellent job describing the social and political contributions of freethinkers in this country. I also appreciated how she highlights repeating historical changes throughout our history. Her focus on Robert Ingersoll is nice, too. I wish someone with his capabilities and influence existed today.

What I found most impressive was the last chapter of the book. It was a very strong finish to the text. If people don't have the time to read the entire book, the last chapter is a nice read.