Difference between revisions of "Golden Age of Freethought"
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== Susan Jacoby on the Golden Age of Freethought == | == Susan Jacoby on the Golden Age of Freethought == | ||
| − | + | [[File:Herbert Spencer.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|[[Herbert Spencer]] ]] | |
Susan Jacoby wrote in her book ''Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism'' about the Golden Age of Freethought: | Susan Jacoby wrote in her book ''Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism'' about the Golden Age of Freethought: | ||
{{Cquote|To describe the last quarter of the nineteenth and the first decade of the twentieth centuries as a golden age of freethought is to suggest not that a majority of Americans were persuaded by rationalist or antireligious arguments but that those arguments reached a much broader public than they ever had in the past. Unlike eighteenth-century [[Deism|deists]], nearly all of whom identified with [[Thomas Jefferson|Jeffersonian]] [[democracy]], American freethinkers of the late nineteenth century were anything but unified in their political views, which ran the gamut from anarchism to [[Herbert Spencer|Spencerian]] [[conservatism]]. Freethinkers might be Democrats, rock-ribbed Republicans, or, on occasion, socialists with either a capital or a small s. | {{Cquote|To describe the last quarter of the nineteenth and the first decade of the twentieth centuries as a golden age of freethought is to suggest not that a majority of Americans were persuaded by rationalist or antireligious arguments but that those arguments reached a much broader public than they ever had in the past. Unlike eighteenth-century [[Deism|deists]], nearly all of whom identified with [[Thomas Jefferson|Jeffersonian]] [[democracy]], American freethinkers of the late nineteenth century were anything but unified in their political views, which ran the gamut from anarchism to [[Herbert Spencer|Spencerian]] [[conservatism]]. Freethinkers might be Democrats, rock-ribbed Republicans, or, on occasion, socialists with either a capital or a small s. | ||
Revision as of 13:51, May 31, 2017
The Golden Age of Freethought describes the 19th century United States socio-political movement which promoted freethought/atheism/agnosticism. The period from 1875 to 1914 is referred to as "the high-water mark of freethought as an influential movement in American society".[1]
Politically, the atheist movement has leaned left in its politics (See: Secular left and Atheism and politics). Secular leftist utopianism and its exalted view of human nature did not line up with the horrors of the World War I. The Golden Age of Freethought ended at the start of World War I. In addition, atheism is negatively correlated with economic/political instability.[2]
The Christian view of the fall of man better explained the horrors of WWI and WWII. Furthermore, Christian apologist point out that atheistic evolutionism contributed to the start of WWI (See: World War I and Darwinism). See also: Evolutionary racism and Nazi Germany.
The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union further chilled Americans receptiveness to atheism.
Susan Jacoby on the Golden Age of Freethought
Susan Jacoby wrote in her book Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism about the Golden Age of Freethought:
| “ | To describe the last quarter of the nineteenth and the first decade of the twentieth centuries as a golden age of freethought is to suggest not that a majority of Americans were persuaded by rationalist or antireligious arguments but that those arguments reached a much broader public than they ever had in the past. Unlike eighteenth-century deists, nearly all of whom identified with Jeffersonian democracy, American freethinkers of the late nineteenth century were anything but unified in their political views, which ran the gamut from anarchism to Spencerian conservatism. Freethinkers might be Democrats, rock-ribbed Republicans, or, on occasion, socialists with either a capital or a small s.
The one political concern that did unite all freethinkers was their support for absolute separation of church and state, which translated into opposition to any tax support of religious institutions-especially parochial schools. For the most part, tax support of religious schools had been a nonissue on a national basis before the Civil War-although New York City's Catholic leadership had pushed unsuccessfully in the 1840s for government subsidy, long established in many European countries, of religious education. By the 1870s, when the growth of the older Irish Catholic community and new immigration from the Catholic countries of Europe began to transform the ethnic and religious makeup of most large cities, the financing of parochial school education became a divisive issue throughout the country.[3] |
” |
Charles Louis Richter on the ending of the Golden Age of Freethought
See also: Sociology of "atheism is un-American" view and American atheism
Charles Louis Richter declared in his interview with the International Society for Historians of Atheism, Secularism, and Humanism (ISHASH) about America and atheism:
| “ | The turn of the century ended the golden age of nineteenth century freethought with two events: the death of Robert Ingersoll in 1899, and the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. The lack of a widely popular voice for irreligion, combined with the murder of the president by an anarchist, led to a backlash against not only anarchism but also atheism. From that point, Americans tended to see irreligion in terms of whatever ostensibly foreign ideology seemed most threatening. So for the rest of the century, we see atheism and atheists associated with anarchism, fascism, socialism, and of course Soviet-style communism. By the late seventies, secular humanism became the buzzword for a whole suite of threats not only to religion, but to Americanism. It’s important to note that this phenomenon is not limited to the political or religious right; liberals also framed irreligion as un-American.[4] | ” |
See also
Notes
- ↑ Jacoby, Susan. Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, p. 151
- ↑ Economics and atheism
- ↑ The Golden Age of Freethought, Beliefnet
- ↑ ISHASH MEMBER INTERVIEW: CHARLES LOUIS RICHTER, International Society for Historians of Atheism, Secularism, and Humanism