Synopses & Reviews
Today, one in five Americans are nonbelievers — a rapidly growing group at a time when traditional Christian churches are dwindling in numbers. Still we see almost none of them openly serving in elected office, while Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and many others continue to loudly proclaim the falsehood of America as a Christian nation. In Nonbeliever Nation, leading secular advocate David Niose calls for nonreligious Americans from all backgrounds to step out of the shadows and signal their opposition to the long-dominant Religious Right. Exploring all the hot-button issues that divide the country — from gay marriage to education policy to contentious church-state battles — he shows how Secular Americans — a group comprised not just of atheists and agnostics, but lapsed Catholics, secular Jews, and millions of others who have walked away from organized religion — are mobilizing and forming groups all over the country (even atheist clubs in Bible-belt high schools) to challenge the exaltation of religion in American politics and public life. This is a timely and important look at a growing demographic that is flexing it's muscles for the first time.
Review
"This excellent book is simultaneously disturbing and reassuring. David Niose lays bare the whole dismal history of how the Religious Right hijacked America and betrayed the secular intentions of the Founding Fathers." Richard Dawkins
About the Author
David Niose is president of the Secular Coalition for America and an attorney who has litigated on behalf of secular groups and individuals in church-state and equal rights matters. Author of the popular Psychology Today blog "Our Humanity, Naturally," he has been interviewed on national television and radio including Fox News, the Associated Press, The National Journal, the BBC, Thom Hartmanns show, Alan Colmes Radio Show, and many others.