Village Atheists: How America's Unbelievers Made Their Way in a Godly Nation

There was a time in America when a professed atheist could not serve on a jury, could not be a witness in a trial, could not hold elected office in some states. There was deep distrust and discrimination by the religious majority against those who would not swear oaths on Bibles, attend church, and whose moral and ethical credos were not founded on Biblical belief. As the author notes (p. 174), “It remained an open question whether the irreligious possessed the same civic capacities, rights, and protections as the godly.” The prejudices and strictures against this country’s Freethinkers and atheists are chronicled by Leigh Eric Schmidt by focusing on four courageous pioneers in the on-going struggle to keep superstition and government separate.In focusing on activists little known outside of non-believer (“infidel”) circles, Dr. Schmidt shines a spotlight on nineteenth century America’s cultural and philosophical extremes. There’s Samuel Porter Putnam, the pastor’s son and preacher who became a self-styled secular pilgrim, who occasionally slipped back and forth from preaching to the free-thought lecture circuit, eventually finding religion to be “a fungus growth upon humanity.” His tragic accidental death was pounced on by the religious as being God’s punishment for his backsliding and free love ideas.There’s Charles B. Reynolds, a one-time Seventh-day Adventist preacher who became a “Freethought Evangelist” and chief defendant in “Jersey’s Heresy Case” of 1887. And Elmina Drake Slenker, an ex-Quaker, who faced a jury and jail time for her outspoken views on religion, sex and marriage. Best of all, for all his quirks, is the chapter on self-taught cartoonist Watson Heston, whose anti-religious satires helped him rise from penury to prominence in free-thought circles. Over fifty of his intellectually provocative images are collected in “Village Atheists.” Those alone would make this a must-have book for those who shun superstition in favor of reality, but the book is also an even-handed portrait of America in the nineteenth century.

Fine

Concise, elegant, eloquent, engaging, realistic, well researched, and subtle. Raises excellent points concerning the history of, and tacitly questions the inherent flaws in, the country’s atheist movement (many of which have yet to be resolved, in my opinion). Highly recommended.

An interesting read and a worthy addition to the overall history of religion in the United States. However, rather than broadly addressing the phenomenon of the village atheist (e.g. the lone isolated dissenter in a small community) in general terms, the book is predominantly four mini-biographies. The introduction and epilogue, however, do contain some of the synthesis that I had expected, based upon the description, to comprise the entire book. Nonetheless, in telling the tales of Samuel Porter Putnam, Watson Heston, Charles B. Reynolds, Elmina D. Slenker, Schmidt relates interesting details of secularism a century ago. Thus, a reader interested in learning more of what it was like to be a non-believer a few generations ago will come away from this book with a significantly enhanced understanding. The details of an overarching portrait of the time’s secular movement are there; they simply are not presented as a single overarching narrative as some readers might expect to find them. While this biographical approach is obviously a legitimate and well-established means of historical writing, some readers might find it tedious. Finally, readers expecting a relaxing popular read might find the author’s penchant for abstruse words distracting and undermining of readability.

Great book. What a fantastic look into the early days of "official" atheists in America at the time where you could still be jailed for "blasphemy". The dark days before the illuminating minds such as those of Hitchens, Dawkins and Harris. Ironically despite atheism becoming more accepted only around the middle of the 20th century it's incredible and disappointing to read how similar the general mistreatment and mistrust of atheists continues to today. For the world's most powerful and advanced western nation, our obsession with religious myths continues unabated if not somewhat embarrassingly. Puritanical values continue to permeate US society with attitudes towards nudity and sexuality decidedly unevolved by modern Western standards. Schmidt demonstrates that those historically defying the community’s religious values often came around to their clearer freethinking by defying its sexual standards. Often with much relish. An interesting aspect discussing the lack of women participants in the early days of organized atheism was also discussed and how the first freethinkers fought for the upholding of the separation of church a state. A fight which continues unabated one elected bible thumper at a time. A very engaging and well researched book.