Research On Religion » Thomas Paine

Leigh Eric Schmidt on Village Atheists

tonygill — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 09:00:28 +0000

In an era dominated by a Protestant ethos, how did atheists manage to make their presence known? Prof. Leigh Eric Schmidt, a Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis and fellow at the Danforth Center on Religion & Politics, joins us to discuss his latest book Village Atheists: How America’s Unbelievers Made Their Way in a Godly Nation. We begin with Prof. Schmidt’s own intellectual journey from studying evangelicals to his latest work on unbelievers in the 19th century (give or take a few decades). We then talk about the religious landscape of the 1800s and the types of social pressure and legal penalties freethinkers faced in expressing their unbelief in Christianity. Noting that Thomas Paine was the first doubter to openly express his views in the public square, Prof. Leigh talks about how a number of other atheists began coming out of the closet by the mid-1800s. He explains that he chose the title Village Atheists as it recognizes the more localized and vernacular style of many of these unbelievers. We review a number of other names that these folks adopted, including freethinkers, liberals, humanists, and infidels – a name initially meant as a derogatory term, but one in which many of them embraced to the point of sponsoring Infidel Conventions. After pointing out a number of common themes that all these atheists shared — e.g., anticlericalism, separation of church & state, promotion of scientific inquiry — we move to a discussion of several of the more colorful characters that represented some of the diverse ways in which freethinkers interacted with their surrounding culture. Leigh covers the life and legacy of Samuel Porter Putnam (the secular pilgrim), Watson Heston (the cartoonist of the movement), and Elmina Drake Slenker (a feminist freethinker ). Prof. Schmidt shares his thoughts about what this history means for our society today as well as what he has learned over the course of his several decades of superb scholarship. Recorded: Nov. 4, 2016.

Village Atheists: How America’s Unbelievers Made Their Way in A Godly Nation, by Leigh Eric Schmidt.

Hearing Things: Religion, Illusion, and the American Enlightenment, by Leigh Eric Schmidt.

Restless Souls: The Making of American Spirituality, by Leigh Eric Schmidt.

Consumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American Holidays, by Leigh Eric Schmidt.

Holy Fairs: Scottish Communions and American Revivals in the Early Modern Period, by Leigh Eric Schmidt.

Heaven’s Bride: The Unprintable Life of Ida C. Craddock …, by Leigh Eric Schmidt.

Watson Heston’s cartoons on Flickr.

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Joseph O. Baker on American Secularism.

Hunter Baker on Secularism.

Joseph O. Baker on American Secularism

tonygill — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 08:00:36 +0000

The biggest trend in American religiosity in the past two decades has been the increase in “religious nones,” individuals who do not proclaim an affiliation with any particular denomination or faith tradition. We invite Prof. Joseph O. Baker, assistant professor of sociology at Eastern Tennessee State University, to talk about this phenomenon in light of his recent book (with Buster Smith) entitled American Secularism: Cultural Contours of Nonreligious Belief Systems. After a brief chat about his work on the paranormal and other fringe religious movements, we dive into the topic of secularism and Prof. Baker provides a nuanced definition of that term. He actually notes that there are secularisms (plural) and explains what that means. Four categories of individuals with a non-religious cosmic belief system are identified including atheists, agnostics, non-affiliated believers, and cultural religionists. Joseph reveals that you could break these down into more nuanced categories, but sticks with these four basic types for the purposes of our conversation. We then break down the demographics of American secularism. Joseph points out that non-theists tend to be found in the upper social classes and have higher levels of education. Younger individuals tend to fall into the four basic groups of secularists, more so than older generations. Racially, whites and Asians tend to be the most secular, with second generation Asians being the least religious, but 3rd generation Asians looking more religiously similar to whites. African-Americans are the least secular of the major racial categories. Prof. Baker also notes that individuals often shift between categories in a more fluid manner than one might predict, often moving between different identities even within one year’s time. We then review the history of American secularism dating back to Thomas Paine, through the Freethought period of the early 19th century, evolutionary agnosticism coming in the late 1800s, and then seeing a subsiding of secularism during the middle part of the 20th century, with the 1950s being the high-water mark of American religiousness. We then explore the origins of what Joseph calls the Great Abdicating (a term he and Buster Smith hopes sticks). We see a gradual decline in religiousness in the 1960s and ’70s and then becoming more pronounced in the ’90s and early part of the 21st century. Several explanations for this trend are advanced, including political polarization, changes in family structure (e.g., later marriages), and a change in the concept of what “religion” is. This is followed by some of the social and political implications that might arise from increasing secularism. We conclude with some of Prof. Baker’s surprises in this study, including how diverse the category of “secular Americans” really is. Recorded: June 24, 2016.

American Secularism: Cultural Contours of Nonreligious Belief Systems, by Joseph O. Baker and Buster G. Smith.

Paranormal America, by Christopher Bader, Joseph O. Baker, and Carson Mencken.

The American Religious Data Archives.

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Daniel Libenson on Present and Future Judaism.

Frank Newport on Survey Research and America’s Religiosity.

Barry Hankins on Jesus, Gin, and the Culture Wars.

Tony Carnes on a Journey Through NYC Religions.

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Jonathan den Hartog on Patriotism & Piety

tonygill — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 09:00:08 +0000

While many pundits will claim that our contemporary era of politics is one of the most bipartisan and vitriolic on record, and that the blending of religion and politics is making this so, historians are quick to point out such turmoil is common throughout time. To this end, we invite Prof. Jonathan den Hartog, associate professor and chair of history at The University of Northwestern (St. Paul, MN), to discuss his new book Patriotism & Piety: Federalist Politics and Religious Struggle in the New American Nation. Prof. den Hartog dissects the first several decades following the ratification of the U.S. Constitution and argues that this was a time of intense national debate that drew heavily on religious themes and has affected the way we govern ourselves unto this day.

Prof. den Hartog has appeared a few times before on our podcast so we begin with a bit of reminiscing of days gone by and his interest in the topic of post-revolutionary era America. Tony then describes the cover of Jonathan’s book, which is a cartoon depicting Thomas Paine attempting to tear down the foundational columns of the American republic with the help of none other than the devil! Jonathan notes that although a discussion of this cartoon is not included in the book, it epitomizes the struggle that was going on during the day and how infused the rhetoric was with religious themes. He fills us in on some background of the era by explaining who the Federalists were and what they were struggling against, revealing some interesting trajectories about the likes of revolutionary heroes Paine and Ethan Allen, both who became enamored with the unfolding events of the French Revolution.

The French Revolution forms an important backdrop for the events in the U.S. in the 1790s and early 1800s. While the American nation is still trying to find its own identify, radical attacks by Jacobins against religion inform how arguments are being made about the role of religion in the new North American republic. This reveals the “patriotism” aspect of his book, wherein many Federalists were fearing a movement towards a “de-Christianized” nation with all the trappings of the “Cult of Reason” that infused France at the time. This brings us to a discussion of the religious struggle at the time that was characterized by a great deal of change and competition among older and emerging denominations. This struggle also dealt with how churches would relate to the government. Whereas a national establishment was off the table with the passage of the First Amendment, several states such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire continued to support state-sponsored churches into the 19th century.

Jonathan talks about how the position of the Federalists, a political party/movement that favored a stronger central government, evolved over time on this matter. While starting with a republican (small “r”) view of religion left free in the 1770s, the events of the French Revolution prompted many Federalists to argue for a more robust presence of faith in American life. As the Federalists begin to lose more elections in the 1800s, there is a further shift towards the promotion of strong associational life and civic culture that relies on voluntary organizations such as the American Bible Society, presided over by the likes of Elias Boudinot and John Jay. We chat about the role that these two individuals played in influencing the national landscape and how their influence reverberated through the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville. Prof. den Hartog explains how this relates to his phrase “the federalization of American Christianity,” which is a play on Nathan Hatch’s famous work on the democratization of American Christianity.

Our discussion also covers other political issues of the time including slavery, with Jonathan detailing how are the first major political movement to stand against the practice. Federalists such as John Jay even went so far as to outlaw it early in some states (e.g., New York). Nonetheless, the slavery issue was universally accepted by all Federalists and it does help to fracture the party over time. We also discuss the concern over secret societies, most notably the Illuminati (a particular fascination with contemporary singer Katy Perry). Jonathan details how two preachers in particular — Jonathan Dwight and Jedidiah Morse — wrote passionately about the possible corrupting influence of the Bavarian Illuminati and we are even regaled with an impassioned reading of one of Dwight’s sermons (wherein Tony learns that a dragoon is not a synthesis between a dragon and a doubloon). Jonathan also tells the tale of Elias Boudinot who writes to his daughter from the floor of Congress worrying about the state of her soul, which is also representative of his concern over the soul of the nation.

We conclude with a number of take-aways that Jonathan had in the process of researching and writing this book. He notes that debates on religion and politics are nothing new and that, indeed, this topic is really baked into the nature of the American republic. Prof. den Hartog also strengthened his beliefs about the important role of mediating institutions (civil society) that act as a buffer between the individual and the powerful institutions of the state. Finally, he explains how culture generally tends to be upstream from politics and how our culture is defined has an important role to play in how we are governed. Recorded: January 19, 2015 (the day after the NFC Championship game, explaining Tony’s somewhat hoarse sound).

Patriotism & Piety: Federalist Politics and Religious Struggle in the New American Nation by Jonathan den Hartog.

Prof. den Hartog’s blog Historical Conversations.

Prof. den Hartog’s twitter feed. Also check out Research on Religion on Twitter.

The Democratization of American Christianity, by Nathan Hatch (mentioned in the podcast).

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Mark David Hall on Religious Minorities in the U.S. Founding

tonygill — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 08:00:56 +0000

Most people have heard about the role that Congregationalists, Anglicans, and so-called Deists have played in the founding of the United States, but what about Jews, Quakers, and other religious minorities. Prof. Mark David Hall, the Herbert Hoover Distinguished Professor of Politics at George Fox University, returns for his fourth episode to document the important influence exercised by individuals affiliated with lesser-known denominations. This discussion is informed by the scholarship of various authors in a volume Mark co-edited with Daniel Dreisbach entitled Faith and the Founders of the American Republic (see below for link). For those not familiar with Prof. Hall’s work, we start off the interview with a quick summary of his interest in religion during the Founding Era and what importance that may have for our contemporary society.

The first religious minority we focus on are Jews. With only about 2,000 Jews present during the time of the Revolutionary War, one might not think this group would have much influence. Based upon the writings of Prof. David Dalin, Mark notes that Jews were tolerated fairly well throughout colonial history and that George Washington had a very favorable relations with Jews, including Haym Solomon who helped for fund the Continental Army. Mark cites from Washington’s letter to a Newport synagogue to show how Washington’s view on religious freedom reflected more than mere tolerance. He also covers Jewish influence on Alexander Hamilton (educated by Sephardic Jews) and John Adams (a Christian supporter of Zionism), as well as the direct action of Jonas Phillips to help end religious tests in America.

We next talk about the role of Islam, with Mark summarizing the chapter in his volume written by Tommy Kidd. The influence of Islam on the American Founding and subsequent development of the republic was very indirect. First, it was noted that many of the slaves who were exported to the Americas came from Islamic regions of Africa thus there were most likely some Muslim slaves, though the numbers are not certain. Islam was also used in revolutionary era rhetoric to set up the trope of despotism, sometimes used by the Anti-Federalists in their arguments pertaining to the constitutional structure of the new republic. The other important realm in which Islam comes to play in the formation of America’s identity is through the contact with Barbary pirates, one of the first major foreign policy conflicts that had to be managed by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Mark also addresses the controversial interpretation surrounding the Treaty of Tripoli, which is often as evidence that the U.S. was not founded as a Christian nation.

We then move to the topic of Deism, not necessarily a denomination, but nonetheless a real belief system that was floating around in late 18th century America. Most folks are probably more familiar with Deism given that it is often associated with major historical figures of the time such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Mark defines what Deism is, a “squishy definition” at best. He then discusses whether any of these folks fell solidly within the Deist camp using the notion of an “interventionist God” as a baseline. Mark notes that several of the Founders most people associate with Deism — such as Franklin, Jefferson, and Washington — did make reference to an deity who does intervene in human history, most notably George Washington who wrote quite a bit about the role of Providence. When it comes down to it, Mark says that maybe only one or two of the major historical Founders — Ethan Allen and Thomas Paine — would qualify as strictly Deist in their philosophy. Our conversation on Deism tends to focus on the writings of Paine with Mark pointing out that even despite Paine’s Deist bent, he cites Scripture quite liberally in writings such as Common Sense knowing that the American public was more in tune with an orthodox view of Christianity as compared to a more Enlightenment philosophical posture. Mark also uses the general repudiation of Paine’s “Age of Reason” by many of the intellectual leaders of the U.S. at the time to illustrate that Deism may not have been as deeply woven into American elite culture as is now commonly assumed. (It is also at this point in the interview where Mark compliments Tony’s social scientific acumen. Just sayin’.)

We then finish up talking about the use of The Bible in the writings of American Founders, making reference to the scholarship of Daniel Dreisbach, and a handful of other Christian denominations including the Quakers (the denominational affiliation of George Fox University) and the Baptists (the affiliation of Baylor). We spend some time on the thought and influence of John Dickinson and John Hancock, a flamboyant albeit philanthropic Calvinist. Mark also gives us a sneak preview of his current research, something that will probably be heard next year during the Fourth of July! Recorded: June 5, 2014.

Faith and the Founders of the American Republic, edited by Daniel Dreisbach and Mark David Hall.

Roger Sherman and the Creation of the American Republic, by Mark David Hall.

America’s Forgotten Founders, edited by Gary Gregg and Mark David Hall.

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Christopher Grenda on Religious Satire during the Enlightenment (and Today)

tonygill — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:00:38 +0000

Can satire be used to prompt religious reform? Prof. Christopher Grenda, an associate professor of history at CUNY- Bronx Community College, discusses his recent research on satire during the English Enlightenment (c. late 17th and 18th centuries). Chris tells us how he stumbled onto this research topic and then we spend some time discussing what satire is relative to other forms of humor such as parody and irony. Our conversation uses several contemporary instances where satire has led some individuals to get into trouble, including humorist Mark Steyn who was brought up before a Canadian Human Rights Commission for his satirical writings. We then move backwards in time to the English Enlightenment. Chris lays out the historical context of what is happening in jolly old England in terms of politics and religion. It is a time of great ferment, with the early Stuart monarchs trying to consolidate their power at the time when religious dissent is arising. Early satirists such as Charles Blount (a Deist) and Ralph Wallis (an orthodox Christian) become some of the first writers to critique the Church of England for its seemingly corrupt practices. Our conversation then takes various historical turns (not always in sequence) as we discuss other authors such as Thomas Paine, John Witherspoon, David Hume, and Anthony Ashley-Cook (a.k.a. the Third Earl of Shaftesbury). We explore the different ways in which each of these writers used wit to lampoon the powerful ecclesiastics of their day, and Chris provides some memorable and surprisingly cutting quotes from their works. Chris mentions that satire becomes increasingly “democratized” with the spread of literacy and printing technology, and how this affects the style of writing in order to reach new and different audiences. Throughout the podcast, we also learn about how the authorities responded to such satire and how many of these literary figures had to use pen names or circulate their missives underground. We close with some thoughts on satire in the contemporary world and how our present society may be a bit less tolerant of such dissent than in the past. Recorded: February 12, 2013.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Christopher Grenda at CUNY.

“The Right to Ridicule” by Ronald Dworkin in the New York Times Review of Books.

The First Prejudice: Religious Tolerance and Intolerance in Early America, by Chris Beneke and Christopher Grenda.