David NioseNonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans

Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

by Annie Sapucaia on May 20, 2013

David Niose

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The perception of the United States as a Christian nation is one that is prevalent and persistent.  It is difficult to conceive of a time when the term Christian America was not bandied about in the media, but as David Niose argues in his book Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), the last thing the founding fathers wished for America was for it to be a space where religion and politics were intertwined.  In fact, it’s time the myth of a Christian America be challenged, as nonbelievers are coming out of the shadows to proclaim their nontheism and their place in American society.  Niose chronicles the history of the Religious Right and the many covert and overt ways in which they have appropriated the public discourse in the past 30 years.  Despite their astounding success, secular Americans can, and should, fight back.   Niose helps us to learn how.

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