Author: Barry Kosmin

One of the goals of the Enlightenment that inspired the American and French revolutions was the rejection of exclusionary group privilege based on religion and aristocratic ancestry. This was epitomized by the French slogan “la carriere ouverte aux talents”—careers in public service and the professions open to men of talent irrespective of birth, faith, and …

Movements need a sense of history and tradition to inspire respect and loyalty in their members. Tom Flynn’s enthusiasm and research in creating the Freethought Trail and establishing the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum reflected his keen awareness of the importance of educational and public relations in maintaining the heritage of secularism and valorizing its …

In 1894, French historian and educator Count Pierre De Coubertin conceived of an inclusive worldwide youth movement and great sports festival. It would emulate the pre-Christian tradition of Ancient Greece but be rooted in universal fundamental Enlightenment principles. The ethos was to be an alternative to the aristocratic British imperialist sporting ethos of “muscular Christianity” …

For the past four years, secular folks have been concerned with the threat posed by White Christian Nationalism and the Trump Administration’s subservience to the religious Right, particularly regarding the appointment of conservatives to the federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. The new president is a pious Catholic and regular Mass-attender, so we can …

While American secularists’ attention has been fixed on recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions undermining church-state separation, there have been major developments on the international scene that warrant our concern and attention. In Turkey, the demagogic Islamist President Tayyip Erdoğan has continued his campaign to undermine the secular state established by Kemal Atatürk. On the regional …

Representations and reputations of historical personages have been controversial across human civilizations. Political iconoclasm began when Egyptian pharaohs obliterated images of their predecessors. Mayan rulers in Central America adopted similar tactics. Religiously based iconoclasm across the Abrahamic faiths originated in the biblical prohibitions of graven images (Exodus 20:4) and idolatry. Oliver Cromwell, the Puritan Parliamentary …

We are at a pessimistic moment as the world faces the challenges and uncertainties posed by climate change and the coronavirus. The current crisis seems to provide a field day for purveyors of all types of irrationality, quackery, and superstition. With most places of religious worship in lockdown worldwide, the location for such ideas to …

When I lecture about public opinion surveys, I always begin by reminding the audience that the respondents are under no obligation to be consistent or logical in their responses. This is especially necessary when dealing with surveys on religion, for the topic is rather vague in the minds of most people. This is because religion …

In the United States and around most of the world, recent trends in the economy and communications technology have advanced the process of secularization, which Max Weber referred to as disenchantment. Organized religion’s “three Bs”—believing, belonging, and behaving—all show declines in most societies. The general public has become less obedient to religious authority and less …

The key challenge is to use our imaginations constructively to engage an increasingly skeptical and diverse American population and lead it toward unbelief.

“. . . There has been a significant generational shift away from religion and theism.”

Here’s a question you won’t find on a Gallup or Pew survey: “How much do you hate religious proselytizing?” Wouldn’t it be nice to know how Americans really feel about being evangelized? Don’t expect the answer soon! The problem is that neither major polling organizations nor such major funders of research as the Templeton and …

Starting in the mid-nineteenth century, there was a widespread intentional and strenuous effort to compartmentalize organized religion on college campuses.1 That effort was largely successful. The modern academy has been widely regarded as a secular sphere; it allows religion as a private activity but does not advocate religiosity among its students. This is now changing. …