Author: Rob Boston

Godless Citizens in a Godly Republic: Atheists in American Public Life, by Isaac Kramnick and R. Laurence Moore (New York: Norton, 2018, ISBN 978-0-393-25496-9). 236 pp. Hardcover, $26.95.   Isaac Kramnick and R. Laurence Moore’s new book, Godless Citizens in a Godly Republic, carries the subtitle Atheists in American Public Life. But it could just …

The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American, by Andrew L. Seidel (New York: Sterling, 2019, ISBN 978-1454933274). 343 pp. Hardcover, $24.95.   The term game changer is tossed around too often in publishing these days. That’s a shame, because every now and then, a book comes along that really does change the game. However, …

A review of Inventing a Christian America: The Myth of the Religious Founding, by Steven K. Green.

That’s Not What They Meant!: Reclaiming the Founding Fathers from America’s Right Wing, by Michael Austin (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2012, ISBN 978-1-61614-670-2) 285 pp. Paperback, $19.00. The Founding Fathers these days are a bit like Silly Putty – they can be stretched into just about any position. Political commentators on the Right and the …

“The United States is a Christian nation.” If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard this statement at a religious Right meeting or in the media, I wouldn’t be rich—but I’d probably have enough to buy a really cool iPad. The assertion is widely believed by followers of the religious Right and often …

In an ideal world, there would be no such thing as a government-run “faith-based” initiative. A federal office that does nothing but look for ways to funnel mo ney to religious organizations is hard to square with the separation of church and state. But the reality is that we are way beyond that discussion. The …

Karma, Dharma, Pudding & Pie, by Philip Appleman, illustrated by Arnold Roth (New York: Quantuck Lane Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-593720360) 96 pp. Cloth $24.95. Like any good secular humanist, I enjoy reading the latest jeremiads by Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and others. Tomes about the ongoing depredations of the Religious Right are also welcome, and …

Godly Republic: A Centrist Blueprint for America’s Faith-Based Future, by John J. DiIulio Jr. (California: University of California Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-520-25414-5) 309 pp. Cloth $24.95. There were times while reading John J. DiIulio’s Godly Republic: A Centrist Blueprint for America’s Faith-Based Future that I would nod my head and think, “That sounds reasonable.” But …

Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism, by Susan Jacoby (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2004, ISBN 0805074422) 417 pp. Cloth $27.50. Susan Jacoby’s Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism is the freethought book of the year. Make that the decade. OK, the century. The twenty-first century may be young, but it’s hard to believe anyone is …

Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy, by Frederick Clarkson (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1997, ISBN 1-56751-088-4) 277 pp., $15.95 paper.   On the farthest fringes of the Religious Right, beyond Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family, lurk some organizations so extreme they should send chills down the spine of any secular …

New and Selected Poems, 1956-1996 by Philip Appleman (Fayetteville, Ark: University of Arkansas Press, 1996) 264 pp., $38.00 cloth, $22.00 paper.T The University of Arkansas Press I has done the humanist community a great service by publishing Philip Appleman’s New and Selected Poems, 1956-1996. Appleman is an avowedly nontheistic poet who does not hesitate to …