1st Edition

Anti-Atheist Nation Religion and Secularism in the United States

By Petra Klug Copyright 2023
    214 Pages
    by Routledge

    214 Pages
    by Routledge

    Atheists are a growing but marginalized group in the American religious patchwork and they have been the target of ridicule and discrimination throughout the nation’s history. This book is the first comprehensive study of anti-atheism in the United States. It traces anti-atheism through five centuries of American history from colonization to the era of Donald Trump and contemporary conspiracy ideologies, such as the atheist New World Order. Describing anti-atheist prejudices and explaining the social and psychological mechanisms behind anti-atheist attitudes, it will appeal to scholars of sociology, religious studies and history with interests in religion in the United States.

    Introducing Anti-Atheism

    1. Religion and Its Others in the New World

    2. The Power of Anti-Atheism

    3. America Versus the Atheist

    4. From the Roots of the Division to the Current Societal Divide

    5. Elements of Anti-Atheism

    6. The Many Faces of Contemporary Anti-Atheism

    An Ending Story?

    Biography

    Petra Klug is an assistant professor at University of Bremen, Germany and works on religion, atheism, gender relations, discrimination, and violence. She has been guest professor for Critical Theory of Society at Justus-Liebig-University Gießen in Germany where she taught on the critique of ideology and religion as well as on social psychology, patriarchal gender regimes, and Human Rights.