Religion
Related: About this forumAtheists, the Next Generation: Unbelief Moves Further into the Mainstream
By Kimberly Winston |
Apr 12, 2013
Less than a decade ago, an unknown graduate student named Sam Harris stormed the bestseller lists with The End of Faith (W.W. Norton, 2004), a tirade against religion. That was soon followed by The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins (Bantam, 2006), Breaking the Spell by Daniel Dennett (Penguin, 2006), and God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens (Twelve, 2007). Together, they became known as The New Atheists and while some readers found them strident, aggressive, and relentlessly anti-religion, others welcomed their books as well-reasoned arguments whose time had come. Publishers, meanwhile, universally found them hot sellers and magnets for major media coverage and awards.
Today books by and about nonbelievers--atheists, humanists, brights and other freethinkershave taken a new turn. Books on the topic have matured, growing beyond the angry disdain of the New Atheists to include more moderate voices. Last year brought titles that still call for the end of faith--like Atheism and the Case Against Christ by Matthew S. McCormick (Prometheus)--but there were also titles that sought to build bridges between nonbelievers and the religious, including How to Be Secular: A Call to Arms for Religious Freedom by Jacques Berlinerblau (Houghton Mifflin) and Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion by Alain de Botton (Pantheon), a PW 2012 Best Book.
Unbelievers and Unashamed
Whats changed? For one thing, in part due to the books of the New Atheists, nonbelief has become less stigmatized. A recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that the number of nones--Americans who say they have no religion--is one in five, an all-time high. While only a small portion of those--six percent, or 13 million people--identify as atheists or agnostics, thats up two percent in five years, according to the study. But many more nones--68 percent--say that while they do not identify with any religion, they believe in some form of universal spirit, and 20 percent said they pray. (PW covered books on the topic in Losing Their Religion, Jan. 18.)
Still, nonbelief, however it is defined, is moving into the mainstream. There is at least one nonbelieving member of Congress (Kyrsten Sinema, D- Ariz.); the Secular Coalition for America has a full-time Washington lobbyist; and there are atheist characters on network television (Big Bang Theory, Malibu Country). And in January, Prometheus Press, a stalwart of the category based in Amherst, N.Y., announced it had reached a groundbreaking distribution deal with Random House. On announcing the deal, Prometheus V-P of Marketing Jill Maxick told The Buffalo News, The fact they sought us out is an endorsement for what we have to offer the reading marketplace.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/religion/article/56789-atheists-the-next-generation-unbelief-moves-further-into-the-mainstream.html
Publishers Weekly is the leading trade journal of the American publishing industry.
rexcat
(3,622 posts)but is also depends on where you live. Atheists in the community where I live who are 'out' don't do well within the community at large because it is extremely conservative and there are an inordinate number of fundamentalist and catholics in the community. That said even the "liberal Democrats" have issues with atheists in the community I live in. I have run into as much bigotry with liberals as I do the conservatives.
My guess is atheists are better off in communities that are more urban based and in communities that tend liberal but we have a ways to go.
Phillip McCleod
(1,837 posts)..in a predominantly hispanic catholic community with a strong new age liberal contingent.
i can't count the number of sad faces i saw at the hipster coffee shop on dec. 22, 2012, when the end mayan calendar didn't shut the electricity off.
'now what am i gonna do with all this canned water?'
EvilAL
(1,437 posts)but I still get the occassional "YOU'RE AN ATHEIST?!?!?!?" Like I killed their dog or something.
pinto
(106,886 posts)Thanks for the post.