Our next selection is Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans by David Niose.
Please join us for a refreshment and friendly conversation - even if you haven't read the book! We'll meet at Freedom of Espresso Cafe at 401 1st Street, Liverpool on Sunday, November 22nd from 10:00 - 11:30 am. Hope to see you there!
About the Book:
Today, one in five Americans are nonbelievers--a rapidly growing group at a time when traditional Christian churches are dwindling in numbers. Still we see almost none of them openly serving in elected office, while Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and many others continue to loudly proclaim the falsehood of America as a Christian nation. In Nonbeliever Nation, leading secular advocate David Niose calls for nonreligious Americans from all backgrounds to step out of the shadows and signal their opposition to the long-dominant Religious Right. Exploring all the hot-button issues that divide the country--from gay marriage to education policy to contentious church-state battles--he shows how Secular Americans--a group comprised not just of atheists and agnostics, but lapsed Catholics, secular Jews, and millions of others who have walked away from organized religion--are mobilizing and forming groups all over the country (even atheist clubs in Bible-belt high schools) to challenge the exaltation of religion in American politics and public life. This is a timely and important look at a growing demographic that is flexing its muscles for the first time.
About the Author
Having served as president of two Washington-based national advocacy organizations, David Niose has been immersed in secular-progressive politics and the culture wars for over a decade. Niose joined the board of the American Humanist Association (AHA) in 2005, seeing secular-progressive activism as a means of combating the disastrous policies of the Bush-Cheney administration and its conservative allies. He was elected president of the AHA in 2008, and then in 2012 was named president of the Secular Coalition for America. Also a practicing lawyer, Niose currently serves as legal director of the AHA. He has litigated equal rights, church-state, and free speech cases in courts all over the country.
You can also follow David Niose on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/ahadave