Susan Jacoby, author of Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism, dissects the history of secularism in the U.S., and argues the time is right for a new secular hero.
A great quote from the article:
The secularist strain in American culture has been very strong since the beginning, but the nation's secular heritage is virtually unknown to people. A secular government was developed to protect the rights of religious minorities. Most Americans don't know that God is not mentioned in the Constitution. It was a coalition of religious Evangelicals and freethinkers or deists who joined together to get this ratified. And why did the Evangelicals want this then? Because they were a minority and they deeply feared government interference with religion.
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