Anti-Atheist Nation: Religion and Secularism in the United States

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.

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.