Editor's Letter: Obama’s historic shout-out
About 50 million Americans are atheist or religiously unaffiliated, yet before President Obama included "nonbelievers" in his inaugural address they were absent from today's political rhetoric.
“We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers,” President Obama said in his inaugural address. That last, lonely word in the sequence—bumping along in the rumble seat, Chaplin-like, behind the two respectable couples—marked a major departure. According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 16 percent of Americans identify themselves as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular.” America has more “nonbelievers,” broadly defined, than Jews, Hindus, and Muslims combined. But until Obama’s historic shout-out from the Capitol, nonreligious Americans were almost entirely absent from contemporary political rhetoric.
The 19th century was less restrictive—at least while Robert G. Ingersoll was around. Ingersoll, the most renowned orator of the post–Civil War era, was also its most famous nonbeliever. He traveled the country delivering lengthy, meticulously prepared, and often hilarious assaults on organized religion, leavening his remarks with enough goodwill (and comic timing) that even men of the cloth were drawn to his performances. In addition to being a freethinker, Ingersoll was an influential Republican. Candidates begged him to campaign on their behalf, especially after his stemwinder nominating Sen. James G. Blaine for president at the 1876 Republican convention nearly put Blaine atop the Republican ticket. A fixture of society in Washington and New York, and a welcome guest of Republicans in the White House, Ingersoll was lauded by Whitman, Twain, Carnegie, and other leading lights. But he is seldom recalled today. A single, surprising word uttered by the new president surely won’t change that. But for a brief moment in Washington, a spark of “Ingersollism” flickered across the land.
Francis Wilkinson
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'A speaker courageous enough to stand up to the extremists in his own party'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
How could the Supreme Court's Fischer v. US case impact the other Jan 6. trials including Trump's?
Today's Big Question A former Pennsylvania cop might hold the key to a major upheaval in how the courts treat the Capitol riot — and its alleged instigator
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 18, 2024
Cartoons Thursday's cartoons - impeachment Peanuts, record-breaking temperatures, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Death of a dissident
Opinion How Navalny's fight against Putin will endure
By Susan Caskie Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published