The Great Agnostic PDF Download

Author: Susan Jacoby
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300137257
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
A biography that restores America's foremost 19th-century champion of reason and secularism to the still contested 21st-century public square.

Author: Robert Green Ingersoll
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agnosticism
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Book Description

Author: Susan Jacoby
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
ISBN: 1429934751
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description
An authoritative history of the vital role of secularist thinkers and activists in the United States, from a writer of "fierce intelligence and nimble, unfettered imagination" (The New York Times) At a time when the separation of church and state is under attack as never before, Freethinkers offers a powerful defense of the secularist heritage that gave Americans the first government in the world founded not on the authority of religion but on the bedrock of human reason. In impassioned, elegant prose, celebrated author Susan Jacoby paints a striking portrait of more than two hundred years of secularist activism, beginning with the fierce debate over the omission of God from the Constitution. Moving from nineteenth-century abolitionism and suffragism through the twentieth century's civil liberties, civil rights, and feminist movements, Freethinkers illuminates the neglected accomplishments of secularists who, allied with liberal and tolerant religious believers, have stood at the forefront of the battle for reforms opposed by reactionary forces in the past and today. Rich with such iconic figures as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Clarence Darrow—as well as once-famous secularists such as Robert Green Ingersoll, "the Great Agnostic"—Freethinkers restores to history generations of dedicated humanists. It is they, Jacoby shows, who have led the struggle to uphold the combination of secular government and religious liberty that is the glory of the American system.

Author: Robert Ingersoll
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781481938891
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
"For while I am opposed to all orthodox creeds, I have a creed myself, and my creed is this:Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so.This creed is somewhat short, but is long enough for this life; long enough for this world. If there is another world, when we get there we can make another creed. But this creed certainly will do for this life."Robert G. Ingersoll Freethought flowered in the United States in the latter half of the 19th century, and its best known advocate was Robert Green Ingersoll, a lawyer and Civil War officer, who travelled the continent for 30 years, speaking to capacity audiences. Although his repertoire included lectures on Shakespeare, Voltaire and Burns, the largest crowds turned out to hear him denounce the bible, and religion. As outspoken in his day as Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens are today, ROBERT GREEN INGERSOLL (1833-1899) was a notorious radical whose uncompromising views on religion and slavery, women's suffrage, and other contentious matters of his era made him a wildly popular forward thinking orator and critic of American culture and public life. Legendary as a speaker - he memorized his speeches and could talk for hours without notes - and as a proponent of freethought, Ingersoll is an American original whose words still ring with truth and power today.

Author: Ingersoll Robert G
Publisher: Double 9 Books
ISBN: 9789358711622
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
American atheist and orator Robert G. Ingersoll's essays and works are collected in "The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 4" from the 19th century. The book discusses a wide range of topics, including politics, science, literature, and religion. Ingersoll's critique of religion and his advocacy for free thought and reason serve as a significant topic throughout the whole book. According to him, religion is founded on blind faith rather than logic or evidence, and this is the root of many global issues. Ingersoll supports a society based on reason and science as opposed to religious doctrine. In addition to criticizing religion, Ingersoll also discusses the role of government, women's rights, and the death penalty. No of their gender, ethnicity, or level of money, he works for everyone's freedom and equal rights. The whole book is written in an elegant, humorous, and logical style by Ingersoll. His lectures and publications were highly received in his day, and today's scholars and readers continue to value and explore them.

Author: Lesley Hazleton
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1594634130
Category : Agnosticism
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
"A widely admired writer on religion celebrates agnosticism as the most vibrant, engaging--and ultimately the most honest--stance toward the mysteries of existence." -- Amazon.com.

Author: Robert Ingersoll
Publisher: Steerforth
ISBN: 1586421972
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
Robert Ingersoll (1833—1899) is one of the great lost figures in United States history, all but forgotten at just the time America needs him most. An outspoken and unapologetic agnostic, fervent champion of the separation of church and state, and tireless advocate of the rights of women and African Americans, he drew enormous audiences in the late nineteenth century with his lectures on “freethought.” His admirers included Mark Twain and Thomas A. Edison, who said Ingersoll had “all the attributes of a perfect man” and went so far as to make an early recording of Ingersoll’s voice. The publication of What’s God Got to Do with It? will return Robert Ingersoll and his ideas to American political discourse. Edited and with a biographical introduction by Pulitzer Prize winner Tim Page, this new popular collection of Ingersoll’s thought – distilled from the twelve-volume set of his works, his copious letters, and various newspaper interviews – promises to put Ingersoll back where he belongs, in the forefront of independent American thought.

Author: Paul Horwitz
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019973772X
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
"Argues that the fundamental reason for church-state conflict is our aversion to questions of religious truth. By trying to avoid the question of religious truth, law and religion has ultimately reached a state of incoherence. He asserts that the answer to this dilemma is to take the agnostic turn: to take an empathetic and imaginative approach to questions of religious truth, one that actually confronts rather than avoids these questions, but without reaching a final judgment about what that truth is"--Jacket.

Author: Khushwant Singh
Publisher: Hay House, Inc
ISBN: 9381398232
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
Instead of entering into a pointless debate on whether or not God exists, it is more important to bear in mind that belief in the existence of God has little bearing on making a person a good or a bad citizen. One can be a saintly person without believing in God and a detestable villain believing in Him. In my personalized religion, there is NO GOD! Khushwant Singh, over the decades, has built up a reputation for coming up with something new and controversial in each book, and he does not disappoint his readers this time too. He begins with a chapter on the ‘need for a new religion – without God’, in which he questions the relevance of God. He then moves on to describe how religion has proved to be more harmful than beneficial and, in the process, debunks astrologers and the breed of so-called ‘godmen’. However, he is not dismissive of religion. Through his lucid writing, he brings out the beauty and significance of holy books such as the Bhagvad Gita, the Quran and the Granth Sahib. He provides relevant extracts to highlight the poetry and the music in such books. The author next tries to dispel the prejudices held by many non-Muslims against their Muslim compatriots by giving down-to-earth examples. He also emphasizes the importance of the Ramzaan fast. Khushwant Singh’s description of the life and times of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh and his in-depth analysis of the Granth Sahib throw new light on a particularly troubled period in India’s history. The chapter devoted to the interaction of the author (a confirmed agnostic) with the Dalai Lama (probably the world’s most renowned spiritual leader) makes for fascinating reading. Here’s one book containing a wealth of knowledge and information that you would want to read or consult again and again.

Author: Roger E. Greeley
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615921559
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
Robert Ingersoll was America''s finest orator and foremost leader of freethinkers. Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, Eugene V. Debs, and Elizabeth Cady used to gather to hear the speeches of "the great agnostic."Roger E. Greeley has selected the best from speeches and essays of this iconoclastic orator who labored to destroy the superstition and hypocrisy of fundamentalism in America and who answered the Moral Majority in the last century.One hundred years after he advanced into the national spotlight, Ingersoll''s commentaries still retain their fresh, penetrating, and witty character. His pleas for civil rights, the rights of women and children, responsible and responsive government, and individual freedom of conscience and religious belief have placed him in the vanguard of enlightened thinkers.Today the legacy of Robert Ingersoll, prophet and pioneer, merits the attention of anyone who espouses humane, liberal, rational, or agnostic opinions.