Praise for Atheist Awakening

Now Featured in the Patheos Book Club

Atheist Awakening

Secular Activism and Community in America

By Richard Cimino and Christopher Smith 


Foreword by Martin Marty

What People Are Saying

"Like many of my colleagues, I have long been impressed — and influenced — by Cimino and Smith's pioneering research on contemporary American unbelief. But Atheist Awakening goes beyond even what I might have hoped for. This meticulous, innovative, and engaging book is essential for understanding the New Atheism within its wider social, cultural, and political contexts."
— Stephen Bullivant, Senior Lecturer in Theology and Ethics, St Mary's University, Twickenham

"Scholars are just beginning to explore secularist, humanist, atheist, and free thought activism as a coherent social movement. At the forefront of that research are Richard Cimino and Christopher Smith. In Atheist Awakening, Cimino and Smith continue their previous work with new qualitative and quantitative data to provide a nuanced picture of this nascent social movement. Scholars interested in studying this movement should familiarize themselves with Cimino and Smith's influential body of work."
— Ryan Cragun, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Tampa

"This insightful and comprehensive study of how secularists are attempting to form a collective identity and build community in contemporary America is a fine piece of sociology. The authors show a real understanding of the political dilemmas and possibilities this new demographic faces. They also provide a valuable analysis of the ways the new media environment is driving this social phenomenon."
— Barry A. Kosmin, Research Professor, Public Policy & Law Program, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut