The Varieties of Nonreligious Experience: Atheism in American Culture
This summer, Jerome Baggett, Professor of Religion and Society, published The Varieties of Nonreligious Experience: Atheism in American Culture (New York: NYU Press, 2019). In this book, Professor Baggett re-envisions a group often stigmatized in the United States: atheists.
Through hundreds of interviews and questionnaires, he finds what American atheists believe about morality, religion and the meaning of life. The book gives voice to the experiences of American atheists. Baggett says, “I aim to introduce readers not to some abstract, formulaic thing called “atheism” but instead to as many particular, flesh-and-blood people as possible—in all their varieties—in order to provide a granular sense of what they think and how they go about living both without God and very much with a purposefulness of their own design (xvi).”
This work is a fresh contribution to the conversation about religion in American culture, challenging conventional ideas about atheism while offering meaningful spiritual insights. Readers have the opportunity to encounter the experiences of atheists, reflect on the American religious experience, and engage with these important dialogue partners.