The American Secular Union (ASU, also sometimes called the "American Secular Union and Freethought Federation") espoused
secularism and
freethought
Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...
at the end of the 19th century in the
United States.
As the
National Liberal League suffered crippling factionalism and radicalization over the period 1878 to 1885,
liberals reorganized in a non-political "American Secular Union" in 1884. Colonel
Robert Green Ingersoll
Robert Green Ingersoll (; August 11, 1833 – July 21, 1899), nicknamed "the Great Agnostic", was an American lawyer, writer, and orator during the Golden Age of Free Thought, who campaigned in defense of agnosticism.
Personal life
Robert Inge ...
(1833–1899) served as the first president of the Union.
Ida Craddock
Ida C. Craddock (August 1, 1857 – October 16, 1902) was a 19th-century American advocate of free speech and women's rights. She wrote extensively on sexuality, leading to her conviction and imprisonment for obscenity. Facing further legal proce ...
was elected Secretary of the Philadelphia chapter of the Union in 1889.
The American Secular Union and Freethought Federation dedicated themselves to the
separation of church and state, and for its platform used the nine demands of liberalism, namely:
# that churches and other ecclesiastical property shall be no longer
exempt from taxation;
# that the employment of
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
s in the
United States Congress, in
state legislatures
A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.
Two federations literally use the term "state legislature":
* The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Stat ...
s in the
United States Army and
United States Navy, and in
prisons,
asylums, and all institutions supported by public money, shall be discontinued, and that all religious services maintained by national, state, or
municipal governments shall be abolished;
# that all public appropriations for educational and charitable institutions of a sectarian character shall cease;
# that, while advocating the loftiest instruction in
moral
A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A ...
s and the inculcation of the strictest uprightness of conduct, religious teaching and the use of the Bible for religious purposes in
public schools
Public school may refer to:
*State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
*Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England and ...
shall be prohibited;
# that the appointment by the
President of the United States and the
governors of the various states of religious
festivals, fasts, and days of
prayer and
thanksgiving shall be discontinued;
# that the theological
oath in the courts and in other departments of government shall be abolished, and simple
affirmation
Affirmation or affirm may refer to:
Logic
* Affirmation, a declaration that something is true
* In logic, the union of the subject and predicate of a proposition
Law
* Affirmation (law), a declaration made by and allowed to those who conscienti ...
under the pains and penalties of
perjury, established in its stead;
# that all
laws directly or indirectly enforcing in any degree the religious and theological
dogmaated, and that all laws shall be conformed to the requirements of
natural morality
Natural morality refers to morality that is based on human nature, rather than acquired from societal norms or religious teachings. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is central to many modern conceptions of natural morality, but the concept goe ...
,
equal rights and impartial
justice;
# that, in harmony with the
Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the several states, no special privileges or advantages shall be conceded to Christianity or any other religion; that our entire political system shall be conducted and administered on a purely
secular basis; and that whatever changes are necessary to this end shall be consistently, unflinchingly, and promptly made.
The American Secular Union published over a dozen pamphlets on topics regarding separation of church and state between 1886 and 1928.
Following Ingersoll's death in 1899 various
leadership changes occurred. The organization withered around 1919.
[
]
See also
* Golden Age of Freethought
The Golden Age of Freethought is the mid 19th-century period in United States history which saw the development of the socio-political movement promoting freethought. Anti-authoritarian and intellectually liberating historical eras had existed man ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Secular Union
Skeptic organizations in the United States
Separation of church and state in the United States