Includes index.

"Today's culture wars are more heated than ever. Education, public policy, and the separation between church and state have become a battlefield, and many are frustrated with the success the Religious Right has had in shaping the national agenda, from putting the brakes on gay marriage in California to stripping textbooks in Texas of references to Thomas Jefferson. But today, a growing nonreligious minority, nearly 20 percent of Americans, are finally organizing and taking explicit political positions. In Nonbeliever Nation, David Niose argues that America was never in fact a Christian nation and shows how the Religious Right successfully took control of the social and political narrative. He takes us across the country to meet the secular groups now forming in opposition to that force--from humanist gatherings to the rise of the New Atheists to the explosion of secular groups on college and even high school campuses. Niose discusses their political goals, including lobbying efforts, legal strategies, and outreach through advertising and education, and what still needs to be done to make the secular voice a gamechanger in American politics"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The decline of the America dialogue -- The wedding invitation -- A religious people? -- A secular heritage -- Secularity and morality -- The disaster of the religious right -- Better late than never : secular Americans emerge -- Reason for hope and hope for reason -- When "happy holidays" is an act of hostility -- A new plan of action -- A secular future -- Another wedding -- Appendix. Secular Coalition for America's 2011 Congressional report card.