Practicing Atheism
Culture, Media, and Ritual in the Contemporary Atheist Network
Hannah K. Scheidt
Reviews and Awards
"In this way, Practicing Atheism has much to teach us about what it means to be religious" -- Charles McCrary, American Religion
"Scheidt approaches atheism in a very different way, interpreting it as a complex cultural phenomenon. Her intent is to help readers understand atheism by viewing it from a variety of perspectives. She draws material from narratives found in different forms of media to provide this analysis of cultural atheism." -- J. Jaeger, CHOICE
"Far from being simply the absence of religion, atheism finds itself having to craft and redefine itself in contexts and conditions not of its own making. Hannah Scheidt presents a careful and fascinating account of these efforts and their prospects in the evolving geography of contemporary public and private life, from social media to evolving locations of social connection." -- Stewart M. Hoover, author, Religion in the Media
"Practicing Atheism takes the topic of non-belief out of the seminar room, dealing only with disembodied ideas, into the real world of flesh-and-blood people, of huge integrity, living with, wrestling with, finding fulfilment with their inability or unwillingness to accept the existence of a deity, of any kind. It is a total revelation and simply compelling reading. I finished the book wiser, and very much humbler. Highly recommended." -- Michael Ruse, author of Atheism: What Everyone Needs to Know®
"Moving deftly between analyses of personal deconversion narratives and narratives of popular television, memes, comics, celebrity debates, and a review of parental commentary on raising children as critical thinkers and caring world citizens, Hannah Scheidt has melded the insights and methods of cultural studies and religious studies to render a fresh and authoritative work on U.S. atheism. She has broken ground for future studies of atheism as a fascinating and widely misunderstood cultural phenomenon." -- Lynn Schofield Clark, author of From Angels to Aliens: Teenagers, the Media, and the Supernatural and The Parent App