Meet Robert Ingersoll, America’s most famous forgotten atheist

[rug]

Kimberly Winston | May 29, 2013

(RNS) Meet Robert Ingersoll, the most famous American atheist you’ve probably never heard of.

A self-educated attorney and atheist, Ingersoll was a Victorian-era rock star who could pack theaters from Texas to New York with people who came from hundreds of miles around to hear “The Great Agnostic” lecture against religion.

He was courted by politicians, his likeness was carved in stone, and when he died in 1899, newspapers around the country carried his obituary. A Civil War veteran, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Today, Ingersoll is largely unknown outside atheist circles. But he’s enjoying a bit of a revival, with a critically-acclaimed new biography, a walking tour of Ingersoll sites, a growing number of visitors to his birthplace and an oratory contest in his name.

http://www.religionnews.com/2013/05/29/meet-robert-ingersoll-americas-most-famous-forgotten-atheist/

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[edhopper]

1. Polar opposite

of scam artist and religious profiteer John Smith. Who came from the same area of NY State.

Smith's lies and fiction still live and cause undue damage to our country while Ingersoll's great truths are hidden by the years.

[rug]

2. In defense of New York, Joseph Smith was born in Vermont.

[edhopper]

3. .

[dimbear]

4. One of the problems with Ingersoll is that he wrote too much rather than too little.

There's a ton to wade through. Easier to turn to some little volume like "Why I Am Not a Christian" which you can get through in a few hours.

Plus, to be frank, a lot of Ingersoll hinges on issues of the day which have evaporated with time. It's a little like reading Dante's Inferno.

[Adsos Letter]

5. Jennifer Michael Hecht

Her work on "doubters and disbelievers" has a good section on "The great Agnostic." He could really pack a house, so they say.

Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson

http://www.amazon.com/Doubt-Doubters-Innovation-Jefferson-Dickinson/dp/0060097957/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369876409&sr=1-1&keywords=hecht+jennifer+michael

[LostOne4Ever]

6. Ingersoll

Forgotten? Not by me!

I love his list of quotes from the positiveatheism site =D

[E_Pluribus_Unitarian]

7. Ingersoll was called "The Great Agnostic"

I think that a thorough review of his views supports the claim that he was only "atheist" of certain specific views of Ultimacy, but had an open, though skeptical mind regarding some kind of a First Cause, devoid of the woo factor, Hell, etc. He was good friends of both Unitarians and Universalists of his day.

[edhopper]

8. I am sure the scientific discoveries

since his time would have lead him more to atheism.

[dimbear]

9. Ingersoll slightly overlaps the era of audio:

[hrmjustin]

10. Thanks for posting this!