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Freethought is a philosophical
Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
 viewpoint that holds that beliefs should be formed on the basis of science
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
 and logic
Logic

Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and inference. Logic is a branch of philosophy, a part of the classical Trivium . The word derives from Greek language ?????? , fem....
, and should not be influenced by authority
Authority

In government, authority is often used interchangeably with the term "power ". However, their meanings differ: while "power" refers to the ability to achieve certain ends, "authority" refers to a claim of legitimacy , the justification and right to exercise that power....
, tradition
Tradition

The word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem, acc. of traditio which means "handing over, passing on", and is used in a number of ways in the English language:...
, or any other dogma
Dogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization: it is authority and not to be disputed, doubted or heresy....
. The cognitive application of freethought is known as freethinking, and practitioners of freethought are known as freethinkers.

thought holds that individuals should neither accept nor reject ideas proposed as truth
Truth

semantic fields for the word truth extend from honesty, good faith, and sincerity in general, to agreement with fact or reality in particular....
 without recourse to knowledge
Knowledge

Knowledge is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation....
 and reason
Reason

Reason may refer to Mind#Mental faculties that consciously create explanations in order to judge, decide, solve problems, generalize, and give examples, among other activities....
.






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Encyclopedia


Freethought is a philosophical
Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
 viewpoint that holds that beliefs should be formed on the basis of science
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
 and logic
Logic

Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and inference. Logic is a branch of philosophy, a part of the classical Trivium . The word derives from Greek language ?????? , fem....
, and should not be influenced by authority
Authority

In government, authority is often used interchangeably with the term "power ". However, their meanings differ: while "power" refers to the ability to achieve certain ends, "authority" refers to a claim of legitimacy , the justification and right to exercise that power....
, tradition
Tradition

The word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem, acc. of traditio which means "handing over, passing on", and is used in a number of ways in the English language:...
, or any other dogma
Dogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization: it is authority and not to be disputed, doubted or heresy....
. The cognitive application of freethought is known as freethinking, and practitioners of freethought are known as freethinkers.

Overview

Freethought holds that individuals should neither accept nor reject ideas proposed as truth
Truth

semantic fields for the word truth extend from honesty, good faith, and sincerity in general, to agreement with fact or reality in particular....
 without recourse to knowledge
Knowledge

Knowledge is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation....
 and reason
Reason

Reason may refer to Mind#Mental faculties that consciously create explanations in order to judge, decide, solve problems, generalize, and give examples, among other activities....
. Thus, freethinkers strive to build their belief
Belief

Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true....
s on the basis of fact
Fact

A fact is something said to be true or supposed to have happened, example: Kiira is mean, FACT. An idea becomes a fact after competent people have tested a hypothesis through the scientific method....
s, scientific inquiry
Scientific method

Scientific method refers to techniques for investigating phenomenon, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and Measure evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning....
, and logic
Logic

Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and inference. Logic is a branch of philosophy, a part of the classical Trivium . The word derives from Greek language ?????? , fem....
al principles, independent of any factual/logical fallacies
Fallacy

A fallacy is an argument which may convince some people but is not logically sound. Note that the truth of the conclusions of an argument does not determine whether the argument is a fallacy - it is the argument which is incorrect....
 or the intellectually-limiting effects of authority
Authority

In government, authority is often used interchangeably with the term "power ". However, their meanings differ: while "power" refers to the ability to achieve certain ends, "authority" refers to a claim of legitimacy , the justification and right to exercise that power....
, cognitive bias
Cognitive bias

A cognitive bias is a person's tendency to make errors in judgment based on cognitive factors, and is a phenomenon studied in cognitive science and social psychology....
, conventional wisdom
Conventional wisdom

Conventional wisdom is a term used to describe ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public or by experts in a field....
, popular culture
Popular culture

Popular culture is the totality of Distinction memes, ideas, Perspective s and Attitude s that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture....
, prejudice
Prejudice

The word prejudice refers to prejudgment: making a decision about before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case or event. The word has commonly been used in certain restricted contexts, in the expression 'racial prejudice'....
, sectarianism
Sectarianism

Sectarianism is bigotry, discrimination, prejudice or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion or the factions of a political movement....
, tradition
Tradition

The word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem, acc. of traditio which means "handing over, passing on", and is used in a number of ways in the English language:...
, urban legend
Urban legend

An urban legend, urban myth, or urban tale is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them....
, and all other dogma
Dogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization: it is authority and not to be disputed, doubted or heresy....
tic or otherwise fallacious principles. As such, when applied to religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
, the philosophy of freethought holds that, given presently-known facts, established scientific theories, and logical principles, there is insufficient evidence to support the existence of supernatural
Supernatural

The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are Spell and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others....
 phenomena. A line from "Clifford's Credo" by the 19th Century British mathematician and philosopher William Kingdon Clifford
William Kingdon Clifford

William Kingdon Clifford Fellow of the Royal Society was an England mathematician and philosopher. Along with Hermann Grassmann, he introduced what is now termed geometric algebra, a special case of the Clifford algebra named in his honour, with interesting applications in contemporary mathematical physics and geometry....
 perhaps best describes the premise of freethought: "It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."

Symbol


The pansy
Pansy

The pansy or pansy violets are a large group of hybrid plants cultivated as garden flowers. Pansies are derived from Viola species Viola tricolor Hybrid ized with other viola species, these hybrids are referred to as Viola ? wittrockiana or less commonly Viola tricolor hortensis....
 is the long-established and enduring symbol of freethought; its usage inaugurated in the literature of the American Secular Union
American Secular Union

The American Secular Union was a social movement from the 1800s in the United States.After the implosion of the National Liberal League, the Liberalism reorganized as a nonpolitical American Secular Union....
 in the late 1800s. The reasoning behind the pansy being the symbol of freethought lies in both the flower's name and appearance. The pansy derives its name from the French word pensée, which means "thought"; it was so named because the flower resembles a human face, and in the month of August it nods forward as if deep in thought.

History


Origins


In Buddhism
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
 a type of freethought was advocated by Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
, most notably in the Kalama Sutta
Kalama Sutta

The Kesamutti Sutta , or better known as Kalama Sutta , is a Buddhist sutra in the Anguttara Nikaya of the Tripitaka. It is often cited by Mahayana and Theravada Buddhists alike....
:
"It is proper for you, Kalamas [the people of the village of Kesaputta], to doubt, to be uncertain; uncertainty has arisen in you about what is doubtful. Come, Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another's seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, 'The monk is our teacher.' Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are bad; these things are blameable; these things are censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill, abandon them.

"...Do not accept anything by mere tradition... Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures... Do not accept anything merely because it agrees with your pre-conceived notions... But when you know for yourselves—these things are moral, these things are blameless, these things are praised by the wise, these things, when performed and undertaken, conduce to well-being and happiness—then do you live acting accordingly."


The web of transmissions and re-inventions of critical thought meanders from the Hellenistic Mediterranean, through repositories of knowledge and wisdom in Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 and the Muslim
Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
 civilizations (e.g. Khayyam
Omar Khayyám

Omar Khayyam was a Persian peoples polymath: Islamic mathematics, Iranian philosophy, Islamic astronomy and above all Persian literature.He has also become established as one of the major mathematicians and astronomers of the medieval period....
 and his unorthodox sufi
Sufism

Sufi is generally understood to be the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ufi , though some adherents of the tradition reserve this term only for those practitioners who have attained the goals of the Sufi tradition....
 Rubaiyat
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his translation of a selection of poems, originally written in the Persian language and of which there are about a thousand, attributed to Omar Khayy?m , a Persian literature, Mathematics in medieval Islam and Astronomy in medieval Islam....
 poems), and in other civilizations, as the Chinese, (e.g. the seafaring Southern Sòng
Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling Chinese dynasty in China between 960–1279 AD; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty....
's renaissance), and on through heretical
Heresy

Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief....
 thinkers of esoteric alchemy
Alchemy

Alchemy , a part of the Occult Tradition, is both a philosophy and a practice with an aim of achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties....
 or astrology
Astrology

Astrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs which hold that the relative positions of astronomical object and related details can provide useful information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters....
, to the Renaissance
Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
 and the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe. It is thought to have begun in 1517 with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and may be considered to have ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648....
.

French physician and writer Rabelais
François Rabelais

Fran?ois Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor and Renaissance humanism. He was regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, dirty jokes and bawdy songs....
 celebrated "rabelaisian" freedom as well as good feasting and drinking (an expression and a symbol of freedom of the mind) in defiance of the hypocrisies of conformist
Conformist

In English history, Conformists were those whose Religion conformed with the requirements of the Act of Uniformity and so were in concert with the Established Church, the Church of England, as opposed to those of nonconformism whose practices were not acceptable to the Church of England....
 orthodoxy
Orthodoxy

The word orthodox, from Greek language orthodoxos "having the right opinion," from orthos + Doxa , is typically used to mean adhering to the accepted or traditional and established faith, especially in religion....
 in his utopian Thelema
Thelema

Thelema is a philosophy of life based on the rule or law, "Do what thou wilt." The ideal of "Do what thou wilt" and its association with the word Thelema goes back to Fran?ois Rabelais, but was more fully developed and proselytized by Aleister Crowley, who founded a religion named Thelema based on this ideal....
 Abbey (from ????µa: free "will"), the devise of which was Do What Thou Wilt:
"So had Gargantua established it. In all their rule and strictest tie of their order there was but this one clause to be observed, Do What Thou Wilt; because free people ... act virtuously and avoid vice. They call this honor."


When the hero of his book, Pantagruel, journeys to the "Oracle of The Div(in)e Bottle", he learns the lesson of life in one simple word: "Trinch!", Drink! Enjoy the simple life, learn wisdom and knowledge, as a free human. Beyond puns, irony, and satire, Gargantua's prologue metaphor
Metaphor

Metaphor is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a figure of speech that compares two or more things without using the words "like" or "as." More generally, a metaphor describes a first subject as being or equal to a second object in some way....
 instructs the reader to "break the bone and suck out the substance-full marrow" ("la substantifique moëlle"), the core of wisdom.

Modern movements


The year 1600 is hailed by many as the beginning of the era of modern freethought, as it is marked by the execution in Italy of Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno

Giordano Bruno, born Filippo Bruno , was an Italy philosopher best-known as a proponent of heliocentrism and the infinity of the universe. In addition to his cosmological writings, he also wrote extensive works on the art of memory, a loosely-organized group of mnemonic techniques and principles....
 by the Holy Inquisition.

England and France

The term Free-Thinker emerged toward the end of the 17th century in England to describe those who stood in opposition to the institution of the Church
Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
, and of literal belief in the Bible
Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
. The beliefs of these individuals were centered on the concept that people could understand the world through consideration of nature. Such positions were formally documented for the first time in 1697 by William Molyneux
William Molyneux

William Molyneux was an Irish people natural philosopher and writer on politics.Born in Dublin to Samuel Molyneux , lawyer and landowner, and his wife, Anne, n?e Dowdall, the second of five children, William Molyneux came from a relatively prosperous anglican background....
 in a widely publicized letter to John Locke
John Locke

John Locke was an English philosopher. Locke is considered the first of the British Empiricism, but is equally important to social contract theory....
, and more extensively in 1713, when Anthony Collins
Anthony Collins

Anthony Collins , was an England philosopher, and a proponent of deism....
 wrote his Discourse of Free-Thinking, which gained substantial popularity. In France, the concept first appeared in publication in 1765 when Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot was a French philosopher and writer. He was a prominent figure during the Age of Enlightenment and is best known for serving as chief editor and contributor to the Encyclop?die....
, Jean le Rond d'Alembert
Jean le Rond d'Alembert

Jean le Rond d'Alembert was a France mathematician, mechanics, physicist and philosopher. He was also co-editor with Denis Diderot of the Encyclop?die....
 and Voltaire
Voltaire

Fran?ois-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Age of Enlightenment writer, essayist, and philosophy known for his wit, philosophical sport, and defense of civil liberty, including freedom of religion and free trade....
 included an article on Libre-Penseur in their Encyclopédie
Encyclopédie

Encyclop?die, ou dictionnaire raisonn? des sciences, des arts et des m?tiers was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements and revisions in 1772, 1777 and 1780 and numerous foreign editions and later derivatives....
; the article was strongly atheistic
Atheism

Atheism is the absence or rejection of belief in deity, or the explicit view that Existence of God.Many list of atheists are Skepticism of all supernatural beings and cite a lack of empiricism evidence for the existence of deities....
. The European freethought concepts spread so widely that even places as remote as the Jotunheimen
Jotunheimen

Jotunheimen is a mountainous area of roughly 3,500 km? in Southern Norway. Jotunheimen is a part of the long Scandinavian Mountains range. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are in Jotunheimen, including the very highest - Galdh?piggen ....
, in Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
, had well-known freethinkers, such as Jo Gjende
Jo Gjende

Jo Gjende , was a Norway outdoorsman and freethinker. He is believed to have been the model for Henrik Ibsen?s Peer Gynt. :no:Bilde:Jo-gjende.jpg...
, by the 19th century.

The Freethinker
The Freethinker (journal)

The Freethinker is a British secular humanism journal, founded by George William Foote in 1881. It is the world's second oldest surviving freethought publication, the first being The Truth Seeker, launched in 1873 by D M Bennett....
 magazine was first published in Britain in 1881.

Germany

In Germany, during the period (1815-1848) and before the March Revolution, the resistance of citizens against the dogma of the church increased. In 1844, under the influence of Johannes Ronge and Robert Blum
Robert Blum

Robert Blum was a German history politician and member of the The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states of 1848....
, belief in the rights of man
Rights of Man

Rights of Man , by Thomas Paine, posits that popular political revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard its people, their natural rights, and their national interests....
, tolerance among men, and humanism
Humanism

Humanism is a broad category of ethics that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appealing to universal human qualities, particularly rationalism, without resorting to the supernatural or alleged divine authority from religious texts....
 grew, and by 1859 they had established the Bund Freireligiöser Gemeinden Deutschlands (Union of Secular Communities in Germany). This union still exists today, and is included as a member in the umbrella organization of free humanists. In 1881, in Frankfurt am Main, Ludwig Büchner
Ludwig Büchner

Friedrich Karl Christian Ludwig B?chner was a German philosopher, physiologist and physician who became one of the exponents of 19th century scientific materialism....
 established Deutschen Freidenkerbund (German Freethinkers League
German Freethinkers League

The German Freethinkers League was an organisation founded in 1881 by the philosopher, physiologist and physician Ludwig B?chner. Its aim was to provide a public meeting-ground and forum for materialist and atheism thinkers in Germany....
) as the first German organization for atheists. In Hamburg
Hamburg

Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany , and is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits. The city is home to approximately 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg metropolitan area has more than 4.3 million inhabitants....
 in 1882 the social-democratic Freidenker-Gesellschaft was formed.

Freethinkers were persecuted alongside Jews and other minorities in Nazi Germany.

Belgium

The Free University of Brussels (Université Libre de Bruxelles
Université Libre de Bruxelles

The Universit? Libre de Bruxelles is a French language-speaking university in Brussels, Belgium. It has about 20,000 students....
 / Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Vrije Universiteit Brussel

The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is a Flemish Community university located in Brussels, Belgium. It has two campuses referred to as Etterbeek and Jette....
), along with the two Circles of Free Inquiry (Dutch and French speaking), defend the freedom of critical thought, lay
Laity

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all persons who are not clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not Holy Orders clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order ....
 philosophy and ethics
Ethics

Ethics is a word for a philosophy that encompasses proper conduct and good living. It is significantly broader than the common conception of ethics as the analyzing of right and wrong....
, while rejecting the argument of authority
Appeal to authority

An appeal to authority or argument by authority is a type of Logical argument in logic. It bases the truth value of an assertion on the authority, knowledge, expertise, or position of the source asserting it....
.

ULB
Université Libre de Bruxelles

The Universit? Libre de Bruxelles is a French language-speaking university in Brussels, Belgium. It has about 20,000 students....
 physicist and chemist Ilya Prigogine
Ilya Prigogine

Ilya, Viscount Prigogine was a Russian-born naturalization Belgium chemist and Nobel Prize noted for his work on dissipative system, complex systems, and irreversibility....
 (1917 - 2003) received the 1977 Chemistry Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize , established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize in Literature, and Nobel Peace Prize in 1901....
 for his work on the entropy
Entropy

In many branches of science, entropy is a measure of the disorder of a system. The concept of entropy is particularly notable as it is applied across physics, information theory and mathematics....
 of dissipative and self-organizing natural systems, allowing a better lay understanding of the fundamental freedom
Freedom (philosophy)

Freedom, or the idea of being free, is a broad concept that has been given numerous interpretations by philosophy and schools of thought. The protection of interpersonal freedom can be the object of a social and political investigation, while the metaphysical foundation of inner freedom is a philosophical and psychological question....
 of complex
Complex systems

Complex systems is a scientific field which studies the common properties of systems considered complex in nature, society and science. It is also called complex systems theory, complexity science, study of complex systems, sciences of complexity, non-equilibrium physics, and historical physics....
 nature and life, and making an argument against the concept of simplistic newtonian
Newtonian

Newtonian refers to the work of Isaac Newton, in particular:* Newtonian mechanics, also known as classical mechanics* Newtonian telescope, a type of reflecting telescope...
 determinism
Determinism

Determinism is the philosophy proposition that every event, including human cognition and behavior, decision and action, is causality determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. With numerous historical debates, many varieties and philosophical positions on the subject of determinism exist from traditions throughout...
.

United States

Driven by the revolutions of 1848 in the German states
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states

"Germany" at the time of the Revolutions of 1848 had been a collection of 39 states loosely bound together in the German Confederation. As nationalist sentiment crystallized into resistance to the traditional political structure, repeated calls for freedom, democracy and national unity came to threaten the status quo....
, the 19th century saw an immigration
Immigration

While the movement of people has thought throughout history at various levels, modern immigration tourism are considered non-immigrants . Immigration that violates the immigration laws of the destination country is termed illegal immigration or undocumented immigration....
 of German freethinkers and anti-clericalists to the United States (see Forty-Eighters
Forty-Eighters

The Forty-Eighters were European ethnic groups who participated in or supported the revolutions of 1848 that swept Europe. In Germany, the Forty-Eighters favored unification of the country, a more democratic government, and guarantees of human rights....
). In the U.S., they hoped to be able to practice their beliefs, without interference from government and church authorities.

Many Freethinkers settled in German immigrant strongholds, including St. Louis, Indianapolis, Wisconsin
Wisconsin

Wisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. state in the United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States. It borders two of the five Great Lakes and four U.S....
, and Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
, where they founded the town of Comfort, Texas
Comfort, Texas

Comfort is a census-designated place in Kendall County, Texas, Texas, United States. The population was 2,358 at the United States Census, 2000....
, as well as others.

These groups of German Freethinkers referred to their organizations as Freie Gemeinden, or "free congregations." The first Freie Gemeinde was established in St. Louis in 1850. Others followed in Pennsylvania, California, Washington, D.C., New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, and other states.

Freethinkers tended to be liberal, espousing ideals such as racial, social, and sexual equality, and the abolition of slavery.

Freethought in the United States began to decline in the late nineteenth century. Its anti-religious views alienated would-be sympathizers. The movement also lacked cohesive goals or beliefs. By the early twentieth century, most Freethought congregations had disbanded or joined other mainstream churches. The longest continuously operating Freethought congregation in America is the Free Congregation of Sauk County, Wisconsin, which was founded in 1852 and is still active today. It affiliated with the American Unitarian Association
American Unitarian Association

The American Unitarian Association was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarianism congregations in 1825....
 (now the Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association

Unitarian Universalist Association , in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a Liberal religion religious association of Unitarian Universalism congregations formed by the consolidation in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America....
) in 1955.

German Freethinker settlements were located in:
  • Burlington
    Burlington, Wisconsin

    Burlington is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is mostly in Racine County, Wisconsin, with parts in Walworth County, Wisconsin and Kenosha County, Wisconsin Counties....
    , Racine County
    Racine County, Wisconsin

    Racine County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2006, the population was 196,096. Its county seat is Racine, Wisconsin....
    , Wisconsin
    Wisconsin

    Wisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. state in the United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States. It borders two of the five Great Lakes and four U.S....
  • Belleville
    Belleville, Illinois

    Belleville is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, Illinois, United States. The population was 41,410 at the United States Census 2000. It is the county seat of St....
    , St. Clair County
    St. Clair County, Illinois

    St. Clair County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois, and determined by the United States Census Bureau to include the mean center of U.S....
    , Illinois
  • Castell
    Castell, Texas

    Castell is a small unincorporated area in Llano County, Texas, Texas, United States. Located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, its northern border is formed by the Llano River....
    , Llano County
    Llano County, Texas

    Llano County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 17,044. Its county seat is Llano, Texas, and the county is named for the Llano River....
    , Texas
  • Comfort
    Comfort, Texas

    Comfort is a census-designated place in Kendall County, Texas, Texas, United States. The population was 2,358 at the United States Census, 2000....
    , Kendall County
    Kendall County, Texas

    Kendall County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In United States Census, 2000, its population was 23,743. Its county seat is Boerne, Texas....
    , Texas
  • Fond du Lac
    Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

    Fond du Lac is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States. The name is French for bottom of the lake, for it is located at the bottom of Lake Winnebago....
    , Fond du Lac County
    Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin

    Fond du Lac County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 97,296. Its county seat is Fond du Lac, Wisconsin....
    , Wisconsin
  • Frelsburg
    Frelsburg, Texas

    Frelsburg is an unincorporated area in Colorado County, Texas, Texas, United States. It lies at the intersection of Farm Roads 109 and 1291. The community was founded around 1837 by Capt....
    , Colorado County
    Colorado County, Texas

    Colorado County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 20,390. Its county seat is Columbus, Texas. Colorado is named for the Colorado River of Texas....
    , Texas
  • Hermann
    Hermann, Missouri

    Hermann is a city designated in 1842 as the county seat of Gasconade County, Missouri, Missouri, United States. It is near the center of the Missouri Rhineland and south of the Missouri River....
    , Gasconade County
    Gasconade County, Missouri

    Gasconade County is a county in the U.S. state of Missouri, on the south side of the Missouri River, originally the chief route of transportation....
    , Missouri
  • Jefferson
    Jefferson, Jefferson County, Wisconsin

    Jefferson is a town in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,000 at the 2000 census. The Jefferson, Wisconsin is located partially within the town....
    , Jefferson County
    Jefferson County, Wisconsin

    Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 74,021. Its county seat is Jefferson, Wisconsin....
    , Wisconsin
  • Indianapolis, Indiana
    Indiana

    The State of Indiana was the 19th U.S. state admitted into the union. It is located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America....
  • Latium
    Latium, Texas

    Latium is an unincorporated area in Washington County, Texas, Texas, United States. It is one of five Latin Settlements founded by German Texan political refugees in Texas after 1848....
    , Washington County
    Washington County, Texas

    Washington County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, known for the Convention of 1836 where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed....
    , Texas
  • Manitowoc
    Manitowoc, Wisconsin

    Manitowoc is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River....
    , Manitowoc County
    Manitowoc County, Wisconsin

    Manitowoc County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 82,887. Its county seat is Manitowoc, Wisconsin....
    , Wisconsin
  • Meyersville
    Meyersville, Texas

    Meyersville is an unincorporated area in DeWitt County, Texas, Texas, United States.The Meyersville Independent School District serves area students in grades kindergarten through eight....
    , DeWitt County
    DeWitt County, Texas

    DeWitt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 20,013. DeWitt County is named for Green DeWitt, who founded an early colony in Texas....
    , Texas
  • Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • Millheim, Austin County
    Austin County, Texas

    Austin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Greater Houston metropolitan area. The population was 23,590 at the United States Census, 2000....
    , Texas
  • Oshkosh
    Oshkosh, Wisconsin

    Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States, located where the Fox River enters Lake Winnebago. The population was 62,916 at the United States Census, 2000; it had a metropolitan area of 159,972 people....
    , Winnebago County, Wisconsin
    Winnebago County, Wisconsin

    Winnebago County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 156,763. Its county seat is Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Winnebago County is included in the Oshkosh, Wisconsin-Neenah, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area....
  • Ratcliffe, DeWitt County
    DeWitt County, Texas

    DeWitt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 20,013. DeWitt County is named for Green DeWitt, who founded an early colony in Texas....
    , Texas
  • Sauk City
    Sauk City, Wisconsin

    Sauk City is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,109 at the 2000 census. It was founded by Agoston Haraszthy and his business partner, Robert Bryant....
    , Sauk County
    Sauk County, Wisconsin

    Sauk County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 55,225. Its county seat and largest city is Baraboo, Wisconsin....
    , Wisconsin
  • Shelby
    Shelby, Texas

    Shelby is an unincorporated area in Austin County, Texas, Texas, United States. Shelby was settled in the early 1840s. The community was named for David Shelby, one of the first settlers in the area....
    , Austin County, Texas
  • Sisterdale, Kendall County
    Kendall County, Texas

    Kendall County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In United States Census, 2000, its population was 23,743. Its county seat is Boerne, Texas....
    , Texas
  • St. Louis
    St. Louis, Missouri

    St. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri, located near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. St....
    , Missouri
  • Tusculum, Kendall County, Texas
  • Two Rivers
    Two Rivers (town), Wisconsin

    Two Rivers is a town in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,912 at the 2000 census. The Two Rivers, Wisconsin is located mostly within the town....
    , Manitowoc County, Wisconsin
  • Watertown
    Watertown, Wisconsin

    Watertown is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin and Jefferson County, Wisconsin Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 21,598 at the 2000 census, and is currently estimated at 23,127....
    , Dodge County
    Dodge County, Wisconsin

    Dodge County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 85,897. Its county seat is Juneau, Wisconsin....
    , Wisconsin


    • Canada

    The earliest known secular organization in English Canada
    English Canada

    English Canada is a term used to describe one of the following:# English Canadians, a term usually meaning English Canadian Canadians, as opposed to French Canadian Canadian....
     is the Toronto Freethought Association, founded in 1873 by a handful of secularists. Reorganized in 1877 and again in 1881, when it was renamed the Toronto Secular Society, the group formed the nucleus of the Canadian Secular Union, established in 1884 to bring together freethinkers from across the country.

    A significant number of the early members appear to have been drawn from the educated labour “aristocracy,” including Alfred F. Jury, J. Ick Evans and J. I. Livingstone, all of whom were leading labour activists and secularists. The second president of the Toronto association was T. Phillips Thompson, a central figure in the city’s labour and social reform movements during the 1880s and 1890s and arguably Canada’s foremost late nineteenth-century labour intellectual. By the early 1880s, freethought organizations were scattered throughout southern Ontario
    Ontario

    Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
     and parts of Quebec
    Quebec

    Quebec , in French language, Qu?bec , is a Provinces and territories of Canada in the Central Canada and Eastern Canada regions of Canada....
    , and elicited both urban and rural support.

    The principal organ of the freethought movement in Canada was     Secular Thought (Toronto, 1887-1911). Founded and edited by English freethinker, Charles Watts (1835-1906), during its first several years, the editorship was assumed in 1891 by Toronto printer and publisher James Spencer Ellis when Watts returned to England.

    is an active community.

    South Asia

    One of the most assertive freethought movements rose in a relatively poor country, Bangladesh
    Bangladesh

    , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
    , ignited by people like Taslima Nasreen and the late Humayun Azad.

    See also


    External links

    • - A wiki dedicated to compiling information and arguments from a Freethought perspective