Talk:The Freethinker (journal)

Philosophy: Literature / Ethics / Religion Low‑importance

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Philosophy, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of content related to philosophy on Wikipedia. If you would like to support the project, please visit the project page, where you can get more details on how you can help, and where you can join the general discussion about philosophy content on Wikipedia.PhilosophyWikipedia:WikiProject PhilosophyTemplate:WikiProject PhilosophyPhilosophy articles

Low

This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Associated task forces:
/
	Philosophical literature
	Ethics
	Philosophy of religion

Skepticism Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Skepticism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of science, pseudoscience, pseudohistory and skepticism related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SkepticismWikipedia:WikiProject SkepticismTemplate:WikiProject SkepticismSkepticism articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Magazines Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Magazines, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of magazines on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.MagazinesWikipedia:WikiProject MagazinesTemplate:WikiProject Magazinesmagazine articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
See WikiProject Magazines' writing guide for tips on how to improve this article.

Atheism Low‑importance

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Atheism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of atheism on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.AtheismWikipedia:WikiProject AtheismTemplate:WikiProject AtheismAtheism articles

Low

This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

For more information and how you can help, click the [Show] link opposite:

If you would like to participate, you can edit this article and visit the project page.

Quick help

Recent activity

To do

Join WikiProject atheism and be bold.

Add a userbox to your page ({{User WikiProject Atheism}} or {{User WPA2}}) and attract potential members.
Help with articles.
See this month's adopt-an-article.
Help out with this to-do list.

Be consistent

Use a "standard" layout for atheism-related articles (see layout style, "The perfect article" and Featured articles).
Add Atheism info box to all atheism related talk pages (use {{WikiProject Atheism}} or see info box)
Ensure atheism-related articles are members of Atheism by checking whether [[Category:Atheism]] has been added to atheism-related articles – and, where it hasn't, adding it.

Maintenance, etc.

Find sources for all positions of an article (see Citing sources and atheism references).
Try to expand stubs. Ideas and theories about life, however, are prone to generating neologisms, so some stubs may be suitable for deletion (see deletion process).
Watch the list of atheism-related articles and add to accordingly.
Always write for an encyclopedia.

Articles to improve

Agnosticism

Create

Articles on notable atheists

Expand

an atheism stub

Immediate attention

State atheism needs a reassessment of its Importance level, as it has little to do with atheism and is instead an article about anti-theist/anti-religious actions of governments.
False choice into False dilemma: discuss whether you are for or against this merge here
Clarify references in Atheism using footnotes.
Secular movement defines it as a being restricted to America in the 21st century.

United Kingdom Low‑importance

	United Kingdom portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United Kingdom, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the United Kingdom on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.United KingdomWikipedia:WikiProject United KingdomTemplate:WikiProject United KingdomUnited Kingdom articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Untitled

Is militant really the right to describe it? It suggests physical aggression, and I see no proof of that in the rest of the article.

Point taken, though "militant" can be used as a synonym of "combative", and as such definitely applicable. --Dannyno 11:48, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

History

I've reworded this bit. It used to say "partly because" for a reason. One of the reasons for going after the Freethinker was to try to get to Charles Bradlaugh, who at the time was struggling to take his parliamentary seat. Had he been convicted of blasphemy, he would have been unable to do so. In the event, Bradlaugh showed he had nothing to do with the relevant issues. But perhaps the Freethinker would have been ignored had the Bradlaugh case not been going on. That was the point. Hopefully my rewording allows us to finesse the issue without needing to explain all this at the moment. But perhaps we should go into more detail when we have time. --Dannyno 09:23, 22 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

But wasn't Bradlaugh actually publisher of The Freethinker briefly, at 28 Stonecutter Street? I think this is what gave the prosecution its initial motivation, although after Foote's persistence in the courtroom they probably wanted to throw the book at him ([1]). Dan Allosso (talk) 20:36, 23 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, Bradlaugh's Freethought Publishing Company was responsible for some early issues. But not, crucially, for the offending ones. --Dannyno (talk) 14:32, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Is there any equivalent of 'The Freethinker' in the United States?

I just wondered if there is anything like 'The Freethinker' in the U.S.? Have there been any freethinker-journals in the U.S. in the 19th century? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 87.78.49.48 (talk) 15:08, 18 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Of course. --Dannyno 08:32, 19 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Beacon, New York, 1836, Gilbert Vale, Ed. The Boston Investigator, 1831, Abner Kneeland, Ed. are good places to start. For more info, see Popular Freethought in America, 1825-1850 by Albert Post. Dan Allosso (talk) 20:27, 23 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Truth Seeker vs Freethinker

Is the Truth Seeker actually still being published? I realise it turned into a very different publication, but that's not the issue. Although there is still a webpage, I can find no indication that any issues have been produced since the 125th issue in 1998. The Freethinker passes 127 years this year. No Truth Seeker editor is listed at http://truthseeker.com/truth-seeker/ after 1988. So what's going on? --Dannyno (talk) 07:14, 30 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Circulation

Anyone know what type of circulation (i.e. number of subscribers) it has had over the course of its history? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Steve G (talk • contribs) 00:17, 29 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Cessation of the printed magazine

The May 2014 issue was the last to appear in print. From now on it will be an internet-only publication. The article will need to reflect this change. --Dannyno (talk) 09:44, 4 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]