It has always taken an unapologetically atheist, anti-religious stance. In Issue 1 (May, 1881), Foote set out The Freethinker's purpose:
The Freethinker is an anti-Christian organ, and must therefore be chiefly aggressive. It will wage relentless war against superstition in general, and against Christian superstition in particular. It will do its best to employ the resources of Science, Scholarship, Philosophy and Ethics against the claims of the Bible as a Divine Revelation; and it will not scruple to employ for the same purpose any weapons of ridicule or sarcasm that may be borrowed from the armoury of Common Sense.
Although closely linked with the National Secular Society for most of its history (NSS Presidents and General Secretaries have at various times also served as Freethinker editor), The Freethinker is strictly autonomous and is not, and never has been, published by the NSS; it has been published by G. W. Foote & Co. Ltd. since its inception.
In 2006, the magazine's front-page masthead was changed from "Secular humanist monthly" to "The Voice of Atheism since 1881".
Daniel James Sharp is the current editor, succeeding Emma Park from April 2024.
History
Following the publication of anti-religious cartoons in the Christmas 1882 edition of The Freethinker, Foote was prosecuted for blasphemy, and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment with hard labour. On receiving his sentence from Mr Justice North (a devout Catholic), Foote said "with great deliberation" to the Judge "My Lord, I thank you; it is worthy of your creed". His description of this experience was published in 1886 as Prisoner for Blasphemy.[2]
The April 2014 edition of The Freethinker contained an announcement that the May issue would be the last to appear in print; publication would continue online.[3]The Freethinker kept its own website until all new content was moved to a section of the Patheos website, the first article appearing on 16 July 2021.
The Freethinker bulletin of 22 January 2022 announced that Barry Duke was moving to the newly established OnlySky website. His successor, Emma Park, was announced on The Freethinker website on 27 January 2022. In June 2022 Barry Duke explained that although The Freethinker was due to move from the Patheos website to OnlySky, the board of G. W. Foote & Co. Ltd. decided to keep its own dedicated website and to terminate his editorship. [4] He was succeeded by Emma Park.
On 1 April 2024, a bulletin from The Freethinker announced that Daniel James Sharp had succeeded Emma Park as editor from this date.[5]
A Committee consisting of F. A. Hornibrook, Bayard Simmons, G. H. Taylor May 1954 – August 1959.
Colin McCall replaced Simmons in 1957, his name appearing alongside Hornibrook and Taylor from December that year. He became sole editor from August 1959 until December 1965
Freethought is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other methods such as logic, reason, and empirical observation.
The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866.
Barbara Smoker was a British humanist activist and freethought advocate. She was also President of the National Secular Society (1972–1996), Chair of the British Voluntary Euthanasia Society (1981–1985) and an Honorary Vice President of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association in the United Kingdom.
Jim Herrick was a British humanist and secularist. He studied history and English literature at Trinity College, Cambridge University, and then worked as a school teacher for seven years. He wrote or edited several books on humanism and the history of freethought.
Nicolas Hardy Walter was a British anarchist and atheist writer, speaker and activist. He was a member of the Committee of 100 and Spies for Peace, and wrote on topics of anarchism and humanism.
David Harold Tribe was an Australian secularist, humanist, and author of numerous books, articles and pamphlets. He was born in Sydney, Australia, grew up in Brisbane, and lived in the United Kingdom from the 1950s into the 1970s.
Peter Leslie Brearey was a British secularist, socialist, and journalist, and editor of The Freethinker from 1993 to 1998.
George William Foote was an English secularist, freethinker, republican, writer and journal editor.
Edwin Frederick Kagin was an attorney at law in Union, Kentucky, and a founder of Camp Quest, the first secular summer camp in the United States for the children of secularists, atheists, agnostics, brights, skeptics, naturalists and freethinkers. He served as the National Legal Director of American Atheists from 2006 until his death in 2014.
William J. "Bill" McIlroy was a British secularist and atheist activist, writer and editor.
Chapman Cohen was an English freethinker, atheist, and secularist writer and lecturer.
Keith Porteous Wood is the president of the National Secular Society in the United Kingdom. From 1996 until November 2017 he held the paid position of general secretary which was later re-titled executive director.
Charles Southwell was a radical English journalist, freethinker and colonial advocate.
Apostacon, before 2013 known as Midwest Humanist Conference, Midwest Humanist and Freethought Conference and Midwest Freethought Conference, is an annual event about atheism, freethought, humanism, secularism and skepticism in the (Midwestern) United States. The conference, which embraces the parody religion of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, is aimed at "atheists, humanists, agnostics, skeptics, apostates, freethinkers, rationalists and pastafarians."
Barry Duke is a journalist, atheist, gay rights activist, former editor of The Freethinker and current editor of The Pink Humanist and The Angry Atheist.
Charles Watts was an English writer, lecturer and publisher, who was prominent in the secularist and freethought movements in both Britain and Canada.
Harriet Teresa Law was a leading British freethinker in 19th-century London.
Kit Mouat was an English poet, author and secular humanist activist and editor. She worked and wrote under the pseudonym "Kit Mouat" to protect her diplomat husband. She also used the names Jane MacKay and Jean MacKay, and Catharine Lund.
Joseph Mazzini Wheeler was an English atheist and freethought writer.
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