- Abner Kneeland
Infobox Person
name = Abner Kneeland
image_size = 170
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1774|04|07
birth_place =Gardner, Massachusetts
death_date =August 27 ,1844
death_place =Salubria, Iowa
education =
occupation =Preacher ,Theologian
spouse = Four wives (First three widowed)
parents = Timothy Kneeland, Martha Stone Kneeland
children = 12Abner Kneeland (
April 7 ,1774 –August 27 ,1844 ) was an American evangelist and theologian who advocated many views, religious and social, which were considered extremely radical for his day. Due to his very public stance on these issues, Kneeland became the last man jailed in the United States forblasphemy .Biography
Early life and ministry
Kneeland was born in
Gardner, Massachusetts . At the age of 21, he attended aBaptist church and served as a lay preacher for a time. However, he soon converted to Universalism where he was ordained a minister. He served as minister of various churches for a time, helping organize hymnals and making his own translation of the New Testament. He also debated with other public theologians of the day. As time went on, he became more and more skeptical of "revealed" religion, causing schisms in the churches he administered. Eventually, he and the Universalist Church parted ways after his views became too far removed from Christianity. Kneeland became afreethinker and pantheist, saying that the Universalist's Christian God was "nothing more than a chimera of their own imagination."Prosecution for blasphemy
Under the colonial charter of Massachusetts, blasphemy was still a crime, albeit one punished extremely rarely. However, perhaps because his other views inflamed the judiciary, Kneeland was charged with having violated the law. The final trial was held in 1838, five years after he had published the statements that caused the upset in the first place. Kneeland was convicted and served sixty days in prison. He was described by the judge as "a cantankerous and inflexible heretic."
Emigration and death
Kneeland left Massachusetts after the trial and moved to Iowa, where he started a small
utopia n community named Salubria (near present dayFarmington, Iowa ). Salubria failed shortly after his death in 1844.Religious and social views
In matters of religion, Kneeland became more and more disenchanted of religion handed down from some prophet and enshrined by tradition. He disdained societal mores, preferring naturalistic and personal quests for truth.
Kneeland believed in equal treatment for all people, both under the law as well as by society. Kneeland applied this even when religious scripture would seem to indicate different roles. This included support of such controversial ideas as divorce rights for women, married woman keeping their own names and property, and refusal to condemn
miscegenation (now known as interracial marriage). Kneeland was also in favor of birth control.References and links
* [http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/abnerkneeland.html Abner Kneeland biography from the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society]
* [http://www.atheists.org/Atheism/roots/kneeland/ Abner Kneeland biography from American Atheists] , who see him as more an atheist than a pantheist
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~iabiog/iastbios/annals/annals-k.htm Kneeland biography from the Annals of Iowa] , focusing on his time in Salubria
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