Generation Atheist (at Glen Park Library)

Dan Riley’s mission is “to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry and humanist values”. He identifies as an atheist even though he realizes that in the United States, the word is associated with distrust, secrecy, selfishness, meaninglessness and arrogance. To counter this image, he wanted to put a human face on atheism so he interviewed 25 young atheists. He wanted to know how and why young people become atheists; do they experience backlash from friends and family; do Gen Y atheists view their atheism as a positive or negative on their lives; do they wish they could change the way they think? Dan will discuss what he discovered and published in his book Generation Atheist (http://generationatheistbook.com/about).

From 2008-2011, Dan Riley worked as a campus organizer in the outreach department at the non-profit think tank the Center for Inquiry. He got to know many secular student leaders during his time with CFI. Dan is a 2006 graduate of Duke University.