Oct. 18th, 2007
For Release: Immediately Upon Receipt
Contact: August E. Brunsman IV, 518.632.4139
august@secularstudents.org

Former Preacher, Now Atheist, Encourages Atheist Students to Get Active in California

ALBANY, N.Y. - Later this month Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, will be in California reaching out to college students via a speaking and debate tour.  The tour kicks off October 21st with an activist training session which will encourage students to challenge the religious right both on and off campus.  The training session will be held on the main campus of the University of California Los Angeles.

Mr. Barker was a professional minister for years before deciding he was an atheist and coming out publicly about it.  The Freedom From Religion Foundation recently made headlines during the "Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation" U.S. Supreme Court case.  Its annual conference drew record numbers of attendees this year.  The Foundation's weekly radio show "Freethought Radio" has recently become nationally syndicated on Air America Radio.

At the activist training Mr. Barker will be joined by other speakers including August E. Brunsman IV, executive director of the Secular Student Alliance, Bobbie Kirkhart, vice president of the Secular Coalition for America and board member of the Institute for Humanist Studies, and Neil Polzin,  southern California campus organizer of the Secular Student Alliance.  This activist training will be followed up with speaking events and debates with Mr. Barker throughout the week at Cal State Los Angeles, University of California Los Angeles, Cal State Long Beach, University of California Santa Cruz, and Cal State Monterey Bay.

Secularism is on the rise with young people, especially those who are on college campuses.  A January survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that the number Americans ages 18-25 with no religion has nearly doubled since the late 1980s from one-in-ten to one-in-five. The Secular Student Alliance currently has more than 100 affiliate groups, run by students at schools all over the world. The number of SSA affiliate groups has more than doubled since 2004.

"Religious groups dominate campus, but that is starting to change," Polzin said. "We are seeing a serious swing on campus towards non-theistic worldviews, and we are training a new base of leaders as a result."

Mr. Polzin's position with the Secular Student Alliance is funded by Los Angeles-based Atheists United.  This college tour is an example of unprecedented cooperation between organizations like Atheists United, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Secular Student Alliance. 

The Secular Student Alliance supports student communities that promote scientific and critical inquiry, democracy, secularism, and human based ethics. The Secular Student Alliance represents atheist and humanist groups at more than 100 high schools and colleges around the world. For information about the Secular Student Alliance, visit: http://www.secularstudents.org.

For information about the Freedom From Religion Foundation, visit http://www.ffrf.org.

Founded in 1982, Atheists United is a Los Angeles-based group that promotes atheism as an ethical and fulfilling way of life.  For information about the Atheists United, visit: http://www.atheistsunited.org.

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