Darrel Ray | |
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Born | Darrel Wayne Ray August 24, 1950 Wichita, Kansas |
Occupation | Organizational psychologist, author |
Education | MA, Ed. D. |
Alma mater | Friends University Scarritt College for Christian Workers |
Genre | Non-fiction |
Subject | Religion, secularism, organization development, sexuality |
Years active | 1978–present |
Notable works | The God Virus, Sex and God |
Darrel Wayne Ray (born August 24, 1950) is an American organizational psychologist and author who focuses on topics such as workplace organizational culture, secular sexuality, and the treatment of religion-induced trauma. He is a public speaker, podcaster, and atheist activist, and founded the non-profit organization Recovering from Religion as well as the Secular Therapy Project.
Ray was raised a fundamentalist Christian in Wichita, Kansas, by parents who eventually became missionaries, and among family members highly involved in church life. [1] This fundamentalist upbringing informs much of his later writing. [2] In 1979, Ray joined the Quaker church, and later he attended the Presbyterian church. [3] From 1969 to 1984, he taught Sunday school, preached, and was a tenor soloist in several church choirs.[ citation needed ] He became agnostic by his early 30s and an atheist by 40. [4]
Ray is the father of two children and also a grandfather. [5] He is also openly polyamorous. [6]
In 1972, Ray earned a bachelor's degree in sociology/anthropology at Friends University in Wichita, and in 1974 he completed an MA in Church and Community at Scarritt College for Christian Workers in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1978 he finished a doctoral program in psychology at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, earning his Ed.D. [7]
Ray became very involved in organizational culture and in clinical psychology. [5] He has written two books on team-building and served as the director of The Institute for Performance Culture. [8] He also founded Teaming Up, an organizational and team-building coaching program. [9] Ray co-authored two books with Howard Bronstein which describe how to create and manage self-directed teams. [10]
In 2009, Ray founded the organization Recovering from Religion (RfR), an international, non-profit organization which helps people dealing with issues stemming from religious trauma, doubt, and non-belief. [3] As of 2024 [update] Ray serves as the president of the RfR Board of Directors. [11] He also founded the RfR's Secular Therapy Project, which has the goal of helping clients find therapists offering secular and science-based therapy. [12]
Ray has written books about secularism and atheism: The God Virus: How Religion Affects Our Lives and Culture [13] and Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality. [14] Ray's books about secularism and religion explore how religion interacts with human beings on a personal and cultural level. Ray explores how religious institutions and ideas can be used to control human thoughts and behaviors, especially sexual behaviors. [5] Ray pays special attention to placing sexuality and various religions into context culturally and historically. [6] He takes the stance that many human impulses, feelings and sexual behaviors are normal and can be desirable. [15] Ray's books have influenced other atheists, and his psychological interpretation of Richard Dawkins's concept of religion as a virus has influenced the atheist and secular movement in America. [16]
On August 30, 2014, Ray launched a podcast about human sexuality and atheism called Secular Sexuality, where is he also the host. [17]
Ray has also appeared as a secular psychological expert on television, including ABC News show, Nightline , where in 2011 he spoke out against exorcisms and took a scientific viewpoint towards psychological illnesses that might look like possession. [18]
In June 1982, Ray and several other authors released a paper describing a study done on male youth offenders in a juvenile correction institute. Ray and the group studied whether population density had any effects on the participants. [19]
In May 2011, Ray and Amanda Brown (an undergraduate at the University of Kansas studying sex and sexuality) released the results of a self-reporting online survey [20] of over 14,500 American secularists, titled "Sex and Secularism: What Happens When You Leave Religion?", and concluding that sex improves dramatically after leaving religion, and that people who are religious exhibit similar sexual behaviors as the non-religious, but experience markedly increased guilt. [21] The study has been criticized for suffering from self-selection bias, [22] due to its recruiting of participants via the science blog Pharyngula. [23]
Ray has written for a number of journals, including The Humanist, a publication of the American Humanist Association. [24]
Ray's podcast, Secular Sexuality addresses human sexuality from an atheist or freethinker's viewpoint. It is produced by Secular Media Group, LLC, an atheist media and publishing company. [25]
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