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Ed Buckner | |
|---|---|
| President of American Atheists | |
| In office 2008–2010 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Zindler |
| Succeeded by | David Silverman |
Edward Milton Buckner (born March 8,1946 [1] ) is an American atheist activist who served as president of the organization American Atheists from 2008 to 2010. [2] [3] [4] He was succeeded in this post by David Silverman.
Buckner served as executive director for the Council for Secular Humanism from 2001 to 2003 [5] and was once the council's southern director. [6] As treasurer of the Atlanta Freethought Society,he led a protest at a 2007 rally organized by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to pray for rain. [7] Buckner is currently a national board member for American Atheists. [8]
Buckner and his son,Michael E. Buckner,wrote In Freedom We Trust:An Atheist Guide to Religious Liberty published by Prometheus Books in late 2012. [9]
Buckner was born in Fitzgerald,Georgia to an Episcopal clergyman father. [10] He received his B.A. from Rice University in 1967 and his M. Ed. and Ph.D. (in educational leadership,1983) from Georgia State University. [10] Dr. Buckner married his wife Lois Diane Bright Buckner in 1968,and the two gave birth to their child Michael Edward Buckner in 1970. [11] Buckner was on the debate and football teams at Clear Creek High School (League City,Texas); [12] though he left the h.s. in 1963 to attend Rice,he came back to graduate from CCHS in 1964. [13] [ citation needed ]
Dr. Buckner has traveled across the United States and into the United Kingdom,voicing his support regarding freethought,secular humanism and the separation of state and church. [14] Ed Buckner's specialized topics in his presentations as a public speaker include "In Freedom We Trust" (debunking the notion of the United States being a Christian nation),"Atheism,Not Godliness" (providing support for atheism),"Secularism Across America" (a discussion regarding national organizations and their relationships between one another) among others. He is currently available for public speaking requests under Secular Student Alliance,an educational non-profit organization. [14] He has appeared often in the media circle as well,defending the civil liberties of Atheists and the separation of state and church on notable news outlets including CBS Evening News,Fox News,the Michael Medved Show,CNN,and the national CBS Radio News. [2]
Buckner,in May 2013,discovered Bibles in a cabin in a Georgia State Park. He responded by having atheist literature donated to be available alongside the bibles. [15]
Dr. Buckner has affiliations with many organizations that include the American Civil Liberties Union,the American United for Separation of Church and State,the Council for Secular Humanism,the Democratic Party and Freedom From Religion Foundation. [1]
Buckner has contributed to the following books: [16]
Dr. Buckner was honored with an award for excellence in teaching by the Georgia State University Foundation in two years, 1980–1981 and 1983–1984. [1] He was elected to College of Public and Urban Affairs Executive Committee, from 1983 to 1985. [1] He was elected as Senator for Urban Studies Department, Georgia State University Senate, for the 1985–1986 term. [1] He co-edited Taking the Harder Right by Oliver G. Halle with his wife Diane. [14] He resides in his home in Atlanta, Georgia. [14] On his tenure as President of American Atheists, Dr. Ed. Buckner participated in the "Islam or Atheism: You Decide!" debate on June 22, 2010 in London, England. [18] He also stated after the debate that he remains convinced that Islam is not supportable nor a rational belief. [19]
His past positions included—Researcher for a public school system, an Assistant Professor of Urban Studies, College of Public and Urban Affairs, Georgia State University. Taught research methods, statistics/computer use, and graduate statistical analysis courses—including bivariate and multivariate statistics. Responsible for managing and conducting wide variety of research and for analysis of data resulting from research projects. Served as a consultant on statistics, SPSSX computer programs and more. [11]
Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system or life stance that embraces human reason, logic, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism, while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision making.
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.
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Margaret Downey is a nontheist activist who is a former President of Atheist Alliance International and founder and president of the Freethought Society. She also founded the Anti-Discrimination Support Network, which reports and helps deal with discrimination against atheists.
Thomas W. Flynn was an American author, journalist, novelist, executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism, and editor of its journal Free Inquiry. He was also director of the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum and the Freethought Trail.
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Matthew Wade Dillahunty is an American atheist activist and former president of the Atheist Community of Austin, a position he held from 2006 to 2013. Between 2005 and October 2022, Dillahunty was host of the televised webcast The Atheist Experience.
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Darrel Wayne Ray 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.
Sikivu Hutchinson is an American author, playwright, director, and musician. Her multi-genre work explores feminism, gender justice, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, humanism and atheism. She is the author of Humanists in the Hood: Unapologetically Black, Feminist, and Heretical (2020), White Nights, Black Paradise (2015), Godless Americana: Race and Religious Rebels (2013), Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics, and the Values Wars (2011), and Imagining Transit: Race, Gender, and Transportation Politics in Los Angeles (2003). Her plays include "White Nights, Black Paradise", "Rock 'n' Roll Heretic" and "Narcolepsy, Inc.". "Rock 'n' Roll Heretic" was among the 2023 Lambda Literary award LGBTQ Drama finalists. Moral Combat is the first book on atheism to be published by an African-American woman. In 2013 she was named Secular Woman of the year and was awarded Foundation Beyond Belief's 2015 Humanist Innovator award. She was also a recipient of Harvard's 2020 Humanist of the Year award.
Hemant Mehta is an American author, blogger, YouTuber and atheist activist. Mehta is a regular speaker at atheist events, and has been a board member of charitable organizations such as the Secular Student Alliance and the Foundation Beyond Belief.
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Irreligion in Romania is rare. Romania is one of the most religious countries in Europe, with 92% of people saying that they believe in God. Levels of Irreligion are much lower than in most other European countries and are among the lowest in the world. At the 2011 census, only 0.11% of the population declared itself atheist, up from the 2002 census, while 0.10% do not belong to any religion. While still one of the most religious countries in Europe, practicing, church and mass attendance is quite low, even compared to some less religious countries than Romania. It is mainly practiced by elderly people, mainly in rural areas, while in urban areas church attendance and practice is much lower. As of 2021, almost 85% are declared religious, of which about 73% are declared orthodox, 12% other religions, about 1% atheists or irreligious and about 14% declared nothing about religion.
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