Atheists United Profiled in LA Times
Los Angeles - Los Angeles Times today covered Atheists United and its Executive Director in a profile piece by staff writer and newsletter editor Justin Ray.
Religious groups have recently won several legal and political victories. Last week, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved a $400,000 settlement with a church after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of worshipers defying COVID-19 restrictions. And last week, religious conservatives claimed victory after Texas passed a controversial abortion law and the Supreme Court decided to allow it. The top candidates in the recall race are campaigning in houses of worship.
What do the nonreligious make of all this? Evan Clark, 33, (pictured below) executive director of Los Angeles-based Atheists United, tells The Times that the secular community is “seeing a complete lack of representation” in narratives involving religion (I have written about the media’s mishandling of the nonreligious before).
Yet, there’s evidence that America is becoming less religious; earlier this year it was reported that for the first time since Gallup began tracking the numbers in 1937, Americans who are members of a church, synagogue or mosque are not in the majority. Pew reported in 2019 that Christianity is declining at a rapid pace.
The article goes on to highlight Atheists United the organization…
Atheists United “exists to build thriving atheist communities, empower people to express their secular values and promote separation of government and religion,” according to its site. They host speaker events and meet-ups. They have created resources like “Atheist Street Pirates,” an interactive map that tracks illegal signs on public roads and streets that have religious sentiments like “Jesus Christ Forever” or Bible verses. They also organize a “Recovering from Religion” support group for those who want to change/leave their faith.
The organization recently partnered with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank to feed the needy in Historic Filipinotown. “Every third Friday of each month at four o’clock, we hand out usually about three-and-a-half-thousand pounds of food to those in the neighborhood,” according to Clark. The organization also provides secular services, like its recently launched a partnership with Smart Recovery, a drug and alcohol addiction program.
Atheists United welcomes all, including the religious. Clark points out that for years, the lead singer of their choir was Catholic (by the way, the choir is named “Voices of Reason”).
…and Evan Clark as an atheist community leader:
Clark was born in Sacramento but spent most of his youth in a New England suburb that was very Catholic. As a kid, he in fact went to a Catholic school but “quickly discovered belief in God was not working for me.” He left to attend public school, but decided to enroll in a religious institution for college.
Oddly enough, this is where Clark’s career in atheism started. It sounds like a great sitcom: He founded the Secular Student Alliance at California Lutheran University. Despite the seemingly opposite missions of the organization and the school, he says CLU “really embraced it.” Not only that, but he even became student body president.
In 2014, he moved to Arizona to work for the congressional campaign of James Woods (not that one, this one). After the campaign ended, he helped found a consulting firm called Spectrum Experience that helps nonreligious candidates run for office. Then he took on the role at Atheists United, which he has served in for nearly three years.
Read the full article on the LA Times website.
