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Aron Ra

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Aron Ra
Aron Ra speaking at De Vrije Gedachte in Utrecht, Netherlands in 2015.[1]
Born
L. Aron Nelson

(1962-10-15) October 15, 1962 (age 62)
Kingman, Arizona
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Public speaker, video producer, vlogger, podcaster
OrganizationAtheist Alliance of America
Known forAtheist activism
SpouseLilandra Ra (2009–present)

L. Aron Nelson (born October 15, 1962), known professionally as Aron Ra, is the president of the Atheist Alliance of America,[2] the host of the Ra-Men Podcast,[3] a public speaker, video producer, blogger, and vlogger.[4][5] He is also the former Texas state-director of the American Atheists.[3]

Born in Kingman, Arizona, Aron Ra was baptized as a Mormon. He says as a child he never saw himself as one, however, because he did not know enough about it or other religions to make a responsible choice about what to believe.[6] He studied paleontology in Dallas.[7]

Aron Ra is a critic of creationism, and promotes the teaching of science in Texas schools.[7] Aron Ra has advocated for the inclusion of evolution in the Texas Science Textbook hearing.[8][9][10]

Aron Ra spoke at Skepticon 6 (2013)[11] and along with Matt Dillahunty, was in the 2014 documentary film My Week in Atheism by director John Christy.[12][13] Together with Dillahunty and Seth Andrews, he held the Unholy Trinity Tour in the United States in 2014,[14] which they took to Australia in 2015.[15] In April and May 2015, Aron Ra traveled across Europe and spoke at several events including QED: Question, Explore, Discover in Manchester, England,[16] at De Vrije Gedachte in Utrecht, the Netherlands,[1][6] and at Skepsis Norge in Oslo, Norway.[17]

He formerly blogged at Freethought Blogs as "Ace of Clades" with his wife, Lilandra. In 2015, they moved to the blogging network Patheos.[18] He supports his activism through Patreon,[19] which he has also used to start up the Phylogeny Explorer Project, the database design of which was done by Adrian Jerome Wright.[20]

Personal

Aron Ra has a son. He met Lilandra on the discussion board Christian Forums, where Aron challenged creationists that if he "could prove to their satisfaction that evolution is essentially true, they would become an evolutionist." Lilandra accepted the challenge, and arranged a debate between Aron and a few Christian evolution supporters on the one hand and several Christian creationists on the other, after which she accepted evolution. A while later she also lost her faith when she was unable to reconcile evolution with her Protestant interpretation of the Bible. Lilandra motivated Aron to become politically active as well.[21] In 2009, Aron married Lilandra (who adopted 'Ra' as her pseudonymous family name).

References

  1. ^ a b de Vries, Hans (May 2015). "AronRa: "Religie is het kostuum dat je draagt"". De Vrijdenker (in Dutch). 46 (5): 17.
  2. ^ "About Atheist Alliance of America". Atheist Alliance of America. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "The Ra-Men Podcast". Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  4. ^ Richter, Kathryn (April 19, 2012). "A Night of Reason: Society presents guest speaker". Daily Eastern News. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  5. ^ Anna Merlan (December 6, 2012). "THE RISE OF THE TEXAS ATHEIST". Texas Observer.
  6. ^ a b van Elst, René (June 2015). "Aron Ra, een Amerikaanse atheïst in Utrecht". De Vrijdenker (in Dutch). 46 (6): 10–12.
  7. ^ a b "Evolution debate experiences resurgence in Texas". April 13, 2005. Students should be critical of all scientific theories," said L. Aron Nelson, a paleontology student from Dallas with an extensive knowledge of evolutionary evidence. "You have to be, or it isn't science. But the theory of evolution is actually better-supported than the current theory of gravity, and children shouldn't be misled to be doubtful of the best-supported theories we have.
  8. ^ "Who's Who Among the State Board of Education Hearing". Texas Monthly. September 18, 2015. Aron Ra is a prominent opponent of the teaching of creationism. The 17 videos in his YouTube series, "Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism," have combined for more than four million views on the site. He also serves as the Texas director of the American Atheists
  9. ^ "Live-Blogging the Texas Science Textbook Hearing (2013)". Texas Freedom Network. September 17, 2013. Now the board hears from science defender (and YouTube sensation) Aron Ra, who attempts a 2-minute science lesson. No questions from the class.
  10. ^ Eugenie Scott (September 18, 2013). "There They Go Again (Of Necessity)". National Center for Science Education.
  11. ^ "Aron Ra". Website Skepticon. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  12. ^ Korb, Melanie (February 20, 2014), "Christian, Atheist Display Complicated Friendship in New Documentary", Charisma
  13. ^ Anugrah Kumar (February 18, 2014), "Christian Filmmaker, Atheist Activist Release Their New Film 'My Week in Atheism'", The Christian Post
  14. ^ "The Unholy Trinity Tour visits WTAMU". The Prairie. West Texas A&M University. March 25, 2014.
  15. ^ "Unholy Trinity Tour Australia". Unholy Trinity Down Under website. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  16. ^ "Panel: Every Cloud-based Video Service has a Silver Lining". Lanyrd. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  17. ^ "AronRa på puben - OBS! Nytt sted!". Heyevent. Skepsis Norge. May 8, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  18. ^ Aron Ra & Lilandra Ra. "About". Patheos. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  19. ^ "Support Aron Ra creating videos, activism, podcasts, presentations, blogs". Patreon. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  20. ^ Aron Ra (May 29, 2015). "Ra-Men Special on the Phylogeny Explorer Project". YouTube. The Ra-Men Podcast. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  21. ^ Aron Ra & Lilandra Ra (September 14, 2013). "Meeting at the Houston Oasis". YouTube. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
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