Lunchbox/Soapbox: Chris Stedman: Faithiest: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious

Chris Stedman is an atheist working to foster positive and productive dialogue between faith communities and the non-religious. Visiting from the States in advance of his new book, he charts his journey to this point – from evangelical Christian and closeted gay person to anti-religious atheist to interfaith activist – and details his work as a young, proud gay atheist who is building bridges of understanding, cooperation, and respect with religious people. Chris argues that it is fundamental that atheists and the religious engage their differences in a thoughtful and compassionate manner, and identify areas of shared humanity and common ground so that they might collaborate on addressing the most pressing issues of our time.

Chris Stedman is the Interfaith and Community Service Fellow for the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University, the Emeritus Managing Director of State of Formation at the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue, and the Founder of the first blog dedicated to exploring atheist-interfaith engagement, NonProphet Status. His first book, Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious is due for release in September. Chris was recently named by Religion Dispatches among the ‘top ten peacemakers in the science-religion wars’.