Aron Ra (formerly L. Aron Nelson, born October 15, 1962) is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

activist. Ra is the host of the ''Ra-Men Podcast'' and a member of the American Atheists board of directors. He had previously served as president of the Atheist Alliance of AmericaRa, Aron (March 11, 2017)
"I am Resigned to Run for State Senate"
Patheos. and ran as a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

candidate for Texas' District 2 Senate seat.

Early life and education

Aron Ra was born in

Kingman, Arizona Kingman is a city in, and the county seat of, Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is named after Lewis Kingman, an engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. It is located southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and northwest of Arizona' ...

, and baptized as a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into seve ...

. Despite his religious upbringing, he states that he has been a

skeptic Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then th ...

from a young age. He studied

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fos ...

at the University of Texas in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. He holds an Associate's degree from

Dallas College Dallas College is a public community college with seven campuses in Dallas County, Texas. It serves more than 70,000 students annually in degree-granting, continuing education, and adult education programs. Dallas College offers associate de ...

and, in 2022, earned a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology from the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

Career

A vocal critic of

theism Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred ...

and

creationism Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism ...

and an advocate of the inclusion of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

in science curricula, Ra produces YouTube videos on the topics of

skepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

free thought Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other meth ...

, and

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. He has engaged in live debates with

young Earth creationist Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespre ...

s, including

Ray Comfort Ray Comfort (born 5 December 1949) is a New Zealand-born Christian minister and evangelist who lives in the United States. Comfort started Living Waters Publications, as well as the ministry ''The Way of the Master'', in Bellflower, California ...

, and presented at skepticism conferences in Europe. As a member of the Unholy Trinity, he toured the United States and Australia with two fellow atheist activists—

Seth Andrews Seth Andrews (born April 12, 1968) is an American activist, author, and speaker on the subject of atheism. He is the creator and host of ''The Thinking Atheist'' online community, podcast, and YouTube channel, as well as the author of four self-p ...

, of ''

The Thinking Atheist Seth Andrews (born April 12, 1968) is an American activist, author, and speaker on the subject of atheism. He is the creator and host of ''The Thinking Atheist'' online community, podcast, and YouTube channel, as well as the author of four self-pu ...

'', and

Matt Dillahunty Matthew Wade Dillahunty (born March 31, 1969) 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 late 2022, Dillahunty was host of the televised webcast ...

, of ''

The Atheist Experience "The Atheist Experience" is an American live, weekly televised webcast based in Austin, Texas. Listeners are encouraged to call in to discuss the existence of God and related topics. Calls from theists are usually given priority, as the aim o ...

''. He appeared in the documentary films ''My Week in Atheism'', directed by John Christy, and ''Batman & Jesus'', directed by

Jozef K. Richards Jozef K. Richards (born July 9, 1989) is an American film director, screenwriter, film producer, producer, actor, children's author, and illustrator. He founded Kintou Media Company, which controls numerous other entertainment-based companies, i ...

. He published his first book, ''Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism'', in 2016.

Political candidacy and views

In March 2017, Ra resigned from his position as president of the Atheist Alliance of America to run for the

Texas State Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per co ...

against

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

incumbent Bob Hall. The first

candidate to run for the District 2 seat since 2002, he dropped out of the race after failing to secure the Democratic Party endorsement.

Books

* ''Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism'' (2016) * ''We Are All Apes'' (2022)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ra, Aron Living people 1962 births 20th-century atheists 21st-century atheists American atheism activists American feminists American male non-fiction writers American podcasters American Satanists American skeptics American critics of creationism Education activists Former Latter Day Saints People from Kingman, Arizona American male feminists Texas Democrats Secular humanists Activists from Arizona Activists from Texas YouTubers from Arizona