David G. McAfee

David G. McAfee

David G. McAfee speaking at Houston Oasis on November 16th, 2014.
Born David Gregory McAfee
(1989-02-23) February 23, 1989
Roseville, California
Occupation Writer, Journalist
Language English
Nationality American
Alma mater University of California, Santa Barbara
Website
davidgmcafee.com

David Gregory McAfee (born February 23, 1989) is an American author and journalist.[1] McAfee has been cited as one of the new writers bringing new, mainstream books about atheism to the mass market.[2]

Biography

Born in Roseville, California, on February 23, 1989, David Gregory McAfee moved to Santa Barbara, California at the age of eighteen in order to pursue degrees in English and Religious Studies, from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).[1] While at UCSB, McAfee authored articles about atheism for the newspaper, Santa Barbara Independent.[3] After graduating with two BAs, McAfee republished his first book under the new title, Disproving Christianity and Other Secular Writings.[1]

David G. McAfee is an outspoken atheist who opposes biblical literalism. He is also a columnist for Canadian Freethinker Magazine and a contributor to American Atheist Magazine.[1] He was rejected by a public university, UCSB, from entering its religious studies graduate program and claims publicly that it was due to his atheism though the university claims otherwise.[4][5] David G. McAfee also made appearances and gave lectures to the “SoCal Secular Humanist Conference, 2011″ and to the "Cal Poly Alliance of Happy Atheists".[6]

Work

McAfee's first book, Disproving Christianity and Other Secular Writings, was self-published, but it was quickly acquired by a boutique book publisher Dangerous Little Books.[7] As a result of the strong positive response to his self-published book and his newly awarded bachelor's degree in Religious Studies, McAfee signed a contract with Dangerous Little Books to publish a revised and expanded second edition which goes beyond the content of the first release.[7]

McAfee's introductory book examines the world of Christianity and attempts to refute many of its key principles. He also strives to arm rational-minded people with key facts to challenge Christian dogmatism wherever it arises. Using passages from the Old and New Testaments, McAfee tried to create new arguments against the validity of the Christian religion. He also strives to reorganize and reevaluate some of the more traditional debates between atheists and Christians. Through an analysis of the biblical texts, McAfee attempts to uncover previously unknown contradictions in modern Christian teachings and why he believes that these reveal problems with the founding pillars of Christianity itself. While the book has garnered some positive reviews, others have been critical of the book because they claim that it is unresearched, shallow, and often mistaken about what they claim are simple facts and concepts.[8][9][10]

McAfee posted through Facebook and Twitter that he would provide a free copy of his book, in PDF format, to any genuinely interested person who cannot afford the price or would like to "try before buy" until the launch of his second book Mom, Dad, I’m an Atheist: The Guide to Coming out as a Non-Believer.[11]

On December 12, 2012, McAfee's second book, Mom, Dad, I’m an Atheist: The Guide to Coming out as a Non-Believer, was published. It was written as a guide to coming out as a non-believer in family, social and professional circles. It contains advice and resources for individuals who are interested in publicly rejecting religion as well as real stories from non-believers who had unsupportive family and friends.[12]

McAfee also writes for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, discussing coming out to friends and family as an atheist,[13] and examining religious education in the United States.[14]

A quote from his book Mom, Dad, I’m an Atheist: The Guide to Coming out as a Non-Believer was cited by CNN in an article about secular weddings.[15]

On January 31, 2015, McAfee's third book was published, "The Belief Book."[16] It is a children's book for atheist parents who want to walk children through religions and why people believe in them. According to an article from the Richard Dawkins Foundation, "We’re not used to religious beliefs being treated like the fairy tales they actually are. If only all kids could receive this sort of education."[17]

In May 2016 McAfee asked the physicist and science presenter Brian Cox to review his new book. Cox replied that "if it's on evidence for the supernatural you can probably put it in a tweet" [18]

McAfee participated in the 2017 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.[19]

Political career

The day after it was announced that Donald Trump had won the presidency, David G. McAfee created the Party of Reason and Progress, a non-profit organization with the hopes of informing the American public regarding modern political issues and policies. The stated goal of the party is "to spur the election of intelligent, logical, and rational candidates interested foremost in moving our nation in a positive and progressive direction."[20] David is a critic of Trump and has repeatedly attacked his positions via Twitter.[21][22][23]

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 McAfee, David G. "America: One nation under god". American Atheist Magazine. 47 (3): 22–23.
  2. ↑ Winston, Kimberly (2013-04-12). "Atheists, the next generation: Unbelief moves further into the mainstream". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
  3. ↑ McAfee, David G. (2010-03-12). "Diagnosing The God Virus". Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
  4. ↑ "Atheist Rejected from Grad School Because of His Activism?". Patheos. 2011-04-30. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  5. ↑ Silverman, Herb (2011-05-04). "Why do Americans still hate atheists? Herb Silverman explains". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
  6. ↑ "Talks and Debates". Alliance of Happy Atheists, Cal Poly. San Luis Obispo, California. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  7. 1 2 "Self published secular author snapped up by controversial publisher" (Press release). Dangerous Little Books. 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
  8. ↑ J. P Holding. "Tekton Ticker: Book Snap: David McAfee's "Disproving Christianity"".
  9. ↑ "Book Review of Disproving Christianity and Other Secular Writings by David McAfee". Scribd.
  10. ↑ "Book Plunge: Disproving Christianity". Deeper Waters.
  11. ↑ McAfee, David G. (2012-07-20). "Secular author offers free book to interested parties" (Press release).
  12. ↑ McAfee 2012.
  13. ↑ McAfee, David G. (2013). "7 Tips for Coming Out as an Atheist". US: Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
  14. ↑ McAfee, David (2013-09-28). "Why We Should Teach Religion to Children". Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. Retrieved 2013-09-28.
  15. ↑ "When God isn't on the guest list". CNN. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  16. ↑ The Belief Book. Dangerous Little Books. 2015. ISBN 978-1908675316.
  17. ↑ ""The Belief Book" Teaches Children About Religion from an Atheist Perspective | Richard Dawkins Foundation". Retrieved 2015-11-14.
  18. ↑ DavidGMcAfeeTweet on Twitter
  19. ↑ "More than 150,000 explore everything from politics to poetry as L.A. Times Festival of Books comes to a close".
  20. ↑ "About PORP – Party of Reason and Progress". partyofreasonandprogress.org. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  21. ↑ "Trump tweets anger at China, creates new word". Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  22. ↑ "Unpresidented". Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  23. ↑ Matsakis, Louise. "How Twitter took on Trump's bot army—and won". Mashable. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
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