(F)a(i)theist

"Christopher Stedman is paving a powerful path for Humanism. A path that is unapologetic about its own principals yet signals respect and seeks partnership with people from a range of different beliefs and traditions." –Eboo Patel

"[It] may be heresy to say, but it's hard to find a smart, balanced, atheist writer with something new to bring to the table." –Jeff Sharlet.

Writer Chris Stedman will discuss his forthcoming book, (F)a(i)theist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious, following a weeklong community service trip to the Los Angeles area with the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard. The talk is co-sponsored by the Secular Student Alliance at CLU and the CLU Religion Department.

Stedman is the inaugural 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.

Stedman received an MA in Religion from Meadville Lombard Theological School at the University of Chicago, for which he was awarded the Billings Prize for Most Outstanding Scholastic Achievement. A graduate of Augsburg College with a summa cum laude B.A. in Religion, Stedman writes for The Huffington Post Gay Voices and The Huffington Post Religion, where his work is among the most commented upon in the site’s history, and he is the youngest panelist for The Washington Post On Faith. He is currently finishing Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious for Beacon Press (November 2012).

Previously a content developer and adjunct trainer for the Interfaith Youth Core, Stedman is an atheist and secular humanist working to foster positive and productive dialogue between faith communities and the nonreligious. He has spoken and led workshops on this topic across the United States.

In 2011, The Huffington Post listed Chris's work as one of the Top 11 Religion Stories of the year and named him one of the top interfaith activists on Twitter, Religion Dispatches listed him at #5 in a list of the Top 10 Peacemakers in the Science-Religion wars, and the University of Oregon Alliance of Happy Atheists recognized his work with their first annual Happy Heathen! Award.

Stedman served on the initial Leadership Team of the Common Ground Campaign, a coalition of young people who stood up in response to the wave of anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence in the U.S. surrounding the Park51 controversy, and continues to advise it in its current form, Groundswell. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the interfaith social action organization World Faith and is an adviser to the Foundation Beyond Belief’s Challenge the Gap initiative. Portland, Ore. newspaper Just Out called his work “brilliant” and labeled him an “emerging... vibrant and youthful queer voice for the secular humanist movement.”

Stedman was raised in a secular home but converted to evangelical Christianity after being invited to church by friends at 11 years old. After years of wrestling with theology and his sexual orientation, Stedman left the Christian tradition and spent some time exploring. Eventually he recognized that he was an atheist and secular humanist, and today he works to advocate for the mutual respect of religious and non-religious individuals. Admission for the talk is free to attend. Please park in either of the General Parking lots at the corner Olsen Road and Mountclef Boulevard.