Darrel Ray
{{short description|American writer and atheist activist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2015}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Darrel Ray
| image = Darrel Ray.jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Darrel Wayne Ray
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=y|1950|8|24}}
| birth_place = Wichita, Kansas
| nationality =
| alma_mater = Friends University
Scarritt College for Christian Workers
| occupation = Organizational psychologist, author
| years_active = 1978–present
| genre = Non-fiction
| subject = Religion, secularism, organization development, sexuality
| notableworks = The God Virus, Sex and God
| box_width =
| module = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename= Darrel_Ray_intro.ogg|title=Darrel Ray's voice|type=speech}}
}}
Darrel Wayne Ray (born August 24, 1950) is an American organizational psychologist and author who focuses on topics such as workplace organizational culture, secular sexuality, and the treatment of religion-induced trauma. He is a public speaker, podcaster, and atheist activist, and founded the non-profit organization Recovering from Religion as well as the Secular Therapy Project.
Personal life
Ray was raised a fundamentalist Christian in Wichita, Kansas, by parents who eventually became missionaries, and among family members highly involved in church life.{{cite web |title=Darrel W. Ray Speaks Out |url=http://www.anatheist.net/2010/05/darrel-w-ray-speaks-out/ |website=webcitation.org |publisher=AnAtheist.net |accessdate=6 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118122844/http://www.anatheist.net/2010/05/darrel-w-ray-speaks-out/ |archive-date=18 November 2018 |url-status=live}} This fundamentalist upbringing informs much of his later writing.{{cite journal|title=Dr. Darrel Ray|journal=Baker & Taylor Author Biographies|date=January 4, 2000|page=1|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=49423372&site=ehost-live|accessdate=January 10, 2015|publisher=Literary Reference Center}} In 1979, Ray joined the Quaker church, and later he attended the Presbyterian church. From 1969 to 1984, he taught Sunday school, preached, and was a tenor soloist in several church choirs.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} He became agnostic by his early 30s and an atheist by 40.Ray (2009, p. 15)
Ray is the father of two children and also a grandfather. He is also openly polyamorous.{{cite web|last1=Tani|first1=Red|title=A Conversation with Darrel Ray|url=http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2014/08/03/a-conversation-with-darrel-ray/|website=Filipino Freethinkers|accessdate=January 10, 2015|format=Audio|date=August 4, 2000}}
Education
In 1972, Ray earned a bachelor's degree in sociology/anthropology at Friends University in Wichita, and in 1974 he completed an MA in Church and Community at Scarritt College for Christian Workers in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1978 he finished a doctoral program in psychology at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, earning his Ed.D.{{cite web |title=Atheists United Hosts Special Meeting with Noted Psychologist, Darrel Ray |url=http://www.atheistsunited.org/component/content/article/56-general-meetings/314-au-hosts-special-meeting-with-noted-psychologist-darrel-ray |accessdate=June 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904151022/http://www.atheistsunited.org/component/content/article/56-general-meetings/314-au-hosts-special-meeting-with-noted-psychologist-darrel-ray |archive-date=September 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}
Professional work
Ray became very involved in organizational culture and in clinical psychology.{{cite web |title =Darrel W. Ray |url =https://www.amazon.com/Darrel-W.-Ray/e/B002GEZTFO/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1 |website =Amazon.com |accessdate =6 November 2020 |archive-url =https://archive.today/20201106063123/https://www.amazon.com/Darrel-W.-Ray/e/B002GEZTFO/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1 |archive-date =6 November 2020 |url-status =live}} He has written two books on team-building and served as the director of The Institute for Performance Culture.{{cite journal|last1 =Ray|first1 =Darrel|last2 =Elder|first2 =David|title =Managing Horizontal Accountability|journal =Journal for Quality and Participation|date =December 1, 2007|volume =30|issue =4|pages =24–28|issn =1040-9602}} He also founded Teaming Up, an organizational and team-building coaching program.{{cite web|title =IPC Teaming Up |url =http://www.teaming-up.com/wii.html |accessdate =November 6, 2020 |url-status =dead |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20141211022518/http://www.teaming-up.com/wii.html |archive-date =December 11, 2014 |df =mdy }} Ray co-authored two books with Howard Bronstein which describe how to create and manage self-directed teams.{{cite journal|last =Gerard|first =Robert|url =http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=9509210324&site=ehost-live|title =Teaming Up: Making the Transition to a Self-Directed, Team-Based Organization|doi =10.5465/AME.1995.9509210324|date =August 1995|journal =Academy of Management Executive|accessdate =December 10, 2014|url-access =subscription}}
In 2009, Ray founded the organization Recovering from Religion (RfR), an international, non-profit organization which helps people dealing with issues stemming from religious trauma, doubt, and non-belief.{{cite news|last =Gray|first=Helen|title=New support group Recovering from Religion helps people who leave the church|url =http://www.kansascity.com/238/story/1249250.html|accessdate =May 25, 2011|newspaper =The Kansas City Star|date =June 12, 2009|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090617033259/http://www.kansascity.com/238/story/1249250.html|archive-date =June 17, 2009}} {{As of | 2024}} Ray serves as the president of the RfR Board of Directors.{{cite web |title =Board Of Directors |url =https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/board-of-directors |website =recoveringfromreligion.org |publisher =Recovering from Religion |accessdate =16 September 2024 |archive-url =https://archive.today/20201106071215/https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/board-of-directors |archive-date =6 November 2020 |url-status=live}} He also founded the RfR's Secular Therapy Project, which has the goal of helping clients find therapists offering secular and science-based therapy.{{cite web |title =Our Mission |url =https://www.seculartherapy.org/about |website =seculartherapy.org/ |publisher =Secular Therapy Project |accessdate =6 November 2020 |archive-url =https://archive.today/20201106065713/https://www.seculartherapy.org/about |archive-date =6 November 2020 |url-status =live}}
Ray has written books about secularism and atheism: The God Virus: How Religion Affects Our Lives and Culture
{{cite book
|last1 = Ray
|first1 = Darrel W.
|author-link1 = Darrel Ray
|year = 2009
|title = The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=osNWAAAAYAAJ
|publisher = IPC Press
|isbn = 9780970950512
|access-date = 15 September 2024
}}
and Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality.
{{cite book
|last1 = Ray
|first1 = Darrel
|author-link1 = Darrel Ray
|title = Sex & God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality
|date = 2012
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Lxf8XwAACAAJ
|publisher = IPC Press
|isbn = 9780970950543
|access-date = 15 September 2024
}}
Ray's books about secularism and religion explore how religion interacts with human beings on a personal and cultural level. Ray explores how religious institutions and ideas can be used to control human thoughts and behaviors, especially sexual behaviors. Ray pays special attention to placing sexuality and various religions into context culturally and historically. He takes the stance that many human impulses, feelings and sexual behaviors are normal and can be desirable.{{cite journal|title =Book Review.Sex & God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality|last =Hall|first =David|url =http://www.ejhs.org/volume15/Bookreview%2015-3.html|journal =Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality|date =July 20, 2012|accessdate =December 10, 2014}} Ray's books have influenced other atheists, and his psychological interpretation of Richard Dawkins's concept of religion as a virus has influenced the atheist and secular movement in America.{{cite book|last1 =Boghossian|first1 =Peter Gregory|author-link1 =Peter Boghossian|title =A Manual for Creating Atheists|date = 1 July 2014|publisher =Pitchstone Publishing|location =Durham, NC|isbn =9781939578150|pages =216–217 |accessdate =15 September 2024 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Zg6eCwAAQBAJ
}}
On August 30, 2014, Ray launched a podcast about human sexuality and atheism called Secular Sexuality, where is he also the host.{{cite news|last =Eberhard|first =JT|title =Darrel Ray enters the world of podcasting with Secular Sexuality!|url =http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wwjtd/2014/11/darrel-ray-enters-the-world-of-podcasting-with-secular-sexuality/|accessdate=December 10, 2014}}
Ray has also appeared as a secular psychological expert on television, including ABC News show, Nightline, where in 2011 he spoke out against exorcisms and took a scientific viewpoint towards psychological illnesses that might look like possession.{{cite episode | title = Nightline | network = ABC News | station = ABC | location = New York, NY | airdate = January 27, 2011 | minutes = 4.45 | transcript-url= http://tv.ark.com/transcript/nightline/714/KGO/Thursday_January_27_2011/553973/ }}
=Research=
In June 1982, Ray and several other authors released a paper describing a study done on male youth offenders in a juvenile correction institute. Ray and the group studied whether population density had any effects on the participants.{{cite journal|url =http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=7301177&site=ehost-live|journal =Basic & Applied Social Psychology|title =The Effects Of High Density In A Juvenile Correctional Institution|accessdate =December 10, 2014}}
In May 2011, Ray and Amanda Brown (an undergraduate at the University of Kansas studying sex and sexuality) released the results of a self-reporting online survey{{cite news|last =Clark-Flory|first =Tracy|title =Do atheists have better sex?|url =http://www.salon.com/life/sex/?story=/mwt/feature/2011/05/23/atheist_sex|accessdate =May 25, 2011|newspaper =Salon.com|date =May 23, 2011|archive-date =November 3, 2012|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20121103062652/http://www.salon.com/life/sex/?story=%2Fmwt%2Ffeature%2F2011%2F05%2F23%2Fatheist_sex|url-status =dead|df =mdy-all}} of over 14,500 American secularists, titled "Sex and Secularism: What Happens When You Leave Religion?", and concluding that sex improves dramatically after leaving religion, and that people who are religious exhibit similar sexual behaviors as the non-religious, but experience markedly increased guilt.{{cite web |last =Myers |first =PZ |title =This has to be our new selling point |url =http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/05/this_has_to_be_our_new_selling.php |publisher =Pharyngula (blog) |accessdate =May 25, 2011 |url-status =dead |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110523122217/http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/05/this_has_to_be_our_new_selling.php |archive-date =May 23, 2011 |df =mdy }} The study has been criticized for suffering from self-selection bias,{{cite news|last =Donaldson James|first =Susan|title =Atheists Have Best Sex Lives, Claims Psychologist|url =https://abcnews.go.com/Health/atheists-best-sex-lives-claims-kansas-psychologists-survey/story?id=13679076&singlePage=true|accessdate =May 25, 2011|newspaper =ABC News|date =May 25, 2011|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110530005715/http://abcnews.go.com/Health/atheists-best-sex-lives-claims-kansas-psychologists-survey/story?id=13679076&singlePage=true|archive-date =May 30, 2011|url-status =dead|df =mdy-all}} due to its recruiting of participants via the science blog Pharyngula.{{cite web |last =Myers |first =PZ |title =Prying into your dirty, dirty secrets |url =http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/01/prying_into_your_dirty_dirty_s.php |publisher =Pharyngula (blog) |accessdate =May 25, 2011 |date =January 24, 2011 |url-status =dead |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110303204654/http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/01/prying_into_your_dirty_dirty_s.php |archive-date =March 3, 2011 |df =mdy }}
Bibliography
=Books=
- Teaming Up: Making the Transition to a Self-directed, Team-based Organization (IPC Press 1995. {{ISBN|978-0-07-051646-5}} Hardcover.)
- The Performance Culture: Maximizing the Power of Teams (IPC Press, May 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-9709505-0-5}} Paperback.)
- The God Virus: How Religion Affects Our Lives and Culture (IPC Press, December 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-9709505-1-2}} Paperback.)
- The God Virus: How Religion Affects Our Lives and Culture (Dogma Debate, LLC, November 2012. ASIN B00A8D0D9W. Audiobook.)
- Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality (IPC Press, January 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-9709505-4-3}} Paperback.)
- Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality (Dogma Debate, LLC, February 2013. ASIN B00BCCW6PC Audiobook.)
=Journals=
Ray has written for a number of journals, including The Humanist, a publication of the American Humanist Association.{{cite journal|journal=Humanist|last=Darrel|first=Ray|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=77688750&site=ehost-live|title=America's War on Sex: The Attack on Law, Lust, and Liberty|date=July 2012|accessdate=December 10, 2014}}
=Podcast=
Ray's podcast, Secular Sexuality addresses human sexuality from an atheist or freethinker's viewpoint. It is produced by Secular Media Group, LLC, an atheist media and publishing company.Dogma Debate and Secular Sexuality{{cite web|title=Secular Sexuality|url=http://dogmadebate.com/secularsexuality/|accessdate=December 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210212749/http://dogmadebate.com/secularsexuality/|archive-date=December 10, 2014|url-status=dead}}
- Secular Sexuality with Dr. Darrel Ray (2014)
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.thegodvirus.net/ The God Virus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505064302/http://www.thegodvirus.net/ |date=May 5, 2011 }}
- [http://recoveringfromreligion.org/ Recovering From Religion]
- {{cite web |url= http://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/DarrelRay |title= Darrel Ray |website= Atheist Nexus |access-date= May 25, 2011 |archive-date= March 24, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130324061927/http://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/DarrelRay |url-status= usurped }}
- {{cite web |url= http://ipcpress.com/index.php?id=42 |title= Sex and Secularism |quote= press release and full report |url-status= live |archive-date= January 3, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120103061237/http://ipcpress.com/index.php?id=42 |access-date= May 25, 2011 }}
- {{cite web |url= https://www.spreaker.com/show/darrel-rays-tracks |title= Darrel Ray's Secular Sexuality |format= podcast |website= Spreaker }}
- {{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp9ChyUR85Q |format= video |title= Sex and the God Virus (1:44:36) |display-authors= 0 |first= Darrel |last= Ray |publisher= Freethought Arizona |date= Jan 17, 2014 |website= YouTube }}
- {{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfYmdBNRxRY |title= Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality (56:25) |format= video |display-authors= 0 |first= Darrel |last= Ray |series= Reason in the Rock |date= 2013 |website= YouTube |publisher= Arkansas Society of Freethinkers }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Darrel}}
Category:American social sciences writers
Category:American atheism activists
Category:Friends University alumni
Category:Peabody College alumni
Category:American former Protestants
Category:21st-century American psychologists
Category:People from Wichita, Kansas