Darrel Ray | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Darrel Wayne Ray August 24, 1950 Wichita, Kansas |
| Occupation | Organizational psychologist, author |
| Education | MA, Ed. D. |
| Alma mater | Friends University Scarritt College for Christian Workers |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Subject | Religion, secularism, organization development, sexuality |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Notable works | The God Virus, Sex and God |
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.
Ray was raised a fundamentalist Christian in Wichita, Kansas, by parents who eventually became missionaries, and among family members highly involved in church life.[1] This fundamentalist upbringing informs much of his later writing.[2] In 1979, Ray joined the Quaker church, and later he attended the Presbyterian church.[3] From 1969 to 1984, he taught Sunday school, preached, and was a tenor soloist in several church choirs.[citation needed] He left the church in the mid-1980s and identifies as an atheist.[citation needed]
Ray is the father of two children and also a grandfather.[4] He is also openly polyamorous.[5]
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.[6]
Ray was very involved in organizational culture and clinical psychology.[4] He is the author of two books on team building and was the director of The Institute for Performance Culture.[7] He also founded Teaming Up, an organizational and team-building coaching program.[8] Ray co-authored 2 books with Howard Bronstein which describe how to create and manage self-directed teams.[9]
In 2009, Ray created 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.[3] Ray serves as the president of the RfR Board of Directors,[10] and also founded the RfR's Secular Therapy Project which has the goal of helping clients find therapists offering secular and science-based therapy.[11]
Ray is also the author of books about secularism and atheism, The God Virus: How Religion Affects Our Lives and Culture and Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality. 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.[4] Ray pays special attention to placing sexuality and various religions into context culturally and historically.[5] He takes the stance that many human impulses, feelings and sexual behaviors are normal and can be desirable.[12] Ray's books have influenced other atheists, where his psychological interpretation of Richard Dawkin's concept of religion as a virus has influenced the atheist and secular movement in America.[13]
On August 30, 2014, Ray launched a podcast about human sexuality and atheism called Secular Sexuality where is he also the host.[14]
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.[15]
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.[16]
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[17] of over 14,500 American secularists, titled "Sex and Secularism: What Happens When You Leave Religion?", concluding that sex improves dramatically after leaving religion, and people who are religious exhibit similar sexual behaviors as the non-religious, but experience markedly increased guilt.[18] The study has been criticized for suffering from self-selection bias,[19] due to its recruiting of participants via the science blog Pharyngula.[20]
