August Berkshire

From Philosopedia

August Berkshire (8 August 1959 - )

Berkshire is an activist-atheist from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In 1984, he co-founded the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota) Chapter of American Atheists.  He was its president and newsletter editor from 1984 to 1988, during which time the group won the 1984 and 1985 American Atheists Chapter of the Year awards. 

In the late 1980s, he served on the American Atheists national board of directors with the Murray-O'Hair family.

In 1991, American Atheists disbanded its chapters.  That year the Twin Cities Chapter of American Atheists reincorporated as Minnesota Atheists. 

For Secular Nation he wrote “Voucher Schemes and Fairness (January-March 1999) and “Creative Medical Uses for Placebos and Prayer” (April-June 1999).

Berkshire was president of Minnesota Atheists from 2002 to 2005, during which time the group won the 2004 Atheist Alliance International Friedenker Award for outstanding group of the year.

From 2002 until the present, he is editor and chief photographer for Secular Nation, the quarterly publication of Atheist Alliance International (AAI).

In 2003, Berkshire co-founded Camp Quest of Minnesota and serves on its board of directors. 

Since April 2005, August Berkshire has been vice president of Atheist Alliance International (AAI).  He also serves on the AAI Council and has spoken at international atheist conferences in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and Iceland.

In 2006, Berkshire was

• public relations representative and newsletter editor for the Minnesota Atheists;

• one of the hosts of Minnesota Atheists' "Atheists Talk" public access cable TV program;

• the moderator for the internet Minnesota Atheists Meetup group;

• a frequent speaker on atheism at public high schools (since 1985) and Christian colleges;

• a Minnesota Atheists lobbyist for state/church separation at the Minnesota State Capitol;

• a member of the board of directors of Humanists of Minnesota;

• holder since 2002 of the "ATHEIST" license plate for Minnesota.

In October 2008, he became Vice-President of the Atheist Alliance International.

Berkshire Quotes

On Christians: "Christians are proud of their humility."

On Christian theology: "God sacrificed himself to himself to save us from himself."

On the problem of evil: "Hospitals are monuments to god’s incompetence, indifference, or cruelty."