Dan Courtney

From Philosopedia

Dan Courtney (4 June 1962 - )

Courtney, an atheist activist, was born in Palmyra, New York, the birthplace of the Mormons that once was known as the "burned-over district" for the frequency and intensity of the revival meetings held in the 1800s.

In 1984, Courtney earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.

Interviewed by Bill Dunn in Freethought Today (October 2009), he responded concerning growing up:

• My mother told me that my reach should exceed my grasp. I haven't always been successful in spanning that gap, but the effort has always enriched my life. Intellectual honesty is so important and is a principle my father fully embraces. We don't agree on everything, but I have always been impressed by his willingness to place evidence over dogma.

Person in history that he admires:

• I admire Bertrand Russell. A brilliant philosopher and witty writer, Mr. Russell showed it was the exercise of the human mind that was the key to escaping the shackles of religion.

Quotation he likes:

• In The End of Faith, Sam Harris wrote, "Religious faith represents so uncompromising a mis-use of the power of our minds that it forms a kind of perverse, cultural singularity - a vanishing point beyond which rational discourse proves impossible."

Why he is a freethinker:

• To me the word "freethinker" means anyone who uses evidence and logic to create a worldview most closely aligned with reality. When I was about 30 years old, I decided it was time to get off the fence with regard to religion. Although I was raised by Christian parents, it became evident to me as early as 13 or 14 years of age that there was little reason to accept the authority of the church or even the existence of a god.

Courtney has two sons - Dan Jr. and Ted - and lives in Palmyra, New York, with girlfriend Marcelina Nobrega.

His Upstate Atheists organization started the "Cross Out Campaign" to protest government promotion of religion on currency.

(See "The Cross Out Campaign" and Upstate New York atheists.)

Contact: mailto:Upstateatheists@live.com