Prominent atheists and adultery

Below are instances of prominent atheists engaging in adultery which have happened recently.

David Silverman and adultery

See also: David Silverman and Prominent atheists whose wives believe in the existence of God

David Silverman

David Silverman served as the President of the American Atheists organization. In October 2019, he was hired to be the Executive Director of Atheist Alliance International.

In 2018, Silverman was fired from the American Atheist organization after allegations of financial conflicts and sexual assault. Nick Fish, the new president of American Atheists, indicated that Silverman's termination was not over sexual allegations, but as a result of a "loss of confidence" stemming from violations of internal policies on staff management, conflicts of interest, and their general code of conduct. Silverman, through his lawyer, denies any wrong doing and indicates he has never had a non-consensual sexual encounter. In 2019, atheists PZ Myers and Stephanie Zvan indicate that Silverman's attempts to improve his public image have failed. In his book, Fighting God, Silverman indicates that he is a “proud feminist.” (See also: Atheism and sexism and Atheism and the Me Too Movement). See also: Firing of David Silverman from the American Atheists organization

David Silverman denied he cheated on his wife and later admitted to it

David Silverman claimed that he had an open relationship with his Jewish and theist wife, but later admitted he lied about that his matter and cheated on her.

PZ Myers

The atheist PZ Myers wrote about David Silverman cheating on his wife:

“

I want to bring up one thing that bothers me deeply, but doesn’t get emphasized much. Silverman’s actions, even if they were consensual (and I don’t believe they were) lacked consent from one other significant person: Silverman’s wife. I don’t even know her name, but her long relationship with this man was cruelly wrecked by his actions, and that’s a betrayal that strongly affects my feelings about the guy. It was a rotten thing to do, and he did it repeatedly. Even if he were magically reprieved of everything else (again, not that I think he can be), it means that personally I would never be able to trust him again. How you treat your partners in the deepest relationships in your life matters.

”

Atheist feminists/progressive attempting to get Atheist Alliance International to fire David Silverman

There are atheist feminists/progressive atheists attempting to get Atheist Alliance International to fire David Silverman.

David Silverman indicates that Secular Woman and its president Monette Richards is trying to get the United Nations to revoke AAI's special consultative status with the UN in order to punish AAI for hiring Silverman.

For further details, please see:

• Firing of David Silverman from the American Atheists organization

Richard Carrier, adultery, divorce and polyamory

See also: Richard Carrier and Richard Carrier, adultery, divorce and polyamory and Atheism, polyamory and other immoral relationships

Richard Carrier

The atheist Richard Carrier divorced his wife and now practices polyamory. Before divorcing his wife, he was involved in adulterous affairs.

The Christian apologist Jason Engwar at the Christian blog Triablogue wrote:

“

Richard Carrier has a post up announcing that he's "polyamorous", which he calls his "sexual orientation". He's been adulterous in his relationship with his wife after cheating on her, and they decided to get a divorce after having tried polyamory for a while. In the thread, he refers to how he has "sympathy for people who cheat on their spouses", how he's come across "many" polyamorists, and how he's become more convinced that "monogamy is the actual problem". So far, most of the responses at his blog are positive.

”

See also:

• Atheism, polyamory and other immoral relationships

• Richard Carrier, adultery, divorce and polyamory

• Atheist marriages

• Atheism and marriage

Barna Group study related to atheist and the belief that sex outside of marriage is acceptable

See also: Atheism and morality and Atheism and sexual immorality articles

The Barna Group found that atheists and agnostics in America were more likely, than theists in America, to look upon the following behaviors as morally acceptable: illegal drug use; excessive drinking; sexual relationships outside of marriage; abortion; cohabitating with someone of opposite sex outside of marriage; obscene language; gambling; pornography and obscene sexual behavior; and engaging in homosexuality/bisexuality.

Atheism, evolutionism and sexual immorality

See also: Evolutionary belief and sexual immorality

Charles Darwin

Since World War II a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the evolutionary position which employs methodological naturalism have been atheists and agnostics.

In July 2000, Creation Ministries International reported:

“

For years, many people have scoffed at any suggestion that the evils in society could be linked with the teaching of the theory of evolution. But new research has confirmed what Bible-believers have known all along—that the rising acceptance of Darwin’s theory is related to declining morality in the community. The research survey of 1535 people, conducted by the Australian National University, revealed that belief in evolution is associated with moral permissiveness. Darwin himself apparently feared that belief in evolution by the common man would lead to social decay. The survey showed that people who believed in evolution were more likely to be in favour of premarital sex than those who rejected Darwin’s theory. Another issue which highlighted the contrast between the effect of evolutionary ideas and that of biblical principles was that Darwinians were reported to be ‘especially tolerant’ of abortion. In identifying the primary factors determining these differences in community attitudes, the author of the research report, Dr Jonathan Kelley, said: ‘The single most important influence after church attendance is the theory of evolution.’

”

See also

• Atheism and romance
• Atheism and sexuality
• Atheism and women
• Atheism and rape
• Atheism and pornography
• Atheism and interfaith marriages
• Irreligion and domestic violence