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Patheos Featured Writers
Dale McGowan
Director of Growth and Engagement
Dale McGowan has written several books from the nonreligious perspective, including Parenting Beyond Belief, Raising Freethinkers, and Atheism for Dummies. His book In Faith and In Doubt is the first to focus on marriages between religious believers and nonbelievers.
After 15 years as a college professor, Dale became a nonreligious parent educator and was named Harvard Humanist of the Year in 2008. He founded Foundation Beyond Belief, the world's largest humanist philanthropy, and served as Executive Director from 2009 to 2015. He is currently Director of Growth and Engagement at Patheos.
Dale holds a BA in physical anthropology from UC Berkeley and a PhD in music composition from the University of Minnesota. He lives with his family near Atlanta.
Recent Articles
Born This Way?
In a very real way, we are born in the Stone Age. Childhood is a period during which we are brought — by parenting, experience, and education — into the modern world. Or not.
Evolution for Breakfast
My kids learned about evolution from chewable vitamins, pink deer, and samurai crabs.
No Virginia...and the World is Still Wonderful
"Please tell me the truth," says a little girl. Then the editor not only lies, but tells her that the world would be intolerable if this thing he knows to be false were false. And the world coos with delight.
The Big Reveal: Telling Your Religious Partner You're an Atheist
By the end, I was relieved, we knew each other better, she had articulated her own beliefs in a way that was new even to her...and the biggest secret I had was out in the open.
Works by Dale McGowan
Dale McGowan | May 17, 2019
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Dale McGowan | April 09, 2019
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Dale McGowan | March 28, 2019
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Podcast Ch 3: The Middle Distance
Dale McGowan | March 20, 2019
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Podcast Ch 2: Your Flimsy Little Beef Balloon
Dale McGowan | February 07, 2019
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PODCAST: Ch 1 - In Which the Author Dies, and Someone...
Dale McGowan | February 02, 2019
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Why Aren't You a Trump Supporter?
Dale McGowan | December 19, 2018
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With Your Help, Foundation Beyond Belief Could Expand Its...
Dale McGowan | December 18, 2018
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Dale McGowan | November 27, 2018
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New Book Helps the Youngest Kids Think About the Hardest...
Dale McGowan | August 30, 2018
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The Cruel Arithmetic of a Highland Graveyard
Dale McGowan | August 10, 2018
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Dale McGowan | June 19, 2018
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Dale McGowan | June 11, 2018
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Dale McGowan | May 03, 2018
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Dale McGowan | April 04, 2018
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Helping Kids Think About Death Without an Afterlife
Dale McGowan | March 26, 2018
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Dale McGowan | March 12, 2018
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A Heartbroken Farewell to Stephanie Savage, "Miracle Girl"
Dale McGowan | March 02, 2018
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Dale McGowan | February 21, 2018
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The Dead American Becomes a Wookuh
Dale McGowan | February 16, 2018
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Dale McGowan | February 14, 2018
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The End of the Most Feared Thing of All
Dale McGowan | February 12, 2018
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Shackleton and the Death of Whining
Dale McGowan | February 10, 2018
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Dale McGowan | February 09, 2018
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You Must Be This Tall to Climb Cauldron Snout
Dale McGowan | February 08, 2018
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My Kingdom for Some Damn Friction
Dale McGowan | February 06, 2018
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Albert Cradock Gibson Loved This Place
Dale McGowan | February 04, 2018
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Ignore Keats. Unweave That Rainbow.
Dale McGowan | February 02, 2018
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You Are a Slow Waterfall of Atoms
Dale McGowan | January 31, 2018
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Dale McGowan | January 29, 2018
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For the Love of a Murderous Bridge
Dale McGowan | January 25, 2018
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One Does Not Simply Skip Church in the Valley of the Worms
Dale McGowan | January 24, 2018
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Dale McGowan | January 22, 2018
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Dale McGowan | January 20, 2018
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No, My Dead Husband is Not "In the Next Room"
Dale McGowan | January 16, 2018
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Dale McGowan | January 14, 2018
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The Treachery of the Soup Nazis
Dale McGowan | January 08, 2018
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Dale McGowan | December 28, 2017
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Not Obsessed Enough About Death? There's An App For That
Dale McGowan | December 21, 2017
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Dale McGowan | December 16, 2017
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Dale McGowan | December 09, 2017
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Dale McGowan | November 24, 2017
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Dale McGowan | October 26, 2017
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88 Seconds I Just Can't Survive
Dale McGowan | October 24, 2017
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Where the Ground Can Swallow You Whole
Dale McGowan | October 14, 2017
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"All Pleasures Should Be Tainted By That Knowledge"
Dale McGowan | October 08, 2017
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Urgent Message from Aging Colon
Dale McGowan | October 07, 2017
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Dale McGowan | October 01, 2017
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Nasty Statues, British Edition
Dale McGowan | August 28, 2017
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Dale McGowan | August 17, 2017
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Dale McGowan | August 08, 2017
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Dale McGowan | July 30, 2017
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Dale McGowan | July 27, 2017
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Near Death and Manners on a Narrow English Road
Dale McGowan | July 18, 2017
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Will I Rage Against the Dying of the Light?
Dale McGowan | July 12, 2017
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Montaigne Forgets to Believe in Heaven
Dale McGowan | July 09, 2017
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When Life Hangs at the Tip of Your Lips
Dale McGowan | July 03, 2017
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Somehow Nonsense But I No Cry Anymore
Dale McGowan | May 21, 2017
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Grandma Opts Out of the System
Dale McGowan | May 11, 2017
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Dale McGowan | May 07, 2017
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Dale McGowan | May 04, 2017
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Dale McGowan | April 30, 2017
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Dale McGowan | April 27, 2017
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The Busy, Busy Editors of Reality
Dale McGowan | April 23, 2017
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There's No Such Thing as Routine Surgery, Except Yes There...
Dale McGowan | April 20, 2017
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He Lived, He Had Two Good Stools, He Died
Dale McGowan | April 15, 2017
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Your Flimsy Little Beef Balloon
Dale McGowan | April 13, 2017
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The (Dead) Elephant in Every Room
Dale McGowan | April 09, 2017
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In Which the Author Dies, and Someone Else Has to Finish...
Dale McGowan | April 06, 2017
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Dale McGowan | March 10, 2017
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Welcome to Patheos Nonreligious
Dale McGowan | December 15, 2016
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Foundation Beyond Belief Needs Your Help!
Dale McGowan | December 14, 2016
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Are Evangelicals Certainty Addicts?
Dale McGowan | November 08, 2016
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Patheos Atheists Tweet the Third Debate
Dale McGowan | October 19, 2016
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Patheos Atheist Writers Mourn the Loss of Niki Massey
Dale McGowan | October 04, 2016
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5 Things Few (If Any) Atheists Believe
Dale McGowan | August 30, 2016
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What *Really* Made Me an Atheist?
Dale McGowan | August 23, 2016
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9 Books Censored or Destroyed for Challenging Religion
Dale McGowan | August 19, 2016
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Dale McGowan | August 05, 2016
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16 Nonbelievers in Damned Surprising Places
Dale McGowan | June 28, 2016
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Humanists Rally Support for Victims of Devastating Ecuador...
Dale McGowan | April 18, 2016
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My Last, Desperate Act of Satire
Dale McGowan | March 27, 2016
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When Saints Go Missing, Do They Make a Sound?
Dale McGowan | March 21, 2016
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3 Crucial Facts You Really Need To Know About a Man’s...
Dale McGowan | March 02, 2016
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Dale McGowan | March 01, 2016
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Dropping the Mic on God: 9th Century Edition
Dale McGowan | February 25, 2016
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Dale McGowan | February 22, 2016
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Dale McGowan | February 22, 2016
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Dale McGowan | February 22, 2016
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Dale McGowan | February 12, 2016
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Dale McGowan | January 29, 2016
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Dale McGowan | January 22, 2016
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Dale McGowan | December 05, 2015
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No, Virginia...and the World is Still Wonderful
Dale McGowan | November 30, 2015
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Santa Claus - The Ultimate Dry Run
Dale McGowan | November 27, 2015
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OBEY: The Heart of Conservative Christian Parenting
Dale McGowan | November 24, 2015
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Dale McGowan | November 18, 2015
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"How Was Christ made? I'm going to tell you..."
Dale McGowan | November 17, 2015
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Interrogation of Aude: "How is it possible that I cannot...
Dale McGowan | November 17, 2015
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A Doubter in the Inquisitor's Chair
Dale McGowan | November 16, 2015
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The Catholic Atheists of Québec
Dale McGowan | November 13, 2015
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When One Partner Leaves the Faith: The Story of Hope and...
Dale McGowan | November 11, 2015
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The Big Reveal: Telling your religious partner you're an...
Dale McGowan | November 10, 2015
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8 Red Flags in the Secular/Religious Marriage
Dale McGowan | November 04, 2015
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Useful Monsters and the Problem of Fear
Dale McGowan | October 28, 2015
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10 Ways Believers and Nonbelievers Make Great Marriages
Dale McGowan | October 27, 2015
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Dale McGowan | October 22, 2015
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In China, 'Heaven' Doesn't Mean What You Think
Dale McGowan | October 19, 2015
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Why Atheism Is a Bad Time-Traveler
Dale McGowan | October 18, 2015
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Dale McGowan | October 14, 2015
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Deists: Believers in a different kind of creator
Dale McGowan | October 09, 2015
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The Southern Baptist Cafeteria
Dale McGowan | October 08, 2015
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Dale McGowan | October 06, 2015
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Anti-Theists and Diplomats: The Roundtable
Dale McGowan | June 30, 2015
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Listening to the Atheist Diplomats
Dale McGowan | June 11, 2015
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Dale McGowan | June 10, 2015
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How to Reconcile God and Evolution...and How Not To
Dale McGowan | March 11, 2015
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Dale McGowan | January 27, 2015
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Dale McGowan | January 25, 2015
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Dale McGowan | January 24, 2015
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Dale McGowan | January 23, 2015
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The invisible secular humanists
Dale McGowan | November 05, 2014
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Dale McGowan | October 29, 2014
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Dale McGowan | October 09, 2014
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Being Both: The OTHER great book on mixed-belief marriage
Dale McGowan | September 30, 2014
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Sam Harris, Meet the Secular Support Movement
Dale McGowan | September 27, 2014
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Seeing the Spectrum: Six types of atheists
Dale McGowan | September 26, 2014
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Getting the focus right for nonbelief
Dale McGowan | September 10, 2014
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Dale McGowan | September 05, 2014
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Dale McGowan | September 03, 2014
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In Faith and In Doubt: Read an Excerpt
Dale McGowan | August 16, 2014
"In Faith and In Doubt"... tells the stories of real couples who have succeeded as well......
In Faith and In Doubt: About the Book and Author
Dale McGowan | August 16, 2014
Award-winning author and noted secular humanist Dale McGowan offers a survival guide for......
Ten Best Practices for Mixed-Belief Marriages
Dale McGowan | August 16, 2014
The secular/religious marriage is not the marriage of the Holy Bible and The God......
View all featured writers
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