David Silverman (activist)

David "Dave" Silverman (born August 13, 1966) is the current president of the American Atheists, a non-profit organization that supports the rights of atheists and the removal of expressions of religion in public when possibly interpretable as governmental endorsement, in accordance with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. His annual anti-Christmas billboard which calls Christmas "a myth" has often sparked controversy.

Silverman was born in a middle-class Reform Jewish family in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He went to Hebrew school and was bar mitzvahed when he was 13 year old.

David Silverman began publicly challenging religion in high school and often states in interviews that he became an atheist at the age of six. Although he was never in the closet about his disbelief, he was forced to do his Bar mitzvah. He calls this the turning point in his life where he decided never to lie about his atheism again because he had gotten up on stage and told all the people he knew that he believed in God. Seventeen years later his father admitted to him that he also was an atheist. He received a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Brandeis University and MBA in Marketing from Penn State University, and an Advanced Graduate Certificate in International Business from Seton Hall. Silverman is a former professional inventor with 74 patents, and has authored several articles, including a cover story for Inventors Digest.

Silverman has worked with the American Atheists organization since 1996, and has held a variety of roles, including: New Jersey State Director, Communications Director, and Vice President. He was elected president of American Atheists on September 16, 2010, following Ed Buckner.

Silverman rejects his Jewishness and in a speech in Phoenix titled “I’m an Atheist and So Are You”, he urged secular Jewish audience to follow his lead and abandon the term “Jew”. David Silverman has argued that Judaism is not a culture or a race or a nationality.

Media appearances

During his tenure as Communications Director and Vice President of American Atheists, Silverman made several media appearances, but has been especially visible since becoming president. An atheist awareness billboard campaign launched in December 2010 sparked controversy and increased media exposure for the organization. As a result of this campaign, Silverman has appeared on a number of television shows since late 2010, most notably, The O'Reilly Factor on January 4, 2011.

It was under Silverman's direction that the American Atheists group sought to block the preservation of a cross-beam section of the World Trade Center skeleton that resembled a cross. Silverman opined: "The World Trade Center cross has become a Christian icon. It has been blessed by so-called holy men and presented as a reminder that their God, who couldn’t be bothered to stop the terrorists or prevent 3,000 people from being killed in his name, cared only enough to bestow upon us some rubble that resembles a cross."

Silverman attended and spoke at the 2011 American Atheists National Convention, in Des Moines, IowaDuring his speech, he announced Reason Rally. On March 24, 2012 the Reason Rally, which was the largest atheist gathering in world history took place at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Silverman was the Creator and Executive Producer of the event, and the President of the Reason Rally Coalition, the coalition he founded to run the rally.

On October 28, 2011, Silverman and Dinesh D'Souza participated in a public debate on whether Christianity is beneficial for America.

Silverman went on Fox News's Hannity to discuss Christmas-themed billboards that American Atheists put up in Times Square, New York City. He also gave a talk to the Secular Humanist Jewish Circle in Tucson, Arizona detailing the incorrectness of Jewish atheism and how religion lies in general to promote itself.

Silverman's first book, Fighting God: An Atheist Manifesto for a Religious World, was released on December 1, 2015.

Anti-Christmas billboards

Silverman has spearheaded the controversial anti-Christmas campaign by placing strategically billboards from New York City to San Francisco featuring unapologetic slogans like "Keep the Merry, Dump the Myth!", "You Know It’s a Myth. This Season, Celebrate Reason" and "Dear Santa all I want for Christmas is to skip church!" The anti-Christmas billboards and subsequent TV appearances are often followed by a growth in subscribers and donations.

Silverman has also launched antireligion billboard campaigns in the Bible Belt, urging people to skip church.

Personal

Silverman met his future wife publisher Hildy Silverman at Brandeis University, who still attends an Orthodox synagogue. The couple has one daughter who attended The Workmen's Circle's Jewish school.

When Silverman requested a customized New Jersey vanity plate with the letters ATHE1ST it was denied by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission as "objectionable". He appealed and the plate was issued.