The Future of Atheist Activism

We’re excited to have Jim Helton in town to talk to us about being activists! Helton is the National Field Organizer for American Atheists. After attending the 2012 Reason Rally, he co-founded the Tri-State Freethinkers and was appointed American Atheists’ Kentucky State Director. Under his leadership, Tri-State Freethinkers adopted the highway in front of the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter and led a protest that received international attention.

He played a key role in eliminating Gideon’s bible distributions in public schools and removing abstinence-only sex education.

Mr. Helton’s activism at the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter landed him appearances in the 2017 documentary film Bill Nye: Science Guy and the forthcoming documentary We Believe in Dinosaurs. He has been quoted in countless news outlets, including “The New York Times”, “Miami Herald”, and “Washington Post”. He is a fixture in local Cincinnati media and has given interviews for international television specials in France, Switzerland, and elsewhere.

As National Field Organizer, Mr. Helton works with affiliates, local partners, and state directors to challenge religious privilege and fight to protect church/state separation at the local level by building coalitions around specific issue campaigns, including medically accurate sex education, LGBT non-discrimination ordinances, and religious exemptions.