Chris Stedman

Chris D. Stedman is a writer and interfaith activist. He is Managing Director of State of Formation for The Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue and Assistant Humanist Chaplain and the Values in Action Coordinator for the Humanist Community at Harvard (where he was previously the inaugural Interfaith and Community Service Fellow).

Stedman, who was raised in a secular home, converted to Evangelical Christianity at age 11 and later rejected his belief in the supernatural (and coming out as gay), tends to promote atheist and non-religious dialogue with the religious for the sake of finding "common ground" on social justice issues, and tends to criticize fellow atheists for not doing enough to address issues such as Islamophobia (a critique which has been rebutted, He catches significant heat from atheist bloggers due to perceived "accommodationism" with purveyors of faith and woo.)

Sam Harris
Stedman criticized Sam Harris over Harris' support for look-based profiling at airports as an anti-terror tactic ) and Harris' strenuous critique of Islam and Muslims (which Stedman calls "Islamophobic"). Harris suggested that Stedman misunderstood the problem of Islam, but appreciated his tone.

PZ Myers
PZ Myers has frequently criticized Stedman on his blog over the idea of faith as something positive, which Myers flatly rejects. The two were joined by Leslie Cannold and Meredith Doig in a panel debate, Can Believers & Atheists Work Together for the Common Good?, at The Road Less Traveled, a conference held in May 2012 in Melbourne.