austin dacey
"philosophically rich and morally inspiring."
– Rebecca Goldstein
Austin Dacey is a writer and human rights advocate based in New York City. His writings have appeared in numerous publications including USA Today, Dissent, and the New York Times, which ran his 2006 op-ed, "Believing in Doubt." In 2008 he released The Secular Conscience: Why Belief Belongs in Public Life. Arguing for the central role of conscience in political and moral discourse, the book "lifted quite a few eyebrows" according to the New York Times. Embraced by figures as diverse as Sam Harris and Father Richard John Neuhaus, The Secular Conscience was noted in North American, European, and Arabic media, and called "timely and important" by Asharq Alawsat.
A representative to the United Nations for the International Humanist and Ethical Union, Austin Dacey has participated in international debates regarding freedom of expression, religion, and the "dialogue among civilizations," speaking before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. He helped to organize the Secular Islam Summit in 2007. He currently serves as an adviser to Freemuse: The World Forum on Music and Censorship and in 2010 he created The Impossible Music Sessions. He holds a doctorate in applied ethics and social philosophy and has taught most recently at Marymount Manhattan College.
NEWS
NPR's "All Things Considered" feature on The Impossible Music Sessions
Satire is religion, Religion Dispatches
The sound of freedom, Washington Post/Newsweek, "On Faith"
The Left's Blind Spot, De Groene Amsterdammer (Netherlands)
Who's afraid of Shari'a?, Dissent
Rage against the regime: Voices from the Iranian underground music scene Religion Dispatches
Article on "defamation of religions" Religion
Dispatches
Sensitive Words English version of article in Trouw (Netherlands)
New York Times story on The Secular Conscience.