Sep 9, 2012
These days, Herb Silverman is largely known as the president and
founder of the Secular Coalition of America. Before he reached that
point, however, he already had a storied past. From a young Jewish
boy who took his teachers of Talmudic studies seriously when they
told him to think and seek to a gubernatorial candidate in the
South who simultaneously ran a campaign and a court case for the
right to campaign, Silverman has led anything but a dull life. In
Silverman's recent book, Candidate Without a Prayer: An
Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt, he shares his
interesting story with us. From the publisher's description: In
this deeply revealing and engaging autobiography, Herb Silverman
tells his iconoclastic life story. He takes the reader from his
childhood as an Orthodox Jew in Philadelphia, where he stopped
fasting on Yom Kippur to test God's existence, to his adult life in
the heart of the Bible Belt, where he became a legendary figure
within America's secular activist community and remains one of its
most beloved leaders. Never one to shy from controversy, Silverman
relates many of his high-profile battles with the Religious Right,
including his decision to run for governor of South Carolina to
challenge the state's constitutional provision that prohibited
atheists from holding public office. Candidate Without a Prayer
offers an intimate portrait of a central player in today's
increasingly heated culture wars. It will be sure to charm both
believers and nonbelievers alike, and will lead all those who care
about the separation of church and state to give thanks. This
Sunday, he will join us on air to share his story with
all.