He took a bachelors degree in Sociology/anthropology at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas in 1972, then decided to go into the ministry. He entered Scarritt College for Christian Workers (Nashville, TN) to complete an MA in Church and Community in 1974. He soon learned that he could not tell others to believe what he didn’t. After finishing his MA, he changed course and entered a doctoral program in psychology at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) completing his Ed.D. in 1978. Parts of his doctoral dissertation were published in three different academic journals and provided the basis for successful lawsuits against the Tennessee Department of Corrections in 1980.

Darrel attended church, taught Sunday school and even preached on occasion throughout his 20’s and into his mid-thirties but nothing about religion seemed to add up. By age 35 he was an agnostic and by 40, atheist. He continued to be curious about the inner workings of religion and how it impacts and infects people. His research and writing finally led him to Dawkins’ Viruses of the Mind and Memetics, which provided the seed upon which to research and write about religion as a parasitic meme, culminating in his latest book The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture (IPC Press, 2009).

As one reviewer said, “After reading Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harris, I still needed a question answered- How does religion work? None of the aforementioned books really make any in-depth attempt at answering this dangerous question. The God Virus does exactly that.” Or as Dale McGowan noted in his review: “Darrel Ray has made a marvelous contribution to our understanding of ourselves. The description of religion as a cultural virus is not new, Darrel is the first to put the virus on a slide and pull out the microscope. The God Virus goes beyond analogy, offering a fascinating and detailed look at the wiggling, maddening virus itself how it moves, how it survives, and how and why it continues to thrive. -- Author/editor, Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers

Darrel has published two other books in his career including Teaming Up, McGraw-Hill 1995 and The Performance Culture, IPC Press, 2001. The God Virus has consistently ranked high in its categories on Amazon.com, often #1 or #2 and is has been in the top one percent of all books sold on Amazon for the last several months.

He has spoken throughout the US to dozens of groups about The God Virus including the New York City Atheists, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, University of Alabama, Atlanta Freethought Society, The Center for Inquiry in Los Angeles and Portland. He will be speaking in Ireland in June 2010, where the new blasphemy laws were just enacted. He is taking donations to help get him meet bail after he speaks.

Darrel can also be heard on such podcasts as Point of Inquiry with DJ Grothe, Chariots of Iron, Secular America, The Infidel Guy, Dogma Free America. His Youtube channel has been viewed over 30,000 times and has a full five star rating on most of his videos. Visit www.youtube.com/user/damo132 to view his latest video Death Neurosis and Asteroids.

Darrel’s presentation style is fast paced, humorous and engaging. He is not afraid to explore even the most sensitive areas of religious infection from sexual guilt to abstinence only, from the hypnotic techniques of ministers to music’s role in infection and how it all fits together. To inquire about having Darrel speak to your group contact him at darrelray (at) thegodvirus (dot) net