Daniel Edwin “Dan” Barker, born June 25, 1949, is an atheist activist who served as a Christian preacher and musician for 19 years but left Christianity in 1984. He has written numerous articles for Freethought Today, an American freethought newspaper, and is the author of several books including Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist and his latest, GOD: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction.
Barker received a degree in religion from Azusa Pacific University and was ordained to the ministry by the Standard Community Church, California, in 1975. He served as associate pastor at a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) church, an Assembly of God, and an independent Charismatic church. To this day, he receives royalties from his popular children’s Christian musicals, Mary Had a Little Lamb (1977) and His Fleece Was White as Snow (1978), both published by Manna Music. A successful musician, Barker has composed over 200 songs that have been published or recorded.
In 1984 he announced to his friends that he was an atheist, and appeared on AM Chicago (hosted by Oprah Winfrey) later that year on a show about “kicking the religion habit.” Barker met his wife when both were guests on the show. They began dating six months later and married in 1987. They have a daughter, Sabrina Delata.
He is a member of the Lenni Lenape (Delaware Indian) Tribe of Native Americans, and in 1991 edited and published Paradise Remembered, a collection of his grandfather’s stories as a Lenape boy in Indian Territory.
He is the current co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an American Freethought organization that promotes the separation of church and state. He is also co-founder and a board member of The Clergy Project.
Barker, along with his wife, host a weekly one hour radio program Freethought Radio that is nationally broadcast. He 
has appeared on dozens of national television and radio programs to discuss and debate issues related to atheism and the separation of state and church. He has discussed nativity scenes on government property, the campaign against a Mother Teresa stamp, prayer in public schools, and has appeared on Phil Donahue, Hannity & Colmes, Maury Povich, Good Morning America, Sally Jessy Raphael, among other shows. He was featured in a New York Times article about the growing of atheism in Southern states, has given addresses on his own de-conversion across the United States, and has participated in more than 120 debates around the world.
Books
Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide for Young Skeptics. (1990)
Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist. (1992)
Just Pretend (2002)
Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheists (2008)
The Good Atheist: Living a Purpose-Filled Life Without God (2011)
Life Driven Purpose: How an Atheist Finds Meaning (2015)
Music
Mary Had a Little Lamb (1977)
His Fleece Was White as Snow (1978)
Music Albums
Night at Nakoma (2008)
Friendly Neighborhood Atheist (2002)
Beware of Dogma (2004)
Adrift On A Star (2013)
