Talk:David Silverman (activist)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

Page moved to David Silverman (activist). Consensus was for a move, but no case was made for this being the primary topic. Vegaswikian (talk) 19:27, 5 June 2011 (UTC)

Dave Silverman → David Silverman – Relisted for further opinions. Jafeluv (talk) 16:35, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

The common name for this individual is David Silverman, as opposed to Dave. The Simpsons director shares the same name, yet there is no disambiguation that leads to this. Because this is not the common name, the page should be moved. Blizzardman1219 (talk) 08:23, 21 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Oppose. All nine mentions of him in the article itself say "Dave", not "David". If it is deemed necessary to rename it David for some as-yet undisclosed reason, move this article to David Silverman (atheist) or something similiar. Softlavender (talk) 07:46, 25 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Comment: Where is the evidence that David Silverman is the common name used for this individual? Here is what I found:
 * http://atheists.org/media_releases/dave_silverman_on_cnn_rapture_morning - Dave Silverman
 * http://www.mastermediaspeakers.com/davidsilverman/index.html - Dave Silverman
 * http://www.npr.org/2010/12/11/131988679/War-On-Christmas-Spreads-To-Lincoln-Tunnel - David Silverman
 * http://atheists.org/media_releases/dave_silverman_at_friday_the Dave Silverman & David Silverman
 * http://atheists.org/media_releases/dave_silverman_to_speak_at_sf_atheists - Dave Silverman
 * http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/150030/20110523/end-of-days-judgment-day-harold-camping-radio-group-prophesy-jokes-internet-web-site.htm David Silverman
 * http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/992600--nyc-man-spends-life-savings-on-doomsday-ad-campaign?bn=1 David Silverman
 * http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/19/my-take-doomsdayers-show-what%E2%80%99s-wrong-with-all-religion/ David Silverman
 * So, it is apparent that both David & Dave are used, but the media tends to refer to him as David (RS), whereas AA tends to refer to him more as Dave Silverman. DigitalC (talk) 17:47, 28 May 2011 (UTC)
 * '''Move to David Silverman (atheist) [or (activist)] and hatnote both David Silverman and this article. DigitalC (talk) 17:50, 28 May 2011 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

File:Dave Silverman.jpg Nominated for speedy Deletion
how can a rageface be copyrighted? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.50.10.234 (talk) 04:54, 9 September 2011 (UTC) I guarantee i could find the person that created that vector image (whatever you nerds call it) and get his permission... but seeing as it isn't copyrighted in the first place this seems GIVE IT BACK15:43, 9 September 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.50.10.234 (talk)

Request for Comments
There is an RfC on the question of using "Religion: None" vs. "Religion: None (atheist)" in the infobox on this and other similar pages.

The RfC is at Template talk:Infobox person.

Please help us determine consensus on this issue. --Guy Macon (talk) 17:04, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

74 patents at Bell Labs?
Really? That sounds rather remarkable, or maybe just another day at work, and it very well could be true, but if you look on the Internet, the only proof one finds of this claim is that it says so on his profile on atheists.org. Might anyone have any independently verifiable proof of this interesting claim? I will keep looking for it, myself. Ender and  Peter  17:36, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

This search query might help, although I'm not sure how we would pinpoint our very own David Silverman at such a site, and even if there were 20 results per page on the 3 pages it returns, that would be 60 results total, and some of them are for people named "Jon David Silverman" and "Benjamin David Silverman". And even just the "David Silverman" listings could be some other identically named guy. And so, this is hardly an exhaustive list, if it is even mentioning any inventions by our particular Silverman. Ender and  Peter  17:54, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Adding background sources
Atheist Organization Decks Billboards With Christmas Jeer Dan Kedmey Dec. 16, 2014, The Time, time.com/3635817/atheist-billboards-christmas-jeer/, Kimberly Winston, Religion News Service 1:13 p.m. EST December 19, 2012 USToday http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/19/atheists-christmas-billboards-god/1779827/, Can You Be an Atheist and a Jew at the Same Time? David Silverman Says No By Rachel Silberstein December 9, 2013 The Tablet http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/154532/david-silverman-atheist, Atheist organizer takes ‘movement’ to nation’s capital by Dan Merica,March 23rd, 2012 CNN http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/23/atheist-organizer-takes-movement-to-nations-capital/, A ‘Jewish atheist’ lets go of the ‘Jewish’by Robert Wiener  March 28, 2014 New Jersey Jewish News http://njjewishnews.com/article/22462/a-jewish-atheist-lets-go-of-the-jewish#.V9-QQpN96Ho, Fighting God: An Atheist Manifesto for a Religious World by David Silverman/ Thomas Dunne Books December 1, 2015 https://books.google.com/books?id=6Ds6CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT1&dq=Fighting+God:+An+Atheist+Manifesto+for+a+Religious+World++David+Silverman&hl=fi&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Fighting%20God%3A%20An%20Atheist%20Manifesto%20for%20a%20Religious%20World%20%20David%20Silverman&f=false IBestEditor (talk) 06:53, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

Career/Atheist activism
As in some other similar articles "Atheist activism" is used and is more descriptive and appropriate for this portion of the article. IBestEditor (talk) 10:12, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Famed for leading the anti-Christmas billboard campaign -should be mentionedIBestEditor (talk) 10:32, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
 * shouldn't he be on the list for American Skeptics? 2604:3D08:9B77:AB00:9DB7:E707:2F00:4AAD (talk) 16:04, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

Open marriage and sex assault charges
The Christian Post indicates:

"Responding to the allegations of sexual assault, Silverman's lawyer, Sebastian Ionno, told BuzzFeed: "Mr. Silverman denies any wrong doing and has never had a non-consensual sexual encounter."

Ionno also clarified that Silverman and his wife were in an open marriage at the time."

In the personal life section, should it be mentioned that David Silverman had an open marriage?Knox490 (talk) 06:20, 23 June 2018 (UTC)


 * PZ Myers indicates that Silverman claimed that he had an open relationship with his Jewish/theist wife, but later admitted he lied about that his matter and cheated on her (screen shots provided on Myers' blog post). Knox490 (talk) 22:43, 27 October 2019 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia should probably not focus on marital relationship gossip. — Paleo  Neonate  – 18:47, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

Re: removal of material on Atheist Alliance International hiring controversy
The material below was removed supposedly for "space reasons".

The atheist Sikivu Hutchinson wrote about the hiring of David Silverman by Atheist Alliance International: "The recent decision by Atheist Alliance International (AAI) to hire the former leader of American Atheists, David Silverman, to its executive director position is yet another indication that this business-as-usual rehab strategy also applies to movement atheism, which can be just as corrupt, cronyistic, and swaggeringly hostile to women as corporate America."

But the fact remains his appointment was controversial.

I cite: David Silverman Suspended From Atheist Alliance International Pending Investigation Into Touching Incident, December 9, 2019Knox490 (talk) 23:24, 14 December 2019 (UTC)


 * I noticed that this was reinserted (but since reverted by another editor). My impression is that it doesn't add anything of importance to the article.  — Paleo  Neonate  – 18:47, 8 February 2020 (UTC)