Greta Christina

Greta Christina (born December 31, 1961) is an American atheist blogger, speaker, and author.[1][2]

Greta Christina
Christina speaking at the University of Missouri in March 2014
Born (1961-12-31) December 31, 1961
Chicago, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Alma materReed College
OccupationWriter
Spouse(s)
Ingrid Nelson
​
(m. 1998)​
Websitehttp://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/

Early life

Christina was born in Chicago on December 31, 1961. She graduated from Reed College in 1983.[3] She legally changed her name in her twenties, dropping her family name and taking her middle name as her last name, resulting in her current name of Greta Christina.[4]

Career

Christina is a regular atheist correspondent for AlterNet, Free Inquiry, and The Humanist, and has been writing about atheism in her own "Greta Christina's blog" since 2005.[5] Her blog is now part of The Orbit, the "first atheist media site founded explicitly to work on all forms of social justice."[6][7] In 2009, Hemant Mehta at the "Friendly Atheist" ranked Christina's blog in the Top Ten most popular atheist blogs.[8] She also created the "Atheist Meme of the Day" on Facebook.

Christina at Skepticon in 2014.

She has been writing professionally since 1989, and has been a full-time freelance writer and speaker since 2012.[9] Her writing about atheism has appeared in print in Skeptical Inquirer and the anthology Everything You Know About God Is Wrong, as well as in her own books Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why (2014) and Why Are You Atheists So Angry?: 99 Things that Piss Off the Godless (2012).[2][10][11][12][13]

Speaking to Chris Mooney for a Point of Inquiry podcast in 2012, she stated that "there isn't one emotion" affecting atheists "but anger is one of the emotions that many of us have ...[it] drives others to participate in the movement". She feels that there are many goals for the atheist movement — more separation of church and state, ending "bigotry against atheism", and for some, persuading people "out of religion". She thinks it is a "valid goal" to work towards a world without religion.[14]

As a speaker, she is a member of the Speakers Bureau for the Secular Student Alliance and the Center for Inquiry.[2] She was a speaker on the Diversity in Skepticism panel at The Amaz!ng Meeting in July, 2011, the Reason Rally in 2012,[15] and the 50th annual convention of American Atheists in 2013.[16]

Rebecca Hensler founded the social media and internet support group 'Grief Beyond Belief' for grieving people who do not believe in God or an afterlife in 2011;[17][18][19] she was encouraged to found it by Christina.[18]

In 2013 Christina was named the International Team Honored Hero of the Foundation Beyond Belief (FBB).[5] The Foundation's teams raise money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.[20] As of 2015 she is a member of the Foundation Beyond Belief's Board of Directors.[21]

She received the 2013 LGBT Humanist Pride Award from the American Humanist Association.[22][23]

Also in 2013, a photo of Christina with her wife Ingrid and a piece about the photo by Christina was featured in the book A Better Life, by Christopher Johnson, which is a book with photos of 100 atheists and pieces by them about how their atheism has enabled them to have, in their view, a better life.[24]

In 2015, Christina received the first Secular Student Alliance Ambassador Award, which was the 2015 Secular Student Alliance Ambassador Award.[25][26] Christina is an Advisory Board member of the SSA and a donor at the Lifetime Membership level.[26]

Outside of her atheist work, she is the editor of Paying For It: A Guide by Sex Workers for Their Clients and of the Best Erotic Comic anthology series, and has written the erotic novella Bending and the erotic fiction collection Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More.[10][27][28][29] Her writing has also appeared in three volumes of Best American Erotica.[28] She has also written about cats for Catster, and has written for the magazine Femme Feminism.[30][31][32]

She previously worked at Last Gasp and Lusty Lady, both in San Francisco.[9][33] She has also performed in pornography.[34]

Personal life

Greta Christina has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1984 and lives with her wife, Ingrid Nelson, whom she has been with since 1998.[3][35] At some point previous to 1998 she had a husband.[36] Christina is openly bisexual/pansexual.[37][38] Nelson is openly bisexual and works as a nurse practitioner in the field of HIV and AIDS.[39][40] Christina and Nelson were married in February 2004 at San Francisco City Hall, during the time that year in which same-sex marriage licenses were being issued in San Francisco; all those marriages were later voided, and Christina and Nelson got married again at San Francisco City Hall in 2008.[3][41][42] They also had a wedding (although not a legal marriage) on November 12, 2005 in San Francisco's Swedish American Hall in the Castro district.[43] Christina stated in 2010, "Ingrid and I are very happily married. We've been married for six and a half years (or five years, or two and a half years, depending on which of our three weddings in the shifting 'same- sex marriage' winds you're talking about), and we've been together for close to thirteen years."[44] Greta Christina is co-organizer and co-host of the Godless Perverts Story Hour and the Godless Perverts Social Club in San Francisco.[45][46][47] She is openly polyamorous, and has written about participating in BDSM.[48][49][50]

Christina's parents divorced when she was 12.[51] Christina's mother died of cancer at the age of 45, when Christina was 17.[52]

Christina has struggled with depression off and on throughout most of her adult life; as of 2014 she considers herself chronically depressed and takes the antidepressant Wellbutrin for it, and expects to take antidepressants for the rest of her life.[53][54]

In 2012 she was diagnosed with endometrial cancer.[55] She had a surgical hysterectomy and oophorectomy to treat it, and is now cancer-free.[5][56][57]

Views on issues other than atheism

Christina is a sex-positive, pro-choice feminist.[58][59][60]

Books
  • Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless. Pitchstone Publishing. 2012. ISBN 978-0985281526.
  • Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why. Pitchstone Publishing. 2014. ISBN 978-1939578198.
  • Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More. Pitchstone Publishing. 2015. ISBN 978-1634310079.
  • Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God. Pitchstone Publishing. 2015. ISBN 978-1939578181.
  • The Way of the Heathen: Practicing Atheism in Everyday Life. Pitchstone Publishing. 2016. ISBN 978-1634310680.

References
  1. "Greta Christina". Greta Christina. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  2. "Greta Christina | Secular Student Alliance: Atheists, Humanists, Agnostics & Others". Secularstudents.org. 2009-12-20. Archived from the original on 2014-10-03. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  3. Greta Christina. "Personal". Greta Christina. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  4. "Greta Christina's Blog: The Messed-Up Teachings of Jesus". Gretachristina.typepad.com. 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
  5. Christina, Greta. "Foundation Beyond Belief Raises Record Funds to Fight Cancer – And They're Doing It Again! » Greta Christina's Blog". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  6. "The Orbit: Why Social Justice Atheism Needs Many Homes". TheHumanist.com. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  7. Greta Christina's Blog
  8. "The 30 Most Popular Atheist Blogs". The Friendly Atheist. 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  9. Quitting the Day Job
  10. Bright, Susie (5 July 2005). Susie Bright Presents: Three Kinds of Asking for It: Erotic Novellas by Eric Albert, Greta Christina, and Jill Soloway (9780743245500): Susie Bright: Books. ISBN 0743245504.
  11. Why Are You Atheists So Angry?: 99 Things that Piss Off the Godless. 2012. OL 25278974M.
  12. Christina, Greta. ""Coming Out Atheist" Ordering Info » Greta Christina's Blog". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  13. Christina, Greta. ""Coming Out Atheist" Is Out! » Greta Christina's Blog". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  14. "Greta Christina — Why Are You Atheists So Angry?". Point of Inquiry. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
  15. Program. "The Amaz!ng Meeting | Program". Amazingmeeting.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-29. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  16. Lawrence, Calvin. "Who's Speaking to the Atheists at 50th Annual Convention?". ABC News. Retrieved 2013-03-29.
  17. Greta Christina (2015-06-18). "8 atheist leaders actually worth listening to". Salon.com. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
  18. "Grief without God is a challenge for nonbelievers – USATODAY.com". Usatoday30.usatoday.com. 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
  19. Greta Christina (2013-06-25). "7 groups atheists can turn to in times of need". Salon.com. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
  20. Brayton, Ed (2013-03-13). "Foundation Beyond Belief Raises Record Funds » Dispatches from the Culture Wars". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  21. Greta Christina (2015-06-18). "8 atheist leaders actually worth listening to". Salon.com. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  22. "Nonbelievers Tell Supreme Court: Declare DOMA and Prop 8 Unconstitutional". American Humanist Association. 2013-03-26. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
  23. "My 2013 LGBT Humanist of the Year Acceptance Speech". Free Thought Blogs. 2013-06-23. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  24. Christina, Greta. "Beautiful and Fragile: My Story for the Atheist Photo Book, "A Better Life" » Greta Christina's Blog". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  25. "Greta Christina - Mobile Uploads". Facebook. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
  26. "RELEASE: LGBTQ Activists to Be Honored at Secular Student Conference | Secular Student Alliance". Secularstudents.org. 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
  27. Christina, Greta. ""Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More" Now for Sale on Kindle and Nook! » Greta Christina's Blog". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
  28. Christina, Greta. "Greta Christina's Blog » Atheism, sex, politics, dreams, and whatever. Thinking out loud since 2005". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
  29. Delacoste, Frederique (June 2004). Paying for It: A Guide by Sex Workers for Their Clients (9781890159597): Greta Christina: Books. ISBN 189015959X.
  30. Greta Christina. "Femme, Adjective or Noun? - Greta Christina's Blog". The-orbit.net. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  31. Category: Contributor Personal Essays. "Femme, Adjective or Noun?". Femmefeminism.com. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  32. Catster (2013-01-09). "Catster". Catster. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  33. Sex Work for Introverts: Some Sentimental Thoughts on the Closing of a Peep Show
  34. Greta Christina's Blog: Which Side Are You On? Pro-Porn and Anti-Porn Arguments
  35. "Greta Christina". Greta Christina. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  36. "Greta Christina's Blog". Gretachristina.typepad.com. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  37. Christina, Greta. "Hi. I'm bisexual. Happy Coming Out Day!". Facebook. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  38. "Greta Christina - Can people please not comment on my..." Facebook. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  39. "Greta Christina's Blog: Professor Brainiacs and Smarty Pants Know-It-Alls: Popular Perceptions of Science and Scientists". Gretachristina.typepad.com. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  40. "Greta Christina". September 11, 2013. Retrieved 2014-04-03.
  41. "Greta Christina's Blog: Sex, Relationships, and the Hazards of Default Decisions". Gretachristina.typepad.com. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
  42. Christina, Greta. "Who Marriage is For: A Tale of Two Weddings » Greta Christina's Blog". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
  43. "Greta Christina's agnostic commitment ceremony". Offbeat Bride. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  44. "Greta Christina's Blog: Happily Single, Happily Married". Gretachristina.typepad.com. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
  45. "Guest Post: 5 Things That". Miss Maggie Mayhem. June 26, 2013. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  46. "Godless Perverts Story Hour". Godless Perverts. June 3, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  47. "Godless Perverts Social Club". Greta Christina's Blog. June 26, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  48. "Greta Christina's Blog: SM". Gretachristina.typepad.com. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
  49. "Greta Christina's Blog: Harder". Gretachristina.typepad.com. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
  50. Christina, Greta. "On Being on Anti-Depressants Indefinitely, Very Likely for the Rest of My Life » Greta Christina's Blog". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  51. "Greta Christina's Blog: Sexual Optimism and a Changing World". Gretachristina.typepad.com. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
  52. "Greta Christina's Blog: The Meaning of Death: Part One of Many". Gretachristina.typepad.com. 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
  53. Christina, Greta. "Are All Religions Equally Crazy?". Freethoughtblogs.com; Greta Christina's Blog. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  54. Greta Christina (2014-03-24). "Mood Disorders Program". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  55. Christina, Greta. "Bad news, good news, and asking for help » Greta Christina's Blog". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
  56. Christina, Greta. "Surgery tomorrow » Greta Christina's Blog". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
  57. Christina, Greta. "Surgery done » Greta Christina's Blog". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
  58. Christina, Greta. "On Being a Feminist Writing Dirty Kinky Porn » Greta Christina's Blog". Freethoughtblogs.com. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  59. Greta Christina's Blog: Showtime's "Californication": Well, There's Promiscuous and There's Promiscuous
  60. Having a Reasonable Debate About Abortion
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