Aron Ra (formerly L. Aron Nelson, born October 15, 1962) is an atheist activist. Ra is the host of the Ra-Men Podcast^[2][3][4] and a member of the American Atheists board of directors.^[5] He had previously served as president of the Atheist Alliance of America^[6][7] and ran as a Democratic candidate for Texas' District 2 Senate seat.^[8]

Aron Ra was born in Kingman, Arizona, and baptized as a Mormon. Despite his religious upbringing, he states that he has been a skeptic from a young age.^[9]

He studied paleontology at the University of Texas in Dallas.^[10] He holds an Associate's degree from Dallas College and, in 2022, earned a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology from the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University.^[11]

A vocal critic of theism and creationism and an advocate of the inclusion of evolution in science curricula,^{[10][12][13][14]} Ra produces YouTube videos on the topics of skepticism, free thought, and atheism.

He has engaged in live debates with young Earth creationists, including Ray Comfort,^[15] and presented at skepticism conferences in Europe.^{[16][1][9][17]} As a member of the Unholy Trinity, he toured the United States and Australia with two fellow atheist activists—Seth Andrews, of The Thinking Atheist, and Matt Dillahunty, of The Atheist Experience.^[18][19][20]

He appeared in the documentary films My Week in Atheism, directed by John Christy,^[21][22] and Batman & Jesus, directed by Jozef K. Richards. He published his first book, Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism, in 2016.^[23][24]

In March 2017, Ra resigned from his position as president of the Atheist Alliance of America to run for the Texas State Senate against Republican incumbent Bob Hall.^[7][25][26] The first Democratic candidate to run for the District 2 seat since 2002,^[8] he dropped out of the race after failing to secure the Democratic Party endorsement.^[27]

• Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism (2016)^[28]
• We Are All Apes (2022)^[29]