Lauren Ell Archives - Atheists We Are

Atheist profile: Lauren Ell in Sweden and Southern California

Posted on February 15, 2022 by Atheists We Are

Name: Lauren Ell

Location: Sweden/Southern California

How long have you identified as atheist? Over 15 years

Do you come from a religious background? If so, which religion? Yes, Christian.

Which music are you usually listening to? Post-punk, electronic, ambient. I like New Order, Depeche Mode, Interpol, The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, etc. Anything with synth really.

What is your favorite movie and why? Big Fish. I love the colorful imagery and theatrical characters throughout the movie. I also like the concept that a little bit of imagination can be applied to reality. I have had a crush on Ewan McGregor ever since I saw that movie!

If you could travel somewhere, where would it be and why? I would like to travel Italy’s coastline. I watch a Youtube channel regularly by a woman who lives in Positano, Italy (called “The Positano Diaries”) and it looks so beautiful and relaxing. The food looks great too!

Please share details about your background, such as your personal beliefs, family, interests, etc. I was raised in Southern California in what I call a secular Christian household. I was taught that Jesus Christ is son of God, but my family did not attend church regularly, and also did not read the Bible or pray. I became atheist at 18 and stepped up more as an atheist speaker after I felt established atheist organizations did not represent me well as an atheist. I have launched the organizations Republican Atheists, Atheists Moms, Christian Atheist Society, Atheists We Are and Atheists United for Israel. I relocated to Sweden in 2016 to live with my Swedish partner. We currently have one daughter and another baby on the way. I hope to move back to the US within the next five years, I miss the US a lot!

Thank you for sharing Lauren.

Are you an atheist who is interested in sharing your profile? You can find more information here.

Why I launched Atheists We Are

Posted on March 7, 2020March 29, 2020 by Atheists We Are

For years I have been observing general US-based atheist organizations online, and have thought they are not doing the one thing I expected them to, which is to showcase a wide variety of atheist individuals, atheist organizations and atheist news. Instead they tend to be focused on separation of church and state issues, pushing ultra-progressive policies and demonizing Christianity. This led me to launch Atheists We Are, an organization that is actually focused on what is happening in the global atheist community.

Another experience that led me to launch Atheists We Are was witnessing my other organization, Republican Atheists, be routinely ignored by atheist organizations who claimed to be representing atheists. I was not expecting them to be enthralled by Republican Atheists since most US-atheists tend to be ultra-progressive, but I was surprised that they did not have the courtesy to inquire about the organization Republican Atheists or me, a person launching the first organization representing atheist Republicans in the United States. Atheists We Are will have an open-minded approach to showcasing atheist organizations (or at least try to as open-minded as we can!).

Finally, I would like to showcase more of what is going on in the atheist community, such as changes within atheist organizations, atheists being featured in media, etc. Information posted can be good and bad. I am not one to speak positively of atheists at all times.

Atheists We Are will be a unique atheist organization since it will be managed by a Republican. I am not sure how the organization will develop over time since it is a side project for me, but we’ll see where it goes!

You are welcome to send feedback and tips to info[at]atheistsweare.com.

Lauren Ell is President and Founder of Atheists We Are. She has launched various organizations geared towards the atheist community, politics and Scandinavia, such as Republican Atheists, Atheists United for Israel, Nordic Republicans and Americans Sweden. Connect with Ell on Facebook and Twitter.