Michael Schmidt-Salomon

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Michael Schmidt-Salomon (born September 14, 1967, in Trier) is a German writer, philosopher, and public relations manager. He chairs the Giordano Bruno Foundation, a humanist group that questions religion, and he is sometimes called Germany’s top atheist. He wrote The Manifesto of Evolutionary Humanism and Die Kirche im Kopf (The Church in the Head). His children’s book Wo bitte geht’s zu Gott?, fragte das kleine Ferkel (Which is the way to God, please?, little Piglet asked) sparked controversy for how it portrays religion.

He studied education science at the University of Trier, earning a master’s degree in educational theory in 1992 and a PhD in 1997. From 1992 to 2001 he worked as a research assistant and lecturer at Trier. His work covers science theory, anthropology, aesthetics, society theory, futurology, religious criticism, ideology criticism, and practical ethics. He began teaching in Luxembourg in 2002. He was editor of the journal MIZ from 1999 to 2007. He has been CEO of the Giordano Bruno Foundation since 2006. He helped inspire Mina Ahadi’s Central Council of Ex-Muslims in 2007 and helped organize the Kritische Islamkonferenz in 2008 and 2013.

Schmidt-Salomon lives in Vordereifel with a non-traditional family: two biological children, three adopted children, and three other adults. He has debated Christian philosopher William Lane Craig about the existence of God. His children’s book Wo bitte geht’s zu Gott? was published in autumn 2007 and was described as “Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion for children.” In December 2007, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs raised objections, saying the book was not suitable for children and youth because of its portrayal of religion, and it considered banning sales to minors. The Central Council of Jews in Germany supported such a ban. Some critics said the book depicted Jews more negatively than Christians or Muslims, likening the illustrations to anti-Semitic Nazi-era caricatures. Peter Riedesser, head of a child psychiatry center, said the book is suitable for children, promotes equality, and does not indoctrinate or attack religion.