Teen Atheist Who Brought Down Prayer Banner & Feminist Gloria Steinem to Be Honored at Atheist Conference

Teen atheist Jessica Ahlquist may continue to face threats over her efforts to remove a prayer banner from her high school, but the 16-year-old darling of the secular movement has been showered with accolades from fellow non-believers. Ahlquist has already received tens of thousands of dollars in scholarship money and now, as a result of her activism, she's being given a coveted "humanist" award.

The teen atheist will accept the Humanist Pioneer award next week at the American Humanist Association's (AHA) 71st Annual Conference in New Orleans. The event, which goes from June 7 to June 10, will help to further drive home the AHA's goal --  "to bring about a progressive society where being good without gods is an accepted way to live life."

Not much is written about Ahlquist's past accomplishments on the AHA's web site beyond the fact that she was the plaintiff in the Ahlquist v. Cranston court case. This legal battle, as previously reported, led to a judge's order that Cranston High School West remove a prayer mural present in the teen's Rhode Island public school.

(Related: Teen Atheist Behind Prayer Mural Ban Wants Contentious WWI & WWII Cross Removed)

Ahlquist will be honored along with another student, Damon Fowler, who challenged his high school over a graduation prayer. In 2011, Fowler was given a student activist award from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

The two teenaged activists aren't the only individuals who will be awarded at this year's event. Famed feminist Gloria Steinem will be given the "Humanist of the Year" award. A biography on the conference's web site goes on to praise the controversial figure's career. On the media front, Cenk Uygur, host of "The Young Turks," will receive the "Humanist Media Award." Other recipients can be seen on the AHA's conference web site.

This year's theme for the AHA conference is, "The Atheists Go Marching In."

(H/T: The Christian Post)