He is a public speaker, podcaster, and atheist activist, and founded the non-profit organization Recovering from Religion as well as the Secular Therapy Project.

Ray was raised a fundamentalist Christian in Wichita, Kansas, by parents who eventually became missionaries, and among family members highly involved in church life.

[6] In 1972, Ray earned a bachelor's degree in sociology/anthropology at Friends University in Wichita, and in 1974 he completed an MA in Church and Community at Scarritt College for Christian Workers in Nashville, Tennessee.

[5] Ray pays special attention to placing sexuality and various religions into context culturally and historically.

[18] In June 1982, Ray and several other authors released a paper describing a study done on male youth offenders in a juvenile correction institute.

", and concluding that sex improves dramatically after leaving religion, and that people who are religious exhibit similar sexual behaviors as the non-religious, but experience markedly increased guilt.

[21] The study has been criticized for suffering from self-selection bias,[22] due to its recruiting of participants via the science blog Pharyngula.