Holy Koolaid

Thomas Westbrook (born: )https://twitter.com/holykoolaid/status/1111270468605104128 is the creator of the YouTube channel Holy Koolaid which attempts to address some of the misconceptions people have about atheism and explains the science behind seemingly supernatural occurrences.
==Personal Life==
Thomas was born in Los Angeles, California, and moved to a former Soviet, Muslim country in Central Asia (the specific country is unknown) at the age of three.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKn9rhUKVV4&t=28s He was raised with a literal interpretation of the bible, and rejected evolution.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdvnzqLsdLE&t=101s Thomas was taught that scientists lied about the age of the earth and evolution because they were “pawns of Satan who just wanted to live an accountability free life of sin”.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t8MhsE4vW4&t=68s One summer, he worked for a church camp, where his co-counsellor Max told him how he had tried to disprove the Bible, which seemed counter-intuitive to Thomas. Max also told him that truth withstands scrutiny. This made Thomas more willing to reconsider his beliefs.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t8MhsE4vW4&t=127s He later moved to Texas, and learned more about science.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdvnzqLsdLE&t=156s In college, Thomas’ roommate introduced him to TED talks, and he started reading science books and watching documentaries out of curiosity. He was also intrigued by atheist videos. However, he was still religious, and became a missionary in Central Asia. During this time, he continued learning about science and watching videos.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t8MhsE4vW4&t=348s However, he was still religious, and when his best friend at the time came out to him as an agnostic, Thomas tried to convert him back to Christianity. His friend leaving religion helped normalise it to Thomas.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t8MhsE4vW4&t=485s After the mission trip, he started watching more atheist content, and began to consider the internal consistency of the Bible. As a child, he had been taught that there were no contradictions. Thomas began to read it cover to cover, and took notes.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t8MhsE4vW4&t=544s After watching Bill Nye debate creationist Ken Ham, Thomas realised that scientists were following evidence, and was no longer a Christian.
A few years after leaving college, Thomas met an astrophysicist, who was also an atheist, and they became engaged. However, she became abusive, and he began having doubts as their wedding day approached. He left the relationship, and described it as “the hardest thing [he had] ever done in [his] life”.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdvnzqLsdLE&t=248s After his divorce was finalised, he quit his job and temporarily moved to Thailand.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdvnzqLsdLE&t=397s
==Career==
Holy Koolaid promotes scientific skepticism and attempts to bring people together through a message of positive atheism, humanism, and a love of science. He faces off against religious extremism, fights for human rights, and is attempting to remove the societal stigma against atheists by normalizing atheism.
Holy Koolaid LLC is an anti-cult, educational organization that promotes scientific skepticism and free thought and is at the helm of the secular, pro-science movement.
Founded in 2015 by Thomas Westbrook, Holy Koolaid’s online show has garnered over ten million views with over one hundred thousand subscribers and dozens of media appearances/collaborations. 
Thomas double majored in International Studies and Russian at Texas A&M with a concentration in Political Science. He is a full-time secular activist and science communicator, a former board member of the Atheist Community of Tulsa, and is a founding board member of Faithless Forum, the first-ever atheist/skeptic YouTube conference.
He has studied religion, the paranormal, and supernatural claims for over 20 years, and has developed a thirst for knowledge, particularly science-based education.
He is also an international public speaker, and travels extensively.https://holykoolaid.com/about/
===YouTube===
Thomas’ first video, Does religion kill curiosity? was uploaded on July 26, 2015. He uploaded several videos related to the philosophy of religion. Thomas also created a four video series of Animated Bible Myths.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCTNr4WPOQ96E19MU-vR0EasSekbXrZis On February 18, 2017, he collaborated with CosmicSkeptic on a video about morality.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtPRLoZBT5o On September 18, 2017, Thomas uploaded the first video in a series on psychics.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GITxVhvDlig On May 17, 2019, Thomas uploaded the first video in his “Things Religious People Don't Understand” series, What Religious People don't Understand about Beans 🌱 On March 19, 2020, Thomas uploaded the first video in his Nothing Fails Like Bible History series.
Holy Koolaid has also done collaborations with Hemant Mehta (The Friendly Atheist), and Anthony Magnabosco.
On November 19, 2019, Thomas and John Cedars discussed whether Thomas’ Christian fundamentalist upbringing had cult-like undertones.
===Podcast===
Thomas co-hosted The Here and How Podcast with Stephen Woodford (Rationality Rules) and Rachel Oates. The Here and How Podcast was a weekly podcast that discussed philosophical and scientific questions, such as Is Abortion OK?, and What do we know?. It was hosted by Thomas, Rationality Rules, and Rachel Oates. The last episode, which discussed virtual reality, was uploaded to YouTube on February 9, 2019.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FFpLLFmEJ8
==References==
Category:Commentary YouTubers
Category:Animation YouTubers
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2015