Departures

Mandisa

A Christian music star who got her start as an American Idol contestant, Mandisa Hundley died April 18 aged 47. Known professionally by her first name, Mandisa studied vocal performance at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., prior to working as a background singer for country legends Shania Twain and Trisha Yearwood. Appearing on American Idol in 2006, she confronted Idol host Simon Cowell on TV for unkind remarks about her weight. Eliminated after making the show’s Top 10, Mandisa embarked on a solo career with a 2007 album that debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart. Her 2013 album Overcomer earned a Grammy Award.

Daniel Dennett

A philosopher and admirer of Charles Darwin who provoked fierce debates about evolution and religion, Dennett died April 19. He was 82. As a professor of philosophy at Tufts University and an avowed atheist, he advocated for a materialistic explanation for free will, likening the human mind to a biological computer. In 1995, Dennett published Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, describing evolution as a “universal acid” that fundamentally alters our understanding of reality and human nature. While defending evolution, he argued religion was nothing more than a social construct. Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Dennett became known as the Four Horsemen of New Atheism.