Hemant Mehta is the founder and editor of FriendlyAtheist.com, a YouTube creator, and podcast co-host. He is a former National Board Certified math teacher in the suburbs of Chicago. He has appeared on CNN and FOX News and served on the board of directors for Foundation Beyond Belief and the Secular Student Alliance. He has written multiple books, including I Sold My Soul on eBay and The Young Atheist's Survival Guide. He also edited the book Queer Disbelief.
For a while now, we’ve been covering the ongoing saga involving the 40-foot-tall World War I “Peace Cross” memorial in Bladensburg, Maryland. It’s clearly a Christian symbol and it’s on public property, maintained by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission: Now, 26 states are joining the fight. Read more
For some reason, the Chino Valley Town Council in Arizona used to begin meetings with invocations delivered by elected officials (which the law doesn’t permit). So for a couple of weeks, while they decided on a legal alternative, the council members promised to skip the invocation during meetings. Eventually, though, they settled on something that was still a problem: Read more
In Madison, Wisconsin, a group of Christian parents have brought it upon themselves to coerce students at Middleton High School into accepting Jesus. They’re doing it by luring the kids off school property once a week, giving them free food, and using the opportunity to tell them all about Jesus. It’s so widespread at this point — it’s been happening since spring of 2014 and now draws about 450 students each time — that the students and adults have just come to call them “Jesus Lunches.” Now, Principal Stephen Plank is trying to put a stop to it before the lawsuits come flying in. Read more
We know that Harlem hate-pastor James David Manning is on the verge of losing his church over unpaid debts. The fact that the Ali Forney Center, a place for homeless LGBT youth, may purchase his building has only sent him more quickly over the edge. Back in February, you may recall, he told the potential gay residents, “When you start carrying a baby in your bags and birthing that baby through your ass, then you can own this house.” (Just like Jesus said.) Now, in a short MSNBC online-documentary, Manning is no less pissed off by what’s happening: Read more