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.
If you’re starting to explore atheism, it might be tough to know where to begin, in part because, outside of the God question, 100 different atheists may believe 100 different things. Andrew Sneddon, a professor of philosophy, has written a primer on godlessness just for that audience. He covers various topics, in a dictionary-like way, introducing them to strangers who may never have considered them from an atheist perspective. It’s called A Is for Atheist: An A to Z of the Godfree Life (Pitchstone Publishing, 2016): In the excerpt below, Sneddon explains Holidays and Hope: Read more
Back in November of 2012, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sued the IRS because of the government agency’s “failure to enforce electioneering restrictions against churches and religious organizations.” Basically, churches were endorsing political candidates from the pulpit and the IRS wasn’t doing anything to stop it. (Part of the problem was that there was a vacancy in the position that normally handled those issues.) But by mid-2014, the two sides had settled their differences. The IRS said it would enforce its own rules, and FFRF had the ability to file another lawsuit if they felt the IRS was still not doing its job. But some Christian organizations are convinced there’s a secret agreement between the two groups. Read more