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.
Stephen Cavanaugh is a prisoner currently being held in the Nebraska State Penitentiary. As a prisoner, he has the right to practice his religion and get special perks associated with being part of an organized belief system — as he says, “the ability to order and wear religious clothing and pendants, the right to meet for weekly worship services and classes and the right to receive communion.” But Cavanaugh filed a lawsuit recently saying the prison was denying him these opportunities… all because he was a Pastafarian. (Seriously.) Read more
The other day, Terry wrote about how more Republican politicians than trans people have been busted for sex acts in bathrooms. Now, Jeremy Durham, a Republican legislator from Tennessee who advocated for one of those anti-trans bathroom bills, has been dubbed a “continuing risk to unsuspecting women” by the state’s Attorney General Herbert Slatery. Read more
After last week’s murder of Bangladeshi atheist blogger Nazimuddin Samad (below), one of the worst reactions came from Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal who said Samad’s writings “needed to be scrutinized to see whether he wrote anything objectionable about religion.” The fact is that it shouldn’t matter what Samad wrote. Criticism of religion never ever deserves a death sentence. The Dhaka Tribune agrees. In a powerful editorial, they write that the fault lies entirely with the killers, and the government must recognize that. Read more