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.
Last year, when we were seeing Bangladeshi atheists get slaughtered every other month, it was disheartening, to say the least, when the Inspector General of Police (IGP) offered this advice to other atheists: Stop criticizing religion. As if the atheists were to blame for their own murders. We just lost another atheist this week, 28-year-old Nazimuddin Samad. Surely the police have learned their lesson, announcing that this is a travesty and that they will not rest until the Islamic radicals who did this are apprehended and punished? *sigh* Of course not. Read more
For years now, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has been in a legal battle to end the “Parsonage Exemption.” That’s the loophole that allows ministers to deduct the cost of rent for their church-owned houses from their taxable income. It’s a great perk and FFRF believes it shows preferential treatment by the government for religious leaders. In order to challenge the law, FFRF’s own board paid co-presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor $15,000 each as part of their housing allowance… but because they don’t qualify as “ministers of the gospel,” the law doesn’t apply to them. Read more
Canada needs to stop making the rest of the world look bad. It’s embarrassing. Hazim Ismail is a student at the University of Winnipeg who was planning on returning to his home country of Malaysia once he graduated. The problem is that he’s gay and an atheist… neither of which would go over so well over there. But an Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada panel has just approved his claim for refugee status, allowing him to stay in Canada indefinitely. Read more