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.
Kingdom Church in London has been in the news lately for holding noisy services at 3:00 in the morning. They’ve even been fined for noise pollution. So why bother? According to Bishop Climate Irungu, it’s because that’s when “demons and the spiritual world are most active.” (Sure they are…) During an interview with ITV London, however, Irungu said something even stranger than that. He explained that olive oil, which he sells on his website, is the cure to a variety of serious ailments. There are oils for everything from improving your marriage to getting a promotion. When a reporter called him out on this obvious fraud, Irungu kept a straight face and said it was all in God’s hands: Read more
Taking a clip from a 1985 interview with Studs Terkel, the folks at Blank on Blank animated Carl Sagan talking about extraterrestrials. The conversation also included a discussion about religion and whether its claims are based in reality. Money line: “A literal reading of the Bible simply is a mistake; I mean it’s just wrong.” Read more
One night last week, well after midnight, I recorded a conversation with my friend Bart Campolo. It was half podcast interview and half therapy session. (Throw in sleep deprivation on my end and it’s even more fun!) Really interesting conversation, though. You can listen to it here. I hope you enjoy it. Read more