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.
I’ve posted multiple times about a lawyer who’s helping thousands of ex-Mormons officially leave the Church for good. And every time, commenters ask the same questions: Why can’t you just leave? Why do you have to go through a lawyer? Why not just walk out and not look back? The answer is simple: Unless you’re officially off their rolls, they’ll never stop harassing you. They’ll even enlist your friends and family members to bring you back. Without going through the formal process, your escape isn’t complete. Now we have an example of that playing out. Leisha and Amanda LaCrone were both raised in Mormon families, but Leisha thought she was excommunicated 15 years ago. Not that she cared — the lesbian couple has five children and they’re very happy. But Leisha recently received this letter in the mail: Read more
We talk a lot on this site about the idea of Disfellowshipping, where Jehovah’s Witnesses require followers to shun people who have left the faith, even if it’s their own children. Scientology has something similar. It’s called Disconnection and it, too, has torn apart countless numbers of families. But as of this morning, a fundraising campaign for a “Stop Scientology Disconnection” billboard on Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles has reached its goal of $8,200: Read more
Last November, Robert Lewis Dear walked into a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood with an “assault-style rifle” before killing three people and wounding nine. It wasn’t long before Ted Cruz attributed the attack to Dear being a “transgendered leftist activist.” A Colorado legislator said the shootings were the fault of… Planned Parenthood. But it wasn’t long before we learned the real motive. One of his ex-wives attributed the attack to his interpretation of Christianity, saying that “as long as he believes he will be saved, he [thinks he] can do whatever he pleases.” We now have even more confirmation that he was motivated by divine guidance. In a phone conversation with KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs, Dear explained how he was taking part in a “righteous crusade”: Read more
Cardinal George Pell is the Catholic Church leader who is allegedly responsible for covering up instances of child sexual abuse by priests in Victoria, Australia. He now lives in the Vatican, where he serves as Pope Francis’ top financial adviser. That’s mighty convenient since the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is currently investigating the matter in Australia, which he could attend in person due to a sickness. But yesterday, Pell testified for four hours via video while dozens of abuse survivors sat in person to listen to his testimony: Read more
