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.
In November, I thought there was finally hope for Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi. After being sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for “insulting Islam,” Badawi received the first 50 lashes at the beginning of 2015, with the expectation that he would receive 50 more every Friday for a total of 20 weeks. Those additional lashes never came for reasons that were unclear, but his sentence was still upheld last summer. Still, the November rumor was that his sentence had been officially suspended. We soon learned that things hadn’t gotten better. In fact, they had turned much worse. Badawi’s wife reported in December that he had been transferred to an isolated prison and he was now on a hunger strike. It’s a horrible situation no matter how you look at it. And now, Badawi may have some company. An unnamed man has been sentenced to 2,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for expressing his atheism and criticizing Islam on Twitter: Read more
The Salt Lake City Weekly newspaper has a nice interview with Felicia Entwistle, president of Atheists of Utah. Her group is hosting a big fundraiser tonight and it includes a silent auction with proceeds going to Planned Parenthood. Even better? The money will be donated in the name of Governor Gary Herbert: Read more
Not that you need a reminder of what a disaster a President Donald Trump would be, but during his press conference yesterday, there was a key point that went underreported as the media focused on Chris Christie’s endorsement of the man. Trump said near the end of his speech that he would rescind the IRS rule preventing churches from endorsing candidates. Read more
We’ve posted far too many times about male ultra-Orthodox Jews causing a stir on airplanes because they refuse to sit next to women. They believe you’re not allowed to touch any woman who’s not your wife… even if it’s incidental and not-even-close-to-sexual in nature. Now, one woman is finally fighting back. Read more
