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.
For some people, it’s not enough that bibles are already allowed in public schools and kids can read it for pleasure if they want to. Idaho legislators have now introduced Senate Bill 1321, which would allow teachers to use the Bible in the classroom whenever they think it would enhance the lesson. That’s already allowed in, say, English class, where you might discuss biblical allusions in literature and where you might want to analyze the Bible’s more poetic passages… but the bill would permit teachers to use the Bible anywhere and everywhere: Read more
If you walk by Pompano Beach City Hall in Florida right now, you’ll now see this not-so-family-friendly display: That upside-down cross comes courtesy of Chaz Stevens and his Church of Satanic Activism. He’s on a mission to troll every city that allows religious displays on government property in order to get them to change their policies. Oh. And since it’s a little hard to tell from the image, you see that reddish-looking thing in Jesus’ nether regions? That would be a red butt plug sticking out of the display. Because America. That’s why. Read more
It turns out the end really is near. And the apocalypse has perfectly natural explanations. Phil Torres has just released a new book all about our “evolving existential predicament” and how belief in religion is drawing us closer to our own extinction. It’s called The End: What Science and Religion Tell Us about the Apocalypse (Pitchstone Publishing, 2015): In the excerpt below, Torres explains how our universe is out to get us: Read more
