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.
One of the things Richard Dawkins said in his health update this weekend was that the stroke he had may have been brought about by stress. Stress in his case is often caused by controversy. And he’s been the subject of controversy recently because he was booted from the speaking roster at the upcoming NECSS conference for tweeting out a video that compared certain types of feminists to ISIS in regards to their supposed rigid ideologies. Anyway, NECSS took him off their roster of speakers without consulting with him first, something Dawkins felt was discourteous. And there was a lot of debate over whether NECSS organizers had made the right decision (regardless of how they went about it) or acted in haste over something that wasn’t a big deal. Dawkins pointed out in his message that he had been re-invited to the conference, something that sure as hell surprised me. Today, NECSS issued a statement apologizing for kicking Dawkins off their roster. They also stated that he had indeed been invited back: Read more
When a local diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church installed heating in a building, Church leaders were supposed to pay construction company Era about $11,500 for the work. But they only paid half the amount, which soon led to a lawsuit from the company. That lawsuit has now been settled… but the terms leave a lot to be desired: Read more
In the hours following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Republicans have already said President Obama shouldn’t do his job by nominating a replacement, and have vowed to block anyone he chooses, further proving they’re incapable of doing their job. So while pundits speculate on how this will play out, let’s take a look back at some of Scalia’s faith-based speeches and statements over the years. Because the Catholic justice never stopped trying to tear down the wall of separation between church and state, and he never hesitated to talk about his delusional beliefs. Read more
