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 2013, when Arizona State Rep. Juan Mendez delivered an atheist invocation on the House floor, the celebration was short-lived. One of his religious colleagues gave a second Christian invocation the following day. As if God would use it to offset the secular invocation in some sort of weird karmic rebalancing. Things went a little better when Mendez delivered a secular invocation in 2014. So when Mendez signed up in January to give the invocation that took place yesterday, you’d think there’d be no problem at all. Instead, House Majority Leader Steve Montenegro blocked him from giving the speech, citing an unofficial rule that all invocations had to be made to a Higher Power. Read more
A couple of years ago, Lackland Air Force Base in Texas began allowing Humanists a chance to gather on their own in lieu of attending church services during Air Force Basic Training. Given that the previous alternative to going to church used to be staying back and cleaning the dorms, this was a welcome third option. There were only 5 attendees when the alternative program got started. And now? They hit a new record over the past weekend with an astonishing 270 trainees and airmen attending a meeting. Read more
