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.
Our latest podcast guest is William Shunn is the author of The Accidental Terrorist, a book about his time as a Mormon missionary. I’m telling you: His story is absolutely fascinating. You’ve never heard anything like it. Bill was supposed to preach in Alberta, but it wasn’t long before he was convicted of felony mischief after making a false bomb threat. He’s still not allowed to return to Canada. We spoke with him about what it’s like to be a Mormon missionary when your heart’s just not into it, how the Mormon Church catches escaped missionaries, and the extreme length he went to to prevent his mission partner from leaving the base. Read more
When some public school districts promote religion, they do it quietly, hoping no one on the outside will notice. They might invite a sex education speaker who ends up lecturing on how the Bible requires abstinence before marriage, or have a football coach praying with the team behind closed doors, or pressure kids to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance with the words “Under God.” The Troup Independent School District in Texas doesn’t bother with subtlety. They have a Bible verse right on the front page of their website: Read more
How hard is it to vet motivational speakers for public schools? Randy Rich, who played in the NFL for a few seasons in the late 1970s, was asked to speak at several middle and high schools in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District (Alaska). While his talk was ostensibly about dreaming big, it’s not hard to realize he works for a Christian ministry. The District could argue that this was supposed to be a secular speech, but one teacher noticed the problem right away: Read more
On Thursday morning, at Marshall Middle School in Beaumont, Texas, nearly 200 people were affected by a carbon monoxide leak. They were taken to a hospital or treated on site. Scary stuff. A determination will be made today as to when school will be back in session. Brandon Basinger is the principal of the school, and he posted a public note on his personal Facebook page offering his thoughts on the matter. After pointing out how the adults on campus and emergency personnel were available, alert, and able to help, he went on to say this: Read more
