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.
It was just a couple of days ago that we learned the Phoenix (Arizona) City Council had given the green light to members of The Satanic Temple to deliver an invocation prayer at a meeting on February 17. Satanic Templars Michelle Shortt (below) and Stu de Haan would be delivering the address: But now that word has gotten out about this, city officials are frantically trying to put the genie back in the bottle. On Friday night, council members held an “emergency meeting” that would shut the door to the Satanists. Instead of having an open forum where anyone could request a date to deliver an invocation prayer, they want to create a rotating system where invocation speakers would have to be pre-approved. Read more
Two of our favorite people came together yesterday for a meeting of the closed-minds. Mayor Will Rogers — best known for his “Jesus Welcomes You to Hawkins” sign in Texas — appeared on Gordon Klingenschmitt’s “Pray in Jesus Name” talk show. The two discussed how the atheists who urged Rogers to take down his sign must have an ulterior motive (5:13 mark): Rogers: The problem is, is that, like most towns, we have a group of individuals that have hate… Read more
