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.
Last week, the Northeast Conference on Science & Skepticism (NECSS) opened up registration for its annual conference, which draws hundreds of people annually. Richard Dawkins was one of the keynote speakers. Last night, however, conference organizers withdrew its invitation to him with this statement: Read more
The Phoenix (Arizona) City Council has invocation prayers at meetings. While they’re almost always Christian, you all know the rules by now: If one group gets to say a prayer, the door is open for everyone else. And The Satanic Temple has finally received a green light. Next month, two local members — Satanic Templars Michelle Shortt (below) and Stu de Haan — will deliver the address: Read more
The Florida High School Athletic Association has a simple rule when it comes to reciting Christian prayers over the loudspeakers before football games: Don’t do it. It’s a fair policy considering it echoes what the U.S. Supreme Court said nearly 16 years ago. A few months ago, two private Christian schools made it all the way to the championship game in the state’s class 2A football playoffs. That’s when Cambridge Christian head of school Tim Euler asking state officials if he could say a prayer over the loudspeaker. The other school was okay with this, too. But that didn’t matter to FHSAA’s director: Read more
You expect a company’s social media team to react quickly during the Super Bowl or Oscars with some clever product placement… but who knew they were watching science-based Twitter battles? After rapper B.o.B. claimed that the Earth was flat and Neil deGrasse Tyson attempted to correct him, Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC capitalized on the debate: Read more
