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.
A few days ago, reader Justin Scott, an Iowan who has been spending a lot of time asking Presidential candidates what they’d do to protect the rights of atheists and separation of church and state, asked Sen. Marco Rubio a question: Why should atheists vote for him, especially when he’s putting out Jesus-loving ads like this one? Rubio gave a response that doubled-down on his faith, saying only that atheists had a right to believe what they wanted. As if that were ever in doubt. Anyway, Rubio sent out an email to his supporters this morning linking them to video of that exchange… and asking for more donations. Because Je$u$. Read more
During his visit to Liberty University this week, Donald Trump reached out to the evangelical crowd by bungling a Bible verse. Instead of referring to the verse as coming from “Second Corinthians,” as its commonly pronounced, Trump actually said the number 2. And got mocked like hell for it by the media. Yesterday, Trump went on the defensive, blaming Christian Right leader Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council for leading him astray: Read more
There’s a serious problem in Ireland right now where the law permits freedom of religion, as you’d expect, but it also says schools can give preferential treatment to students of particular religions. The dilemma comes into focus when you realize that 97% of state-sponsored primary schools are Catholic in nature. The New York Times’ Douglas Dalby reports on the growing backlash against state-sponsored schools that reject students who haven’t been baptized: Read more
