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, well, me. I answered your questions for the full episode! The questions include: – How can we help the “victims of religion”? – What are the differences between atheists who were once religious and those who have never been religious? – Are there any original atheism-related thoughts left to have? – How has the pressure to generate content changed the way that you interact with people and respond to issues? – Am I less “friendly” than I used to be? – How did I go from math teacher to full-time atheism blogger? And how much does that pay? – What tips do I have for young atheists trying to start a secular school group? – Have I ever been discriminated against due to my beliefs? – What are the positives of religion and the negatives of atheism? – How can “Nones” organize better to leverage our increasing numbers into political and social action? – What do I do to produce so much content? – Will I be speaking at the upcoming Reason Rally and how should it be different from the first? – Why bother with YouTube and podcasting? – Since the religious demographics are shifting so rapidly right now, will we continue heading down the “right path” as a country? – Why do you talk over your guests during podcasts? – Why do I post so many articles and videos on marginal preachers and religious people? – Do I always read the comments? – How do I select guest bloggers? – Will religion ever disappear completely? – How will my wife and I deal with religion with regards to our child? Read more
It was only a matter of time before a video like this came to light. Joshua Feuerstein, who gained notoriety this month for complaining about Starbucks’ red cups, apparently once encouraged his followers to go after doctors who provide abortion services. To be clear, this video was made long before this weekend. It appears to have been posted about two weeks after the first anti-Planned Parenthood video came out this summer. Still, what Feuerstein says is appalling and it’s nowhere to be found on his own social media accounts as far as I can tell. (It wouldn’t be the first time he’s deleted a video that spurred backlash from even his own followers.) Read more
One of the few things we know about Planned Parenthood shooter Robert Lewis Dear is that he told police officers “no more baby parts” after he was captured, suggesting that he believed a myth that the Right has been perpetuating for several months now. But Ted Cruz doesn’t buy that explanation. Or at least, he’d like people to stop paying attention to that four word phrase because it would implicate his own conservative base. So he offered a different motive for Dear’s rampage to reporters in Iowa today: Read more
