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 December, I wrote about a Nativity Scene in Brookville, Indiana that had been up for over 50 years, despite warning letters (over the course of several years) from the Freedom From Religion Foundation to take it down. The display, which was owned by the Town of Brookville, sat on the grounds of the Franklin County Courthouse. Read more
Last month, I posted about the Nativity scene that had been in front of the Baxter County Courthouse in Mountain Home, Arkansas in 2013: That Christian display was essentially an homage to Christianity, making it unconstitutional as far as the government was concerned. That point was made even more clear after blogger JT Eberhard’s father requested to place a “Happy Winter Solstice” banner in the same space only to have it rejected. Read more
If you’re in Chicago and walking through Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza, make sure you take some pictures next to the atheist display that went up this week: The whole thing was put up by the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Metropolitan Chicago chapter. It includes that 8.5-foot-tall Scarlet A and this banner featuring a secular Nativity scene of sorts: Read more
Back in July, I posted about Faigy Mayer (below), a former Hasidic Jew who had left the faith about six years ago and had been cut off from her family as a result. Even thought she had moved on with her life, she suffered from depression. And then, one night, she jumped off the roof of a 20-story building, ending her own life. Now, it appears her sister has killed herself as well. Read more
