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.
As a majority of U.S. governors have declared, legally or not, that Syrian refugees will not be allowed to live in their states, some of the Republican candidates for President have an alternative plan. Sen. Ted Cruz, for example, said certainly refugees should be allowed to enter the country… as long as they pass a religious test for entry. Read more
If you’re not familiar with the Peoples Temple church in Jonestown, Guyana, you may have at least heard of its leader, Reverend Jim Jones. And you almost certainly know the phrase explaining how the 900-some members committed mass suicide: They literally “drank the Kool-Aid” (or at least a powdered drink laced with cyanide). 75% of those victims were African-American, a fact that often gets under-reported in accounts of the tragedy. Author Sikivu Hutchinson — who also wrote Moral Combat and Godless Americana — has just written a novel about three (fictional) women and their paths to the church as a way to describe the lives of the victims. It’s called White Nights, Black Paradise (Infidel Books, 2015): Read more
