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.
On last night’s Real Time, Bill Maher interviewed Muslim feminist Asra Nomani (author of Standing Alone). Topic of conversation? Why liberals (of all people) have such a hard time admitting that religion is a major part of the problem when it comes to terrorists killing in the name of it and advancing policies that specifically hurt women. Read more
A year ago, I posted about a message board encased in glass outside the Athens County Courthouse (in Ohio) that listed the addresses of all the houses of worship in the area. Eliot Kalman, a resident who used to head up the local branch of the ACLU, believed the presence of that sign was unconstitutional… he complained about it to local officials but they responded by saying they were simply providing information to the public, not promoting any of the religious groups — and that he could request his own group be added to the list if he wanted. Unsatisfied with that answer, he fought back by putting a giant sticker on the board: Read more
As I write this, there are multiple terrorist attacks going on in Paris, with several dozen dead and many more currently being held hostage in the Bataclan theater. It’s unclear if these attacks are linked with the Charlie Hebdo attacks earlier this year, though initial reports suggest suicide bombs. Read more
You can argue that people who want to wear a colander on their heads for driver’s license pictures are just trolling the government, but followers of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster do raise some interesting questions: When should the government be allowed to say your religion doesn’t count? What separates a parody religion from a real religion? And if someone says she’s an adherent of a particular religion, why should government officials be allowed to say otherwise? When Lindsay Miller, a Pastafarian, wanted to wear the colander for her driver’s license picture in Massachusetts, she was rejected at first. It wasn’t until the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center and other cooperating attorneys stepped in that the situation was resolved: Read more
During Bryan Fischer’s radio show today, a caller complained about higher education in the country because only “stupid” people go to college. Which is something you’d expect one of his listeners to say. But that’s not what this post is about. In his response to the caller, Fischer made a side comment about atheists. The segments begins at the 4:55 mark: Read more
