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.
There have been a number of books published over the past few years about how atheist parents should raise children. But most of the demographic trends indicate a rise in people who are simply non-religious. They’re not atheists; in fact, they may believe in a nebulous sort of Higher Power. But they aren’t religious enough to attach a label to their beliefs. That raises some unique problems: Should you go to church on the major holidays, just as a matter of tradition? Should you teach kids religious stories that you yourself may not believe? What if your kids ask you if those stories are true? All of those things are more clear-cut for atheists. Now, a new book focuses on raising kids when religion just isn’t that important to you. It’s called Losing Our Religion: How Unaffiliated Parents Are Raising Their Children by Christel Manning, a professor at Connecticut’s Sacred Heart University. Ruth Graham, writing about the book for Slate, falls into this category of “Unaffiliated” parents, and she explains the dilemma she’s facing with her daughter: Read more
The last time Joshua Feuerstein was ranting about Starbucks, he was yelling at us about why the red cups were somehow “taking the Christ out of Christmas.” You may recall that he encouraged his fans to go to Starbucks, buy coffee, and tell them their name is “Merry Christmas” so the baristas would have to write it on the side of the cup. He even urged people to use the hashtag #MerryChristmasStarbucks. Read more
Remember the 18-foot-wide sign welcoming visitors to the city of Hawkins, Texas? Mayor Will Rogers had defended the Jesus-tastic sign even after receiving a letter of complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. At one point, he said it wasn’t religious at all. He later said the sign should stay because Jesus was like Superman — and if the FFRF didn’t want a fictional being (in their opinion) welcoming people to Hawkins, then they would oppose Superman, too. So there. Eventually, the city council voted to do the right thing and take down the sign. I thought we were done with this story, but it just got weirder after that. Read more
The Atheism Association in Turkey, fresh off giving soup to the homeless every week, is now calling for the government to stop automatically designating every newborn child as “Muslim” on their birth certificates. A Change.org petition broadly calls for equal treatment for atheists under the law, but it’s a few specific items that are getting all the attention: Read more
Back in August, Victoria (Australia) public schools finally scrapped their “special religious instruction” (SRI) classes after lots of criticism that it was really all about Christian indoctrination. But just when you thought it was over, the Christians are now targeting kids before they enter school: Read more
