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.
“The United States is the greatest country in the world.” Is that true, false, or just something that a lot of people believe even though they can’t prove it? Or, to put it in the language of a middle school reading class, is it fact, opinion, or a “commonplace assertion”? The answer is obvious: It’s a commonplace assertion. People can give you their reasons for why the U.S. is or isn’t the best, but it’s not something either side can prove. What if I gave you the statement “God exists”? Fact, opinion, or a commonplace assertion? Once again, it’s a commonplace assertion. You can’t prove it either way, but a lot of people sure as hell believe it. (For what it’s worth, saying God doesn’t exist would be in the same category.) There’s a controversy currently brewing in Katy, Texas, because that question about God’s existence is being used as evidence for Christian persecution. That accusation is being made by seventh-grader Jordan Wooley, who said the statement about God was a fact. Her teacher correctly told her that was the wrong answer. Now, Wooley claims she is being forced to choose between her grades and her faith. If that sounds like the plot of the next God’s Not Dead movie, that’s because it’s just as ridiculous. But that’s the narrative conservative websites are pushing. Wooley told the Katy Independent School District board about her dilemma on Monday night: Read more
The other day, I posted about how the Satanic Temple chapter in Seattle had offered to deliver a post-game invocation at Bremerton High School, where assistant football coach Joe Kennedy has said he won’t stop praying on the field. The Satanists weren’t going to show up out of nowhere, though. They were only going to come if someone wanted them there. Well, guess what? A student made that request. Read more
Remember last week, when a Mormon leader talked about how Kim Davis was wrong to use her faith as an excuse not to do her job? If you thought the Mormon Church had changed, this next video should disabuse you of those notions. In a recent speech, Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, told a group of Mormon singles what they ought to do in order to get married. He had some very specific advice for the women… Read more
Bo Juel left the Jehovah’s Witnesses when he was 23, after the elder who molested him as a child was invited back to the church for the third time. For his decision, Juel was Disfellowshipped by his family, including his physically abusive stepfather. He was also forbidden from ever seeing his own daughter (and, since that time, his two grandsons). He eventually become one of the founders of Advocates for Awareness of Watchtower Abuses, a group that sheds light on human rights violations within the Jehovah’s Witnesses. He just released a memoir called The Least of God’s Priorities (Exodus Publishing, 2015), and it’s a moving look at his journey both in and out of the Witnesses. Read more
Well, this is disturbing. It appears that Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi will continue getting flogged. We last heard the Saudi Supreme Court had upheld his sentence over the summer, but there was still hope the lashes would stop since they hadn’t been administered since the very first set earlier this year. In case you don’t remember, Badawi was punished in 2013 for starting a progressive website that called for, among other things, religious tolerance and women’s rights. That was insulting to Islam, his critics said, and he received the first 50 of his 1,000 lashes punishment back in January. That was in addition to 10 years in jail and a 1,000,000 Saudi riyal fine (about $266,000). Read more
