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.
Sen. Bernie Sanders is Jewish. He’s said that for years. His father’s family even died in the Holocaust. That said, he’s not especially religious himself. Certainly, he’s the least openly religious presidential candidate we’ve seen in a long time. He doesn’t wear his faith on his sleeve the way most of the GOP candidates do. Based on that information, Jimmy Kimmel asked Sanders about his faith last night, and what Sanders didn’t say spoke volumes: Read more
This past Sunday, at a public park in the Castilla neighborhood in Colombia, a local Christian leader named Jesús Hernán Orjuela (a.k.a. Father Chucho) led a religious service. If that seems strange, you’d be right. You can’t just take over a public park to hold a church meeting. So in response, members of the Asociación de Ateos de Bogotá (Atheist Association of Bogotá) stood in the park, holding up signs in protest. Read more
Earlier this month, the Associated Press published an article about Liberty Counsel, best known to the public as the Christian group representing Kim Davis. The article mentioned that Liberty Counsel is a “hate group,” since that’s the designation given to them by the Southern Poverty Law Center, but pointing out that distinction has sent attorney Mat Staver over the edge. He’s claiming that the AP has put his group’s members in harm’s way: Read more
People ask me why I keep writing posts about math. Mainly, it’s because I care about critical thinking, and I want students to learn how to think logically. That’s a skill most of us didn’t learn how to do at a young age. And that’s why, when it comes to math, so many people flip out when they see a problem done “the wrong way.” They just assume they know better. Any deviation from traditional methods is heresy. It’s frustrating for me because I know what the teachers are trying to do, but it’s not always obvious to the parents whose first reaction is to complain on Facebook. Take this problem that has been shared more than 20,000 times on Facebook since last week: Read more
