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.
Leaders of the United House of Prayer, a church in Washington, D.C., said that their religious rights would be infringed upon if the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) put bike paths on the road near their building. They argued in a letter sent to the DDOT last month that the bike lane would eliminate a lane of traffic and prevent street parking, thereby placing “an extreme burden on the free exercise of religion” by hurting church members who want to worship at their building. So… persecution! Read more
It’s hard to keep tabs on what Bremerton High School assistant football coach Joe Kennedy plans to do on Friday. First, he was leading his team in prayer after games. Then he was called out on it and promised to stop. Yesterday, we learned that he was going to pray anyway, due to bad advice from Christian legal group Liberty Institute. Since then, District Superintendent Dr. Aaron Leavell issued a public statement reminding all coaches that they cannot pray while working for the team: Read more
I think Westboro Baptist Church is awful and I think Kim Davis is a bigot. But if the “God Hates Fags” people want to protest someone famous for denying gay people marriage licenses, there’s something deeply poetic about it in a weird, twisted way. The church plans to picket outside the Rowan County Courthouse where Davis works on Monday morning because… well… just take a look at WBC’s rambling explanation: Read more
