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.
It was nearly four years ago when Dale and Shannon Hickman were first sentenced to prison. As members of the Followers of Christ Church (in Oregon), they believed in prayer as an alternative to doctors, a belief that resulted in the death of their newborn son. According to a pediatric expert who testified against the Hickmans, their son had a 99.9% chance of survival if only they had sought out proper medical care. A judge found them guilty of second-degree manslaughter and gave them a prison sentence of more than six years — the longest one ever issued to faith-healing parents who killed their own child. So why bring them up again? The Hickmans appealed the ruling and it’s been going through the legal system for years now. But the Oregon Court of Appeals as well as the Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the decision and there’s no way to appeal it now. The Hickmans are finally going to jail. Read more
When you think of Christian theocrats on the Alabama Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roy Moore probably comes to mind first. He’s the guy who installed a Ten Commandments monument in the courthouse more than a decade ago. But many of the justices could easily fit the description. For example, Tom Parker, who also sits on the bench, believes the Bible supersedes the Constitution. That alone wouldn’t disqualify him from the bench — Antonin Scalia is on the U.S. Supreme Court, after all — but Parker made comments on Bryan Fischer’s radio show earlier this month that alluded to a case he’s supposed to be deciding (in an impartial way) very soon. That’s why the Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a formal complaint against the justice: Read more
During a Democratic Presidential debate that was focused on real issues and was noteworthy for its lack of entertainment value (at least compared to the Republican debates), the candidates all gave decent responses to the question of whether black lives matter or all lives matter. The truth is you can say yes to both without being a hypocrite, and the candidates made sure to stress the disproportionately harsh experiences faced by African-Americans in this country. But leave it to Gov. Mike Huckabee to say something idiotic despite not even being on that stage: Read more
