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.
AFHSQ is an acronym that stands for Atheist, Freethinker, Humanist, Secularist, and Questioning. Even in my household, where we can all agree on most things and find acceptance, we still differ on our label to express a version of our “non-belief.” For us, “atheism” seems to attract the strong renegade type while “Humanist” applies to the more amiable thoughtful one. Many articles have expressed the same frustration, within the scope of atheism itself. Valerie Tarico raised the issue a few years ago: Read more
My name is Alex and I attend Umpqua Community College. I was not there on the day of the shooting, though I was scheduled to attend an afternoon class later that day. My contribution in the chaos was making and constantly updating an extensive list of survivors, which was passed around Facebook from my personal page and from a separate page which I made especially for it. From the comments I saw, that gesture seemed to help a lot of people, so I’m grateful I could help out in some small way. I did not know the shooter or any of the victims, though I know people who knew the shooter well, and they are very shaken up about it. I also was cast in a play in which the shooter was supposed to be a production assistant. When my mother found that out last week, she had to go lie down for a while. In the past few days, I have seen a lot of people online passing around this cartoon claiming that God can’t prevent school shootings because he’s not allowed in school: Read more
Last night, at a meeting of the Cleveland County School Board in North Carolina, the issue of prayer came up. Right now, there’s a moment of silence during meetings — which is perfectly legal, albeit a complete waste of time — but that isn’t good enough for some people. The Cleveland County Christian Law Enforcement Association showed up to make the case that the board needed — wait for it — Christian prayers. Read more