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.
Our latest podcast guests are the people behind YouTube sensation Mrs. Betty Bowers, America’s Best Christian. Andrew Bradley is the creator and writer for BettyBowers.com. If you haven’t seen the videos, Betty is American’s Best Christian, and she has a lot to say about traditional marriage, abortion, the upcoming elections, and so much more. She’s a hilarious parody of right-wing extremists. Andrew was also one of the main writers for Landover Baptist Church, a parody of a fundamentalist Christian church that featured articles that people still believe are real. He’s also the author of Welcome to JesusLand. Deven Green plays Mrs. Betty Bowers. She’s a comedian, musician, and performer. She was also a comedy judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race. We spoke with Andrew and Deven about how they collaborate, the kind of hate mail they receive, and the origins of Landover Baptist Church. Read more
After a really idiotic decision to prevent atheist and critic of Islamic extremism Maryam Namazie from speaking at Warwick University (England), the school’s Students’ Union has quickly changed course. They had denied the speaking request made by the Warwick Atheists, Secularists and Humanists’ Society, saying that Namazie was “highly inflammatory” and might “incite hatred on campus.” Read more
If you were to visit Airline High School in Louisiana’s Bossier Parish Schools, you’d come across these prayer boxes: This is the same high school where the principal signs off on his newsletter message by saying “May God Bless You All.” (And the same District where the ACLU has had problems in the past. And the same area where the Sheriff’s Office wanted federal money for a faith-based program.) That’s why the ACLU sent another letter this week regarding the Christian Prayer Boxes. Read more
You know what I hate about the lottery? The winners never say, “I randomly won!” They always have some “magic trick” that gave them an edge. Maybe they used the birth dates of loved ones. Maybe they prayed. Maybe they played their lucky numbers. None of that has anything to do with the numbers that were pulled, but it lends credibility to those bullshit ideas. That’s why reading about what happened to Kevin Millard is infuriating. He took the least rational route to playing the lottery… and was rewarded for his ignorance. Read more
It’s rough out there for science teachers. Even the good ones — the ones who teach evolution and climate change and other “controversial” topics — have to deal with parents who will inevitably complain about their children learning anything that contradicts their faith. So, at first glance, you have to appreciate teachers who can explain to students why “evolution is just a theory” is a silly thing to say. It’s not a random guess; it’s a powerful explanation for everything we know. Gravity is a theory. General relativity is a theory. Theories are amazing. That’s what some teachers at Heritage Middle School in Florida tried to get across to eighth graders, with a reading assignment that included the following passage: Read more
