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.
While the media fawns over Pope Francis during his visit to the United States, the Freedom From Religion Foundation wants to remind everyone that the Pope shouldn’t be preaching to Congress. Even though he’s considered a Head of State, the government shouldn’t be accommodating or promoting his religious activities. To that end, FFRF is purchasing full page ads in the Washington Post, New York Times, USA Today and Philadelphia Enquirer on Thursday that are sure to get some attention. They highlight the damage the Catholic Church continues to inflict upon the world (with the Pope’s blessings): Read more
The Bible has a lot of verses that include references to body parts, like 1 Samuel 16:7: “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” “The Lord looks on the heart.” We all know what that metaphor means. We also know that the heart isn’t actually where our consciences and thoughts reside. Our heart doesn’t think or get depressed or feel love. All of those things emanate from our brain. So YouTuber TruthSurge has a simple question: Did the men who wrote the Bible know they were using metaphors, or did they really believe, for example, that the heart had qualities that we now attribute to the brain (in which case they were wrong)? Read more
