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.
Refugees from countries like Syria and Iran are escaping to various countries in Europe, leading to all sorts of logistical and ethical questions. But here’s a point that I haven’t heard addressed much in the media: With Muslims flocking to Germany in particular, should we be concerned that so many are converting to Christianity? Read more
The Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana is the latest to put “In God We Trust” stickers on its patrol cars. What makes this particular incident stand out, though, is how Sheriff Louis M. Ackal (below) explained the importance of the stickers and why some officers are putting multiple stickers on their cars: Read more
Atheist TV, a project of American Atheists, premiered a year ago to a lot of fanfare and plenty of snarky criticism. You might be surprised to learn it’s still a thing. Really. It’s been showing atheist-themed lectures, documentaries, and YouTube videos on loop for more than a year now. You can livestream it right now. But that’s going to end tomorrow. Read more
Last month, we learned the fate of a Ten Commandments monument that had been outside Connellsville Junior High East in Pennsylvania since 1957: You can read a longer history here, but the short version is that a judge ruled that the monument’s placement outside a public school was unconstitutional. It was an endorsement of religion, plain and simple. However, because the student whose family filed the lawsuit no longer attended the school — that happens when these cases drag on for years — it was all moot. Therefore, there was no obligation for the Connellsville Area School District to remove the monument. So it was an incomplete victory. On paper, church/state separation groups got everything they wanted… but nothing really changed. It would take another student (and perhaps a quicker legal process) to force the monument to come down. That’s why I’m thrilled to see the Connellsville Area school directors do the right thing (finally). Read more
For a while now, Thomas Sheedy has been trying to start a Secular Student Alliance group at Ward Melville High School in New York. He was planning to attend last night’s School Board meeting to make his case for the club, but the day before that, he got word that his atheist club had been approved. Success! Sheedy attended the School Board meeting anyway. But he ditched his prepared speech and gave a new one, thanking the administrators for making the right decision: Read more
