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.
This is a guest post by Marshall Brain. Marshall is best known as the founder of HowStuffWorks.com. He is also the creator of popular websites like WhyWontGodHealAmputees.com and GodIsImaginary.com. His new book How “God” Works will be available in January from Sterling Publishing. … In the United States, December means that hundreds of millions of people are preparing for the big day on December 25. We see the preparations all around us: People are putting up trees in the living room and wreathes on the door, we see lights on buildings and bushes, and then there is the huge retail frenzy that is impossible to miss. Mixed in with all of this is Santa Claus. You can sit on Santa’s knee and talk to him at the mall, and see Santa in parades all across the country. There are TV specials about Santa, songs about him, cookies in Santa shapes, posters, books, ornaments, etc. Santa has one of the best PR departments on the planet. Even so, and even though many of us believed Santa to be real as children, I do not know a single adult who believes that the actual Santa Claus exists. You probably find yourself in the same position. You do not believe in Santa, even though you see him everywhere, and neither does anyone you know. Read more
This is a picture of Connellsville Junior High East in Pennsylvania… with a Ten Commandments monument right in front of it. It’s been there since the Fraternal Order of Eagles donated it in 1957: A couple of years ago, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote letters to the district to have it taken down, and it resulted in the monument being boarded up with plans for it to be donated to a local church. Read more