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.
In 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that transit officials could not ban political advertising — it was free speech even if it was controversial, so it had to be allowed. The ruling had the wonderfully unintended effect of opening the door for atheists to place ads of their own on buses across the country. But that ruling applied to public transportation run by the government. What about billboards? They’re usually privately owned, but often on public property… That question doesn’t have a clear-cut answer and Pattison Outdoor Advertising (a major billboard vendor in Vancouver, British Columbia) is betting that they have a right to reject atheist-themed billboards. A few months ago, they told the Centre For Inquiry that the ads they submitted would not be accepted by the company: The reason for the rejection? … silence. The company offered no explanation at all. (I suppose it’s a total coincidence that its owner, Jim Pattison, is an evangelical Christian.) Read more
I did a bit of a double-take when I saw this press release hit my inbox: The Satanic Temple Offers Donation of Monument to Oklahoma State Capitol This is the group, you might recall, that performed a “Pink Mass” over the tombstone of Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps’ mother over the summer. So what were they up to now? The Satanic Temple, an established New York City-based religious organization, has offered to donate a public monument to Oklahoma’s Capitol Preservation Commission for display upon Oklahoma City’s capitol grounds. Described as an “homage” to Satan, the purpose of the monument is to complement and contrast the Ten Commandments monument that already resides on the North side of the building. The donation offer has been submitted and is currently awaiting the commission’s reply. When other government buildings have played host to religious displays, atheists have come in to place monuments of their own. This is really no different, so more power to them! What better way to convince public officials that they’re better off not allowing government buildings to become a religious free-for-all? That was basically the mindset of temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves: [According to Greaves], “by accepting our offer, the good people of Oklahoma City will have the opportunity to show that they espouse the basic freedoms spelled out in the Constitution. We imagine that the ACLU would also embrace such a response. Allowing us to donate a monument would show that the Oklahoma City Council does not discriminate, and both the religious and non-religious should be happy with such an outcome. Our mission is to bring people together by finding common sentiments that create solutions that everyone can appreciate and enjoy.” Sounds downright pleasant, really. As you can imagine, I had a lot of questions — about the proposed monument and Satanism in general — and Greaves was kind enough to answer them all: Read more
Rhode Island’s Governor Lincoln Chafee just can’t win. For the past two years, he called the blue spruce erected in the State House a “holiday tree” instead of a “Christmas tree.” He had good reason for it: … Chafee, an independent, said the term is in keeping with the state’s founding as a sanctuary of religious tolerance and pointed to the text of Rhode Island’s Royal Charter of 1663. “The charter, which for the first time in the world gave ‘full liberty in religious concernments.’ Those are the words. First time in the world. It happened right here in Rhode Island,” Chafee said. Chafee also said the State House is public building paid for by Rhode Islanders of all faiths. Way to not exclude non-religious citizens! But after years of taking a beating from conservative groups and Fox News Channel, I guess that whole “religious tolerance” bit is a thing of the past. Chafee has surrendered to the populists and is now calling it a “Christmas tree”: Read more
Perhaps in response to a lot of the stories about Christians who refuse to tip their servers because it’s Sunday or because they’re gay or because they feel it’s immoral, an anonymous person (or persons) is going around the country leaving incredible tips — leaving the identifier @TipsForJesus (which is thankfully not part of some pro-circumcision movement): The identifier takes you to an Instagram account documenting the donations. Read more
