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.
You may have heard about how Coptic Christian churches have been under attack in Egypt — just read the lede in this Wall Street Journal article: Osama Makram Amin woke to the sound of gunfire, looked out his window and saw what he says were young men throwing gasoline bombs at the nearby Coptic Christian church. Awful stuff. Seriously awful. The Center For Inquiry has issued a statement condemning the religion-based violence: [Click headline for more…] Read more
James Kirk Wall makes a lot of sense: Nobody has ever submitted themselves to God: Did the ancient Egyptians submit themselves to god? They submitted themselves to a myth. They submitted themselves to a dead man’s definition of god. They submitted themselves to baseless superstition and false authority. They submitted themselves to their own interpretations and fantasies. And how are they different than the Jews, Christians and Muslims of today? They’re not. Nobody has ever submitted themselves to god as every word that has ever been claimed to have come from god was nothing more than the words of men put into the mouths of invisible puppets. Puppets who hated who they hated, carried the same prejudices, held the same insecurities and possessed the same ignorance of the universe that was no more and no less than what was known at the time that they lived. Read the piece for the uplifting final paragraph! Read more
This is an article by Becky Garrison. It appears in the 3rd Quarter 2013 issue of American Atheist magazine. American Atheist magazine is available at Barnes & Noble and Book World bookstores in the U.S. and at Chapters Indigo bookstores in Canada. Go to Atheists.org/magazine to see a map of store locations, to subscribe, or to join American Atheists. Members receive free digital subscription. … Why in no god’s name did a comic emcee the Reason Rally? Has Atheism now de-evolved into a punch line that’s past its prime replete with watered down cocktails, stock sitcom characters, and right leaning puppetry? Paul Provenza riffs via telephone with Becky Garrison on the evolution of comedy, Atheism, and all that jazz as he points the way forward for those seeking authenticity and truth in a culture driven by Christianity and commerce. [Click headline for more…] Read more
This is a guest post by Joe Zamecki. … As I type this, the church next door to my house is focusing its attention on Katy Elementary School which is across the street from us. It looks like Orientation Day, so all of the new students and their parents are at the school, late in the day, and they’re all very busy, moving from one area to another. The church is medium-sized, which in this town, Katy, Texas, means that the building is about the size of a high school gymnasium. It’s a Methodist church, and a somewhat active one. [Click headline for more…] Read more