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.
A new poll just released by Public Policy Polling shows that only 17% of Republicans in Georgia accept evolution — including, I presume, theistic evolution. 70% of Republicans, unfortunately, embrace Creationism. Stop smiling, Democrats. Only 29% of you accept evolution while Creation fans hover at 53%. Independents can quit smirking, too. Nearly half of them are Creationists. So, really, it’s just a problem with the state. What the hell, Georgia?! You can see the full results here (PDF): [Click headline for more…] Read more
Nearly a year ago, a “Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group” made a recommendation (PDF) to Secretary of State John Kerry to establish some sort of “institutionalized mechanism” with which to advise the State Department on religious engagement: Yesterday, Kerry formally announced that he was taking that advice and creating the State Department’s Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives: [Click headline for more…] Read more
The United States Marine Corps’ training manual for commanders (PDF) has a very interesting section regarding how to recognize when soldiers are at risk for suicide. They should look out for soldiers who recently suffered a breakup, soldiers whose family history includes members who committed suicide, soldiers who have serious financial concerns, soldiers who have lost their spiritual faith, soldiers who have a past or current substance abuse problem, soldiers who—-wait, what?! The manual cited “lack or loss of spiritual faith” as a subset of one of the 11 factors that could increase the risk of suicide. Specifically it was a subset of the “Guidance/Moral Compass” category, a detail that’s equally problematic. The factor would put all atheist soldiers on The List; that sort of stigma could eventually prevent them from getting promotions or certain assignments: [Click headline for more…] Read more
