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.
Gallup released a poll yesterday regarding nationwide support for same-sex marriage and the headlines are all about how 52% of Americans would support it on election day, given the chance. It’s more than half?! Wow! But there was something else notable when you looked at the demographic breakdown: [Click headline for more…] Read more
I teach at a public high school and the visitor policy works like this: If you’re not a student or staff member, you must sign in at the front desk, show identification, and declare the intent of your visit. Even if a parent is just dropping off lunch for his child, those are the rules. They apply immediately before, during, and immediately after school. I hope it’s obvious that this is all for the safety of the people in the building. Concord High School in New Hampshire has a similar policy, but one parent was coming on school grounds every morning this past spring (from February onward), was in contact with students as they entered the building, and no one did anything about it. In fact, the principal allowed her to do it. Why did that happen? Because the mother, Lizarda Urena, wanted to pray for everybody: [Click headline for more…] Read more
I was out of town yesterday, so I missed out on most of the hoopla surrounding the Pope’s comments. But having had a chance to see the raw footage and how people are reacting, I wanted to put it in context, if for no other reason than to sort it out myself. Early in the video, Pope Francis says (in Spanish): If a gay person is a person of good will who seeks God, who am I to judge? Those remarks, seemingly friendlier to the gay community than anything a Pope has said in the past, struck a nerve with a lot of people. [Click headline for more…] Read more