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.
The first time I heard of Will Phillips, he was a 10-year-old who refused to stand up during the Pledge of Allegiance for a novel reason: Will’s family has a number of gay friends. In recent years, [mother] Laura Phillips said, they’ve been trying to be a straight ally to the gay community, going to the pride parades and standing up for the rights of their gay and lesbian neighbors. They’ve been especially dismayed by the effort to take away the rights of homosexuals — the right to marry, and the right to adopt. Given that, Will immediately saw a problem with the pledge of allegiance. “I’ve always tried to analyze things because I want to be lawyer,” Will said. “I really don’t feel that there’s currently liberty and justice for all.” He was 10 and he didn’t support the Pledge because he knew we really didn’t have “liberty and justice for all.” Amazing. It’s been a few years since I’ve mentioned him on this site, but I’m thrilled to report that Will is back. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Earlier this year, I posted about Asif Mohiuddin, a 29-year-old Bangladeshi man who was attacked for blogging about his atheism. Of course, this being Bangladesh, Asif was sent to prison… for “hurting religious beliefs.” (That’s not a typo. It really makes no sense.) He may be leaving jail soon, but the International Humanist and Ethical Union point out that he’s far from being truly free: [Click headline for more…] Read more