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.
Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) just ran for Congress unopposed. That’s disturbing when you consider that he sits on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology… and told an audience at Liberty Baptist Church in September that evolution, embryology, and the Big Bang are “lies straight from the pit of Hell”: Read more
It would be fun to say that if Teresa hadn’t come along, we would have had to invent her. But American Atheists isn’t an organization that needs to invent beings who are too good to be true. Real people, with real stories and faith in reason, are more than enough. The reaction by news organizations to her coming out is proof of that. She made headlines at many levels. Her local news station treated it like a scandal. National reports were objective for the most part, yet they presented her as a curiosity more than anything. Here, in her own words, she demonstrates that coming out of the Atheist closet is not the end of the world. It’s the end of just one of many possible worlds. She may not believe in life after death anymore, but she’s a firm believer in life after faith. Read more
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (a public school) has a policy when it comes to outsiders on their campus. If people want to sell something to students (say, a credit card or test-prep course), they have to pay a $50 fee and remain within a certain area. Mark Gavin, a preacher who proselytizes on campus, thinks those rules don’t apply to him. He doesn’t think he should have to pay the $50 fee or remain situated in one space. So the Center for Religious Expression filed a lawsuit on his behalf… and their justification for why he shouldn’t have to pay anything gets a little weird: Read more