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 Registrar General for Scotland, George MacKenzie, just released a fascinating report on births, deaths, and marriages in 2011 (PDF). It turns out civil ceremonies — conducted by local government officials — made up 52% of all ceremonies last year, up from 31% in 1971. Humanist celebrants conducted 2,486 marriages last year compared to 5,557 conducted by the Church of Scotland. (For the purposes of this report, Humanist ceremonies fall into the “Other” category, not the “Civil” category.) The overall… Read more
In June, 2010, the Touchdown Jesus statue in Monroe, Ohio burned down: There’s good news, though, for lovers of Jesus statues. In a couple of months, you’ll be seeing a replacement: The new statue created by Cincinnati native Tom Tsuchiya is called “Lux Mundi” or “Light of the World.” The original statue the “King of Kings” was destroyed by fire caused by a lightning strike two years ago. Jesus just wants a big hug. And if you give it to… Read more
We all handle Internet trolls differently. I usually don’t engage with people trying to get a rise out of me — in the comments below, on Twitter, whatever — unless I think the topic needs addressing. I usually don’t post about them on this site because there are more pressing/interesting issues to write about when time permits… and, honestly, the trolls don’t really bother me. They don’t threaten me. They’re easily ignorable. No doubt, though, it’d be tougher to ignore… Read more
The Religious Right loves to say that liberals are intolerant of their bigotry: “Unfortunately, their response is typical of intolerant homosexual activists,” [Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver] continued. “They will go to any lengths to silence the majority of Americans who believe that children do best when raised in a natural family with one mom and one dad.” Right, we’re silencing their free speech. We’re taking away their rights. We’re the oppressors. Slacktivist has a wonderful, simple response to that: Anybody… Read more
Most colleges have a policy when it comes to funding student groups: You have to be a registered student organization in order to get any money. Once you’re officially registered (whatever that requires), you have access to grants, free meeting space, the ability to advertise, etc. Virginia Tech had a different policy for religious groups, though: “Organizations will not be provided funding to support religious worship or religious proselytizing. Funding requests to host religiously oriented programs, on campus and open… Read more