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.
There’s an Atheist Film Festival taking place in San Francisco at the Roxie Theater on August 11th and tickets are now available for the event and the optional pre-festival reception. There’s also a nifty promo for the event: Casimir Fornalski designed that trailer and the cover of Greta Christina’s book. He needs to start designing atheist billboards… Why a film festival at all? Author David Fitzgerald (whose book Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed At All is… Read more
That billboard, reading “God and government are a dangerous mix,” was just put up in Wenatchee, Washington by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. (An identical billboard will soon be up in Okanogan.) “Our efforts this year are to once again remind the public that ‘We, the people’ need to preserve our Founding Fathers’ goal to give this country’s citizens a secular government without dangerous religious entanglements,” said Kurt Wyant, a member of FFRF and spokesperson for NWC Freethinkers of Wenatchee…. Read more
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is the first school in the state to offer an LGBT minor. Why offer it? Assistant coordinator for the minor, Christina Newgebaver, explained it this way: “It will hopefully promote educated learning about LGBTs and not promote the stereotypes that are out there.” In a state where LGBT individuals have no job protection, this is one way to make things better. So, of course, Catholic Bishop Michael Jarrell of the Diocese of Lafayette wants… Read more
Christian apologist William Lane Craig is scared of the Secular Student Alliance. The SSA is growing fast — at a rate faster than the Campus Crusade for Christ (a.k.a. CRU) — and he’s taking notice. On a recent episode of his Reasonable Faith podcast called “Is Atheism Growing at the Expense of Theism?” Craig referenced information in this picture: It’s an old picture (the SSA now has well over 360 groups), but the idea is that the SSA’s percentage growth… Read more
A few months ago, Secular Coalition for America Executive Director Edwina Rogers embarked on an ambitious plan to launch affiliates in every state before the end of the year. We already have the Secular Coalition for Arizona and the Secular Coalition for Alabama. And today, they’re announcing the formation of the Secular Coalition for Colorado! The co-chairs of the group, Ben Donahue and Murray Wallace will sign the “Memo of Understanding” between them and the national group this Saturday at… Read more