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.
Remember when Neil deGrasse Tyson spoke about his religious beliefs and threw atheism under the bus? At one point, he said: …It’s odd that the word “atheist” even exists! I don’t play golf. Is there a word for non-golf-players? Do non-golf-players gather and strategize? Turns out some clever soul created a sub-Reddit for nongolfers… and it’s hilarious 🙂 And for more reasons than the fact that they’re calling themselves ateeists. Posts include: Why doesn’t the media ever mention that Jerry… Read more
In 2010, Bible critic Dr. Bart Ehrman (author of Misquoting Jesus) debated New Testament scholar Craig Evans (author of Jesus and His World: The Archaeological Evidence) on the reliability of the New Testament. The full debate is here, but reader Brian Wilson compiled some of Ehrman’s best points against Biblical literalism in the video below: What did you think? Convincing? Read more
If you’re unaware of what the “Good News Club” teaches children, and you haven’t read Katherine Stewart’s eye-opening book The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children, then sit down for 20 minutes and watch this video by IntrinsicDignity (on fullscreen mode): I said 20 minutes because you need the last 3:30 to just sit and stare with your mouth wide open. (via Shades of Grey) Read more
The right way to teach students about demons: Tell them they don’t exist. The wrong way to teach students about demons: Have them cut themselves to release the demons from their bodies. That’s what Danielle Harkins did to kids she tutored at the Lealman Asian Neighborhood Family Center in Florida. Detectives said that two students were injured during the ritual, in which Harkins allegedly instructed the teens to cut each other. ‘They would follow that up with some sort of… Read more
Sometimes you read stories and they magnify every stereotype you have about the South… The Alabama Educational Television Commission (AETC) oversees Alabama Public Television (APT). Recently, AETC Commissioner Rodney Herring told APT executives that they should air The American Heritage Series, a 10-episode program featuring Christian pseudo-historian David Barton. Two of the APT executives, Allan Pizzato and Pauline Howland, questioned that decision: The programs “talked about how our government forefathers were very religious men,” Howland said, “how the country was… Read more