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.
NPR’s Barbara Bradley Hagerty had a really positive piece on the Reason Rally on “Morning Edition” today. The piece feature Greta Christina (“The Firebrand”), me (“The Diplomat”), and Dave Silverman (“Dave Silverman”). But the main point of the rally, Silverman says, is not to tweak the faithful. It’s to encourage closeted atheists to take heart. “The message is that if you can come out, you can out come out,” he says. “And if you can’t come out, at least you’ll… Read more
I know you’ve already decided whether or not you’re going to the Reason Rally this weekend, but The Washington Post is running a series of guest posts from atheists on why you should attend the Reason Rally. We’re all approaching the topic from different perspectives. I focused on the youth movement: Five years ago, the number of active campus atheist groups was just over 50. As I write this, the Secular Student Alliance ha over 350 affiliates across the country…. Read more
Just one more day until Spring Break! And then, I’ll finally have time to start working on that Reason Rally speech… In any case, I’ll be visiting Michigan State University next Thursday (March 29th). The Center for Inquiry group on campus is bringing me out there to talk about how to make math class a little less evil. The fun starts at 7:30p in Communication Arts Building, Room 147 🙂 Come! Or I’ll incorporate all of you into my students’… Read more
***Update***: The principal of the high school has resigned in the wake of this scandal: Dunkerton Superintendent Jim Stanton informed the Waterloo-Ceder Falls Courier about the resignation. [Principal Mike] Cooper will remain on the job until the end of the school year. Cooper has not been willing to issue any statements. … A Christian group called You Can Run But You Cannot Hide and its musical group Junkyard Prophets recently held an assembly approved by the Dunkerton Community Schools in… Read more
In response to my challenge earlier today, Zach Moore created this hilarious parody (PDF) of the “Day of Dialogue” card that Christians are supposed to hand the GLBT crowd at their schools: Hand those out on April 19th and spread the Word! In case you missed it, this is what the original looks like (PDF): Read more