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.
Just over a month ago, the Supreme Court said they didn’t want to hear an appeal from the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners (in North Carolina), putting the final nail in the coffin on their attempts to keep praying to Jesus before meetings. An hour away, it looks like the Rowan County Board of Commissioners don’t want to take the hint. In fact, they prayed to Jesus at their meeting earlier this week: “We prayed like we normally pray,” said… Read more
Back in October, two members of the “Parading Atheists of Central PA” marched in a Halloween parade dressed as Zombie Pope and Zombie Muhammad. You can decide for yourself whether that was hilarious or dickish. (I voted for the latter.) But regardless of your answer to that question, we should all be appalled by what happened to Ernest Perce, the atheist in the Muhammad costume. A Muslim man in the crowd — Talaag Elbayomy — ran out and began choking… Read more
You may have heard of Helen Ukpabio, the evangelical Christian from Nigeria who holds some despicable beliefs: … Ms. Ukpabio’s critics say her teachings have contributed to the torture or abandonment of thousands of Nigerian children — including infants and toddlers — suspected of being witches and warlocks. Seriously, a horrible excuse for a human being. And she’s supposedly set to tour the United States to spread her Gospel of I-Made-This-All-Up: Even though the poster says the events are taking… Read more
After seeing religious groups of all kinds form at the University of Pennsylvania, a few freshmen have started a group for atheists called “Rekindle Reason: Atheists, Agnostics, and Freethinkers.” Navin Sasikumar, a grad student there, is pleased with their mission statement, which includes this excerpt: Association with individuals of similar philosophies is oft lost for the irreligious, and we aim to make certain these members of the Penn community have such access and are aware that they are not alone… Read more