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.
You might think Mike Lee, the Religious Antagonist, comes off as a jerk since he’s disrupting a group of praying Christians… but then you see who he’s talking to and that feeling completely evaporates. There’s something beautiful about the way Mike stops the Christian protestors by quoting their own book right back to them. Read more
When the phrase “In God We Trust” was going to be placed on the $20 gold coin in 1907, President Teddy Roosevelt was against it (PDF): “My own feeling in the matter is due to my very firm conviction that to put such a motto on coins, or to use it in any kindred manner, not only does no good but does positive harm, and is in effect irreverence, which comes dangerously close to sacrilege…” That, from a president who… Read more
This is a guest post by Lisa. [Personal information has been removed.] … I have been very, very slowly coming out of the atheist closet. It literally took me years to be honest with myself and even longer to actually say the words out loud to another person: “I don’t think I believe in God anymore.” From there, though, it slowly began to trickle out. At first I told only my close friends, only one of whom was still a… Read more
Vjack at Atheist Revolution points out the obvious double standard in how the news media talks about atheists versus religion people. For example, atheists tend to be described with adjectives… “self-proclaimed,” “self-identified,” “avowed,” etc. Can you imagine what would happen if some of these qualifiers were applied to Christians? Ms. Roberts, who claims she’s a Christian, said that the city needs to invest more money in repairing potholes near Main St. There would [be] considerable outrage, and for good reason…. Read more
For several weeks now — and for hopefully one more — I’m spending a lot of time after school coaching my Speech Team kids, getting them ready for the State tournament (they compete today to see who qualifies). After that, though, I’ll begin traveling/speaking at different campuses again. Here’s my schedule for the Spring. A lot of these events are still tentative (I’ll offer updates as soon as possible), but if you’re in the area, please consider dropping by! Secular… Read more