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.
A couple of months ago, I mentioned a new Facebook group called Mothers Beyond Belief, a group for moms (especially new ones) to talk about pregnancy, childbirth, and raising children without all the religious talk and pseudoscience that infest other “mommy forums.” That group is now thriving with over 750 members. Now we have its counterpart: Dads Beyond Belief: A private secular group for fathers from conception to childbirth and beyond. A resource and forum for secular dads to share… Read more
Here’s a beautiful and inspiring story, told by Secular Coalition for America founder Herb Silverman about his now-deceased friend Bill Upshur: Knowing in 2007 that he didn’t have long to live, Bill told me he wanted to donate $20,000 to the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry. He devised an unusual plan to make the donation. Typically books at our auction go for no more than $10. Bill and I engaged in a fake bidding war for Richard Dawkins’ book, The… Read more
Not to rehash that whole controversy again, but here’s a story worth sharing, courtesy of blogger vnectar: I said [to my husband,] “Hey honey, I did a good deed today! I convinced K. not to donate money to the American Cancer Society!”. Then I started laughing because I realized that I would sound like a monster to anyone not aware of the drama surrounding the ACS and an atheist organization who wants to donate an assload of money to them,… Read more
Here’s the whole story in a nutshell: Back in 2006, 11-year-old Jake Finkbonner had a bad case of flesh-eating bacteria. Really bad. The prognosis for his survival wasn’t good. And the pictures are pretty disturbing. After many surgeries and more than a week spent in a hospital, Jake started to get better. Today, he’s doing just fine. Who should get the credit for his recovery? The family knows who they’re thanking and the Pope is taking that a step further:… Read more