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 weeks ago, I posted a picture from reader Jessica that showed Christian books being sold at her daughter’s Wichita, Kansas public school book fair: This was especially surprising, given that Scholastic — the company sponsoring the book fair — doesn’t even carry religious titles… so how did they get there? The Freedom From Religion Foundation wants to know and they sent a letter (PDF) to the district yesterday. … it is assumed that a faculty member in charge… Read more
It’s not that hard to understand where public schools have to draw the line with respect to religion. Teachers and administrators are not allowed to proselytize during school hours or anytime they’re wearing their “Teacher” or “Coach” hats. They can, however, sponsor a Christian club after school (assuming the school allows clubs for other faiths and no faith as well) and talk about faith in that capacity. Students can pray or read the Bible in school (provided that it’s not… Read more
Cate Laskovics, president of the Secular Alliance at the University of Pittsburgh, says her group is all ready for International Blasphemy Rights Day today. They’re even having a Blasphemous Bake Sale on campus… with cupcakes: Cate, I want all of those. I’ll pay you all $98324923423 of my Internet money. Read more
On October 8th, Pastor Mark Driscoll (founder of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington) will be speaking at the LoveLife Conference in Athens, Georgia. This is the same Driscoll whose ignorance about feminism and homosexuality is evident with just about everything he says… If you’re not familiar with him, here are just a few choice quotations (courtesy of Stephen Joiner of the UGAtheists): “I like Catholics and Orthodox people. I believe that they are part of a Christian denomination or… Read more
David Kinnaman, the president of the Barna Group (a Christian-focused polling organization), just released his newest book, You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith. So why are Christians — real, churchgoing Christians — leaving the faith later in life? No single reason dominated the break-up between church and young adults. Instead, a variety of reasons emerged. Overall, the research uncovered six significant themes why nearly three out of every five young Christians (59%) disconnect either… Read more
