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.
Thomas Jefferson didn’t like the Bible as it was written. He thought Jesus was a good moral teacher, but those miracles were bullshit. In a letter to William Short in 1820, Jefferson wrote: Among the sayings and discourses imputed to [Jesus] by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the most lovely benevolence: and others again of so much ignorance, so much absurdity, so much untruth, charlatanism, and imposture, as to pronounce it impossible… Read more
About a month ago, during Stockholm Pride, Swedish State Television (Channel 1) aired this song on Allsång på Skansen (Sing Along at Skansen). The band in question mocks homophobia, Christianity, the Bible, and everyone who blames gay people for the downfall of society 🙂 (You’ll want the subtitles, so click on CC if they’re not showing up!) (Thanks to Alec for the link!) Read more
It’s amazing that anyone would find the Center For Inquiry’s billboard campaign controversial, but it’s already been ejected from Knoxville, Tennessee and it’s the subject of a lot of media attention in other places. This is the billboard CFI put up in several cities: “You don’t need God — to hope, to care, to love, to live.” In Grand Rapids, Michigan, just look at how some of the coverage has been: … when it comes to discussion, billboards can also… Read more
There are a lot of people working on the Reason Rally event taking place March 24th, 2012 and those of us on the publicity team (hi!) are kicking things into high gear this weekend. A few updates: The first of several promotional videos just went up. This one features PZ Myers talking about why it’s so important that you attend the event: We have a @ReasonRally Twitter account! You’re following us, right? Excellent. Also, if you don’t like our Facebook… Read more
Even on Christian campuses, atheist groups can get a lot of positive press. We’re very good at exposing the negative aspects of religion, challenging orthodox beliefs, and providing people a safe haven in which to raise their doubts about faith. How many Christian groups around the country can say the same things? At Southern Methodist University, the Secular Humanists of SMU had their first meeting a couple nights ago and it looks like there was a strong turnout: “It would… Read more
