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.
The University of Dayton (in Ohio), a private Roman Catholic school, just denied registration to a potential Secular Student Alliance group because open discussion about religion apparently contradicts what they want students to learn on campus: Nick Haynes and Branden King said they began planning their club, the Society of Free Thinkers, in April…. The group was designed for religious and nonreligious students to discuss topics related to both religion and a secular philosophy, Haynes said. … The group submitted… Read more
The Corvallis Secular Society in Oregon has just placed an ad quoting a historical document on the side of a single bus. But, somehow, you know it’s going to be controversial. The ad was designed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and it features an abridged version of President John Adams’s line from the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli: “The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” “We are seeking to lay to… Read more
You’re going to love this story from Dale McGowan. This is the beginning of what his eighth-grade daughter Erin told him the other day: “I was at the table in the cafeteria with these three other kids, and two of them asked the other girl where she went to church. She said ‘We don’t go to church,’ and their eyes got big, and the one guy leaned forward and said, ‘But you believe in God, right?'” Ooooh, here we go…. Read more
Dear Victory Family Church in Belleville, Illinois, I have some advice for you. (Yes, I’m an atheist, and no, I don’t expect you to listen. But I’ll say it anyway.) When you’re planning an event, don’t call it a “Crusade.” That word is steeped in negative religious connotations and you don’t want to be associated with that. Trust me on this one. Oh. Alright, ignore that one. When you’re planning a “Crusade,” don’t gear it toward children. Atheists already think… Read more
