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.
What did the Bible say? Truth is, no one really knows, but plenty of people base their lives around particular interpretations of it. We know Ken Ham’s absolute-literal interpretation isn’t based in any sort of reality. But what about progressive Christians who are supportive of things like abortion and LGBT rights? Are they interpreting it correctly or is it wishful thinking? A group of Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem is trying to get to the bottom of what the Bible originally… Read more
The worst part about following Christian bloggers? Even when they talk about something moving and relevant, they often make me want to gag. Case in point: Pastor Pete Wilson talking about Dennis Rodman’s really touching speech as he entered the basketball Hall of Fame. Wilson writes: I’ll be honest. I’ve never been a Dennis Rodman fan. I’ve always thought of him as a reckless, self absorbed, ego maniac. And while my assessment was probably fairly accurate, I think I forgot… Read more
The Oklahoma Freethought Convention took place at the very end of July and some of the videos are now available. The quality is *fantastic*, better than most speaking videos I’ve seen. Here are the videos up so far: Dr. William Morgan talking about his journey from Faith to Agnosticism: Abbie Smith talking about evolution and vaccines: TheThinkingAtheist talking about challenging faith claims: Aron-Ra talking about what people believe: Matt Dillahunty talking about changing minds: I haven’t had a chance to… Read more
This is a guest post by Ian Cromwell. Ian is an African-American atheist who blogs at The Crommunist Manifesto. He is also a member of CFI Vancouver. Some background: After Derek Miller wrote a piece about “Inviting Black Americans to the Secular Table,” Cromwell posted a response on his site indicating his frustration with what Miller had written. I’ve asked Cromwell to expound on that piece here and lay out his own vision of how the secular community can get… Read more
Ross Blocher and Carrie Poppy have an excellent podcast in which they try out all the skeptical things you always hear about. In recent months, they’ve gotten ear-candled, visited a Sikh Gurdwara, and — this is impressive — gone through five months’ worth of classes in order to become official Mormons. In Part 1, your favorite co-hosts spent more than five months learning about Mormon doctrine, taking classes with their missionaries, and attending three-hour church services before biting the bullet… Read more
