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.
Jack Jenkins of the Religion News Service wrote an interesting article about whether the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is purely parody or whether there’s any more to it than just that. I’m mentioned in the piece because I fall in the latter category. Greg Epstein doesn’t go quite that far. For many atheists like Mehta, the satire is a positive part of the atheist experience and provides a safe haven for nonbelievers. “If I go to a Christian… Read more
This is a really neat fundraiser started by someone who just wanted to pitch in. Cody Barnes is a professional portrait artist from Birmingham, Alabama. He’s offering to donate a percentage of his fees to American Atheists for any atheist customers who want to get work done: Cody’s portraits are $200 for a charcoal, $350 for a sepia painting, and $500 and up for a full color oil painting. Cody will donate $40 to American Atheists for every charcoal, $70… Read more
In case you missed it last week, a judge ruled that the Central Arkansas Transit Authority (CATA) and its advertising agent, On the Move Advertising, had to put up atheist bus ads that it had previously rejected: One of the weird parts of the ruling, as I had mentioned before, was that the United Coalition of Reason would be forced to put up $15,000 toward “damage” costs if they wanted their ads to go up. Basically, I took that to… Read more
This is a guest post by Michael Tracey. He is a writer based in New Jersey and a former Secular Student Alliance group leader. *** Some are wondering aloud about whether Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is a sincere religious believer. The man who will probably secure the Republican presidential nomination has certainly made it clear that he’d pursue a biblically-inspired agenda while in office, but I’ve seen a number of people nevertheless assume that Perry’s just another showman –… Read more
Here’s a new podcast featuring the women of the Atheist Experience TV show: Beth Presswood, Tracie Harris and Jen Peeples. It’s called Godless Bitches. The first episode, covering topics like sex education and reproductive rights, was just released. You can subscribe to it on iTunes using this link. (via Atheist Experience) Read more
